memeorandum: Congress Approves 500 Billion For Monument To Human Folly (The Onion)

9:35 AM ET, November 4, 2009

Top Items:

HOFFMAN CLOSING ON OWENS — Democrat ahead of Conservative by 2,512 votes — Democrat Bill Owens is leading in the 23rd Congressional District race. — The Plattsburgh attorney has 50,884 votes compared to Conservative Doug Hoffman, a Lake Placid CPA, with 47,166 votes.

Discussion: DaTechguy's Blog, The Daily Politics, PoliBlog, Open Left, JOSHUAPUNDIT, the albany project, Riehl World View, Swampland, Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Stop The ACLU and The Other McCain

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

NY-23: Watertown Mayor: 'It's Over' — SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. - I caught Watertown, N.Y., Mayor Jeff Graham, who endorsed NY-23 Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman this weekend, looking very glum at Hoffman's election party. I asked him what happened in Jefferson County, where Watertown is located …

Discussion: Hot Air, Watertown Daily Times, The Daily Politics, The Hill, AMERICAblog News, DownWithTyranny! and Taegan Goddard's …

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

In NY-23, Conservatives Win — The race has now been called for Democrat Bill Owens. — This is a huge win for conservatives. — “Whaaaa. . . ?” you say. — There are two big victories at work in New York's 23rd Congressional District. — First, the GOP now must recognize …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TBogg, Pajamas Media, Comments from Left Field, Sadly, No!, thedanashow.wordpress.com, WSYR-TV, American Spectator, Flopping Aces, Whiskey Fire, MyDD, Dump Dede, RedState, Big Government and The Daily Dish

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

GOP sweeps gov races; Dem wins N.Y. — Republican gubernatorial candidates racked up major wins for the GOP in Virginia and New Jersey Tuesday night as Democrats scored a single victory in a special congressional election in upstate New York. — Former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell …

Discussion: New York Times, The Sarah Palin Blog, CNN, Clusterstock, Left Coast Rebel, The Nation, And So it Goes in Shreveport, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh and JOSHUAPUNDIT

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / New York Post:

The Obama magic has faded — All politics is local, they say, and Tuesday's off-off-year elections certainly had their local angles. Jon Corzine has been a terrible governor even by the undemanding standards of terribly governed New Jersey. Creigh Deeds, though he looked …

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Runnin' Scared, Betsy's Page, QandO and Pundit & Pundette

New York Times:

G.O.P. Wins Two Key Governors' Races; Bloomberg Prevails in a Close Contest — Republicans swept contests for governor in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday as voters went to the polls filled with economic uncertainty, dealing President Obama a setback and building momentum …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Politico, Bloomberg, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, City Room, Guardian, QandO, Washington Post, Washington Times, The Confluence, Harry's Place, Prairie Weather, Libertarianism, from A to Z, Truthdig and marbury

Michelle Malkin:

The GOP elite's $1 million object lesson — and the message of NY-23 — Conservatives owe NY-23 candidate Doug Hoffman immeasurable gratitude. He overcame impossible odds (single digits just a month ago) to come within two points of defeating Democrat Bill Owens. Hoffman had zero name recognition.

Discussion: Cold Fury, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, Right Klik, Sister Toldjah and And So it Goes in Shreveport

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Conservative Loses Upstate House Race in Blow to Right — SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. — Democrats won a special election in New York State's northernmost Congressional district Tuesday, a setback for national conservatives who heavily promoted a third candidate in what became an intense debate over the direction of the Republican Party.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, American Street, Liberal Values, American Power and JammieWearingFool

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Gubernatorial contests serve as warning to Democrats — Off-year elections can be notoriously unreliable as predictors of the future, but as a window on how the political landscape may have changed in the year since President Obama won the White House, Tuesday's Republican victories in Virginia …

Discussion: The Note, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek Blogs, PostPartisan, Althouse, Taylor Marsh, Commentary and New York Magazine

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

A Year After Dousing, Republicans' Hope Rekindled — WASHINGTON — The Republican victories in the races for New Jersey and Virginia governors put the party in a stronger position to turn back the political wave President Obama unleashed last year, setting the stage for Republicans to raise money …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Plum Line, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Fix, FiveThirtyEight and msnbc.com

Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:

Election Night Live Blog — Comment and analysis on tonight's elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York: — 12:02 — FOX declares the race for Owens. With 71% in, Maine looks to be overriding the legislature's decision to allow gay marriage in the state, though it's still too close to call.

Discussion: The Caucus, Swing State Project, Blue Virginia, The Strata-Sphere, Power Line, Hot Air, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Politics Nation

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
NY23 Election Results HQ; UPDATE: Team Hoffman predicts 'close …

Discussion: HorseRaceBlog, Michelle Malkin, Ben Smith's Blog, CANNONFIRE, TPM LiveWire, Swampland, Daily Pundit and Nice Deb

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
'09 Exit Polls: Voters Approve of Obama, Wary of Economy

Discussion: The Fix, The Politico, MyDD, CNN, Blue Virginia, Outside The Beltway, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Big Government, George's Bottom Line, The Big Picture, YID With LID, Commentary, Pajamas Media and Daily Pundit

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
NY-23: [UPDATE] Hoffman Accuses Democrats of ‘Stealing the Election’

Discussion: Erick's blog, Washington Wire, Runnin' Scared, MyDD, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and New York Magazine

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Owens preserves bright spot for Dems

Discussion: Gothamist and The Other McCain

CBS News:
Exit Polls in Va. and N.J.: The Obama (Non) Factor?

Discussion: Hotline On Call, CNN, Real Numbers and Other Musings, JammieWearingFool, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Hot Air, The Opinionator, The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Shot in the Dark

Elizabeth Benjamin / The Daily Politics:
Police Called To NY-23 Polling Sites (Updated)

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Other McCain, Nice Deb, Crooks and Liars, The Washington Independent and Wonkette

Valerie Bauman / Associated Press:
Democrat wins House seat in heavily GOP area in NY

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and The Powers That Be

Michael Patrick Leahy / TCOT REPORT 2009©: Hoffman Barnstorms NY 23 in Plane

Mark Preston / CNN:
Analysis: Elections not a referendum on Obama

Discussion: Riehl World View

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
What Happened and Why? — The outcome of all seven contests …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Mahablog

Glen Bolger / TQIA:
Congratulations to Bob McDonnell; An Analysis of His Win

Discussion: The Fix

Dave / Media Matters for America:
Media in 2001: Off-year elections have little national significance

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

BBC:
Republicans win key US elections

Discussion: the talking dog

Daniel Stone / Newsweek Blogs:
Why Creigh Deeds Lost Virginia

Discussion: Associated Press and Macsmind

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Ruth Marcus on empty harbingers in Virginia and New Jersey

Discussion: Washington Wire, Slate, Economist, NewsBusters.org, Time and Newsweek Blogs

Associated Press: Republican Christie captures NJ governor's race

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:

Maine Voters Repeal Law Allowing Gay Marriage — In a stinging setback for the national gay-rights movement, Maine voters narrowly decided to repeal the state's new law allowing same-sex marriage. — With 87 percent of precincts reporting early this morning, 53 percent of voters had approved the repeal …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Baseline Scenario, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Daily Dish, Althouse and La Shawn Barber's Corner

Susan M. Cover / pressherald.mainetoday.com:

Mainers vote down gay marriage law — The measure is repealed in a close vote, 53-47 percent — PORTLAND — Maine voters on Tuesday narrowly voted to repeal a law that would have made the state one of a handful that allow same-sex couples to marry. — At 1 a.m., with 87 percent …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Maria Sacchetti / Boston Globe: Maine voters overturn state's new same-sex marriage law

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Turnout high in Maine

Discussion: pressherald.mainetoday.com, Scared Monkeys, ABCNEWS, Politics Daily, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Politico

New York Times:

Bloomberg Wins 3rd Term as Mayor in Unexpectedly Close Race — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pulled out a narrow re-election victory on Tuesday, as voters angry over his maneuver to undo the city's term limits law and his extravagant campaign spending provided an unexpected lift …

Discussion: New York Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Runnin' Scared, The Daily Politics, CNN, Indecision Forever, Michael Calderone's Blog, The Confluence and Democratic Strategist

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

NBC reverses Bloomberg call — Wow: This is looking to be a very long night for the billionaire-incumbent-front- runner in New York. — With more than a third of the votes in, it's a 1-point race. NBC called it for Bloomberg — but just reversed that call.

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Bloomberg survives scare

Discussion: NY Daily News, Taegan Goddard's …, Swampland and JammieWearingFool

Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle:

Garamendi beats field for Tauscher's seat — (11-03) 23:36 PST — Democratic Lt. Gov. John Garamendi is heading to Washington, D.C., today to be sworn into Congress after beating four other candidates in a special election to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek.

Discussion: The Nation and The Confluence

Tim Alberta / The Politico: Democrat wins Calif. special election

Glenn Garvin / Chicago Tribune:

‘V’ aims at Obamamania — Imagine this. At a time of political turmoil, a charismatic, telegenic new leader arrives virtually out of nowhere. He offers a message of hope and reconciliation based on compromise and promises to marshal technology for a better future that will include universal health care.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Taylor Marsh, NewsBusters.org and Gawker

The Onion:

Congress Approves 500 Billion For Monument To Human Folly — WASHINGTON—In recognition of mankind's inherent propensity for tragically foolish decisions, Congress allocated nearly $500 billion Monday for the construction of a new national monument honoring human folly.

Discussion: Cold Fury

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Is Americans For Tax Reform On Our Side Still? Its Tax Policy Director Clearly Is Not. — Dede Scozzafava, the has been former Republican candidate for NY-23, voted for tax increases in the New York legislature 198 times. But, when Dede wanted to get in good with the Republican …

Discussion: Campaign Trail