This Friday, telephone your U.S. senators to urge their support for the Whistleblower Act amendments legislation.  (The Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121, will connect you with your Senator.)

The legislation is in danger of dying if Congress doesn't pass it before they go home for the election.  But, several Senators reportedly are blocking a final vote on the bill with secret holds.

Several senators reportedly are using "secret holds" to block passage of anti-corruption legislation that activists, concerned citizens and more enlightened members of Congress have been working for eight years to pass into law. The identities of the stonewallers are uncertain, but suspects include eight Republicans and the Senate Minority Leader (names provided below the fold.

A bipartisan group of Senate offices has agreed on a reconciliation bill that they are hoping to pass and send to the House of Representatives for final passage. The bill is critical to restoring integrity and fiscal responsibility in our federal government and previous votes indicate that the bill would pass with flying colors - but only if it could be presented for a vote before Congress leaves at the end of the week.

Senators are concerned that tourism to the United States has dropped nearly 20% since 2001 and they want to open a special office to promote tourism. Of course this accidental activist couldn't resist putting together an example of what their first big PR blitz might look like!

The topic below was orignally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Just prior to Election Day I did a post about my volunteer activism entitled, "Turning On the Janes and Phone Banking." I described my experience talking to a struggling single mother from Cuyahoga County, Ohio I called "Jane." Jane didn't want to vote due to frustration and cynicism. During our conversation Jane told me,

"I'm not waiting online all day like last time. Screwed up my whole day and my vote for Kerry didn't count anyway. It was stolen."

For good measure Jane added that I was,

"Wasting my time with these calls. It's fixed and the politicians never care about people like me."

(With the Virginia Senate Seat now called for Jim Web (Hooray!), I believe the timing for this post is appropriate:)

Of all the pundits, both amateur and professional, there were very few who nailed the 2006 elections -- who had the cojones to take a stand and call it all without doubt, without apology or caveat.

So who were these political geniuses?

Well, before we go there, let's take a look at some of those who were WRONG (i.e. Every other pundit)

Democrats "captured four of the six Republican-held seats they needed to take control of the Senate, winning critical contests in Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Missouri, and inched closer Wednesday to erasing the GOP's majority." Democrats also "mounted challenges for two remaining Republican-held seats in Virginia and Montana -- and were ahead in both. But in Virginia, Democratic challenger James Webb's lead over Republican incumbent George Allen was razor thin and a recount was likely." Both parties "dispatched lawyers to Virginia to tally uncounted absentee ballots Wednesday, as well as canvass votes counted on Election Day."

With 99.75% of precincts reporting, Webb had 49.58 percent of the vote to Allen's 49.22 percent -- representing about 8,350 votes. In the wee hours of the morning, Democrat Jim Webb declared victory, "...the votes are in and we won." Allen, however, "had no plans to concede, and reminded supporters gathered for him here in Richmond that he has won close elections before. 'The first time I ever won an election...it was 18 votes. We had to have a recount,' Mr. Allen said."

In Montana, Democratic challenger Jon Tester leads Republican incumbent Conrad Burns 49.12% to 48.33% with 90% of precincts reporting.

After four days straight of canvassing, I hung up my tired feet at 5PM today, halfway through my last packet.  I'd feel a bit bad about that, but truthfully, for the last hour I didn't talk to anyone who had not already voted.  Turnout in Missouri has been astounding, and some news organizations are now predicting that we'll top 70% turnout by the time the polls close at 7PM.  

That fits well with what I saw this morning.  I spent the first three hours of the day waving a sign for a local candidate at a nearby polling place.  At the end of that time, turnout was running about 10% above what that same polling station showed during the 2004 election.  That's right, a midterm election is pulling in more voters than a presidential race.

All I can say at this point is that Democrats are hopeful, but it's going to be close.  Yes, turnout has been very high in some Democratic counties, but it's also been high in Republican counties.  Considering the poor polling conditions in some of the urban precints, long lines might discourage voters.  The sheer size of the turnout could generate a bottleneck.

Still, as of right now, things are looking marginally Democratic.  Keep holding your breath.

Exit poll data: the first available exit poll data has McCaskill up 50-48.  Too darn close, but I'll take it.  After all, it's bigger than the margin of the last several races in Missouri.

Online wagering powerhouse, Tradesports.com, is predicting that Democrats take the Senate -- sort of. Read on for an explanation.

Below are the battleground Senate races with the % chance (as determined by the trading activity at Tradesports.com) of the listed party winning that race. (Note, these are not scientific polls and are provided purely for entertainment purposes.)

As of 2:15 PM EST, Tradesports is predicting Dem pickups in PA, OH, VA, MO, MT, and RI with NO GOP Pickups. That would give Democrats control of the Senate. Ironically, the same site is giving a GOP controlled senate a nearly 70% likelihood. The difference likely reflects the idea that, though even if the percent chance given to each individual race is accurate, the probability of ALL of those taking place as predicted is far lower. Thus, the prediction for the Senate at large going to the Democrats is less than the individual race predictions would suggest.

That said, I still think the two sets of data are not entirely in synch, but whatever, this is just for fun anyway.

In the final throes of Republican power, the President has simply given up. He could have been campaigning for Allen in VA, Corker in TN, Burns in MT, Chaffee in RI or even Kyl in AZ, but instead, President Bush decided to spend the bulk of the final day before the critical midterms stumping for... wait for it...

...Katharine Harris!

That's right. Harris -- his savior in 2000 has turned into one of the GOP's many Achilles heels in 2006, but Bush is there for her even though she has not one chance in Hell of defeating her opponent, incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson (who she trails by 25-30 points depending on which polls you follow).

Ironically, the appearance is one that suggests President Bush is a man who has simply given up on the people that have supported him over the past six years - something that cannot feel too warm and fuzzy to those considering a vote for their local Republican candidate.

Democrat Jim Webb has taken an eight point lead over Republican George Allen in the final poll of the 2006 campaign for U.S. Senate in Virginia.

The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA, shows Webb with 52% of the likely voters, with 44% going to Allen. The five prior SurveyUSA tracking polls showed the race in a virtual dead heat -- with Allen slightly ahead.

As polls continue to roll in just 5 days to the most important election of the last 50 years, one thing is clear: Democrats are positioned to destroy Republican majorities in both the House of Representatives AND the Senate.

Connecticut

Quinnipiac University - 926 likely voters 10/24-30

Joe Lieberman (Would vote with Dems for Senate Leadership) ~ 49%
Ned Lamont (D) ~ 37%
Alan Schlesinger (R) at 8%.

Rasmussen - 500 likely voters

Lieberman ~48%
Lamont ~ 40%

---

Maryland

Zogby Interactive online

Rep. Ben Cardin (D) ~ 52.8%
Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) ~ 43.5%

---

Michigan

Zogby Interactive online

Debbie Stabenow ~ 49.3%
Mike Bouchard ~ 41.9%

---

Minnesota

St. Cloud State University - 494 likely voters - 10/15-27

Amy Klobuchar (D) ~ 56%
Rep. Mark Kennedy (R) ~ 31%.

---

Missouri

SurveyUSA - 10/31

Claire McCaskill (D) - 49%
Sen. Jim Talent (R) - 43%.

---

Pennsylvania

Quinnipiac University - 933 likely voters 10/23-29

Bob Casey Jr. (D) ~ 52%
Sen. Rick Santorum (R) 42%

Keystone Poll  - 626 registered voters - 10/25-29

Casey (D) ~ 53%
Santorum (R) ~ 38%

Zogby Interactive online poll

Casey (D) ~ 52.7%
Santorum (R) ~ 43.8%

Given that the 'undecideds' tend to break for the challenger, CW suggests that non-incumbent strength like that seen in these polls and others so close to the election means that the GOP is in for a rout.

I was a latecomer to eating organic, and even now it is a preference, not an absolute. I favor organic when it isn't TOO expensive. I often found organic advocates ill informed and fanatical. It made me suspicious of the whole thing. But I have been slowly converted, not so much by any strong organic farming advocates, but by realizing on my own that modern agriculture methods are often unsustainable, and often produce food only with marketability in mind, not anything like taste or nutrition or environmental concerns.

This year, there is a sign that many are coming to a practical conclusion that organic farming is sound economically. One sign of this is the fact that in two states not known for their hippie leanings, Montana and Iowa, organic farmers are running for office and may even win.

Tonight, Jim Talent(R) fired back against the heartbreaking ad that Michael J. Fox made for the Claire McCaskill campaign.  No, this wasn't the clumsy, amateurish ad that was featured on Drudge earlier today.  This was a quite well produced ad featuring Talent on screen, voicing his support for science -- and his disgust at his opponent's "attack ads."

In his ad, Talent was back to his usual low-key, reasonable guy mode, as he told how he didn't oppose research.  He opposed... human cloning.  This was a term he repeated later in the ad, saying again that he had made a "moral and ethical decision" that he couldn't support human cloning.  

Despite the false information, it was a well made ad.  Too bad for Talent, he didn't buy the thirty seconds that followed.

All day long, the internets have been roasting under the load.  Lieberman's site has been down more than 18 hours.  The State of Connecticut's official site for results is down.  Even Kos was temporarily knocked off the air.

So, because it's as required for a political site today as breathing, here are the current results.

U.S. Senate - - Dem Primary
733 of 748 Precincts Reporting - 97.99%

Name	Party	Votes	Pct
Lamont, Ned	DEM	144,005	51.79
Lieberman, Joe (i)	CFL	134,026	48.21

 
Lamont widening the gap as the last precincts report. It appears he even took Hartford. So long, Joe! All the majors are now reporting Joe's concession speech and Joe's home town paper has called it for Lamont.
CNN now reporting that Joe has surrendered.

Sen. Joe Lieberman has conceded to upstart challenger Ned Lamont in Connecticut's Democratic primary.

Unfortunately, Lieberman proved to be just as egotistical as he had indicated earlier and immediately launched into his indy campaign.

The success of the Swift Boat Liars Against Kerry was so great, that it has become the standard by which Republicans run their campaigns.

With virtually no vision, ideas, competence, or leadership skills, Republicans have found it more and more necessary to run a 'Campaign of Defamation'.

Most recently, Republican Senatorial candidate Thomas H. Kean Jr. decided it was in his best interest to apply to the GOP 'Hall of Defame' with his attempt to 'Swift boat' his opponent, Democrat Robert Menendez.

However, it appears that Kean needs a few more lessons from Der Leader's Propaganda U. You know, just a few more tips in 'plausible deniability' and a little dabbling in 'suggestive ambiguity'. That should do the trick.

This time, the Feds themselves have stepped up to stamp Kean a baldfaced liar.