Election Results

I am glad that Bob Corker will be our new US Senator. I do admire Mr. Ford in that he ran a tough race, and was a more than gracious loser. While he will not be serving in Congress for 2 years, I think he will be back in public service in that time or less.


Nationally, many pundits have stated that the election would be and or turned out to be a referendum on the war with Iraq. However, I would define that more broadly, and state my view that the election turned out to be a referendum on Bush himself. Many sources (citing exit polls) have stated that approximately half of voters said they cast their votes for or against candidates as a way to send a message of opposition or support of President Bush:

More than a third of the electorate said it was voting to send a message of opposition to the president, according to Election Day interviews with more than 11,700 voters as they left the polls. That was 15 percent higher than the segment of voters who said they were voting in support of Bush.
Among voters who said they had backed Bush's 2004 re-election, one in six cast ballots for Democratic House candidates yesterday, the exit poll found.

That quote is from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/iraq/bal-te.election08nov08,0,925892.story?coll=bal-home-headlines .

It will certainly be interesting to see if the Democrat controlled House can work with the Republican controlled Senate and President Bush. I strongly suspect that not much will be accomplished by either side in Washington over the next two years. As a side note, usually a lack of activity in Washington is good for the stock market.

Vote Today

Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Vote Category: News and Politics
Vote today, if you haven't already.

Big time election in the Tennessee US Senator race: Bob Corker (R) (49%) vs. Harold Ford Jr. (D) (46%).

From the Wall Street Journal: "With the resignation of Bill Frist, the GOP is hoping Bob Corker can snag this seat. Although Corker leads over the Democrats' Harold Ford in all of the most recent polls, his average margin is only six percentage points, making this race too close to call."

I believe that Corker will win, and he is who I am voting for (even though two weeks ago, 10/26, Harold Ford Jr. literally gave me a big old bear hug).

Why should you vote either way in this election? Here are some of the commonly cited reasons pro and con on each candidate (these are not necessarily my views):
For Harold Ford Jr.: He's smart, a well presented handsome man (slick according to Republicans), well educated and has years of experience in DC. He is moderate (more conservative than most Democrats) on social issues and a fiscal liberal.
For Bob Corker: He's a Tennessee businessman who has been the very successful mayor of Chattanooga for years and is conservative on social and fiscal policy. He's not a dyed in the wool politician.

Against Harold Ford Jr.: He is the more liberal of the two candidates, he is from a family that is at the head of the Memphis political machine and that has often been seen as corrupt and thuggish. He failed the bar exam after graduating from a prestigious law school. He has not had a "real" job except in politics.
Against Bob Corker: He is the more conservative of the two candidates, and he is rich ($200 million), and is portrayed as looking out for the interests of the wealthy. There were some snafus early on in his time as mayor of Chattanooga. He is portrayed as being too close to oil interests (his campaign manager is the CEO of a gasoline retailer).