Can the GOP Win It All?

Is it possible that the GOP can win the presidency and the Senate while holding the House? Yes.

Romney is running a nice campaign, hitting back at the Obama campaign on each and every point raised and doing it rapidly. They've managed to keep the president off balance and unless we see a major turnaround in the economy, Obama will likely have one hell of an uphill battle.

In the House, the idea that Democrats can win even half the seats needed is difficult to imagine. While congress currently wallows in historically low approval numbers, they are mired equally. This could change if the Bush tax cuts and other economic concerns drag on and decisions aren't reached. Nate Silver discusses this today.

But what about the Senate? Could large turnout and an energized base help the GOP win in states like Florida and Virginia? Possibly. Real Clear Politics has the Dems with the advantage but there are 8 tossups and one likely GOP pick up in Nebraska of an open seat. Of those eight tossups, only 2 are Republicans and of those, Tester and McCaskill are very winnable. If Elizabeth (Fauxcahontas) Warren keeps running the worst race ever, Scott  Brown will hold his seat.

A great deal can happen in the next few months but the possibility exists that a GOP ass-whipping could occur and that would give a President Romney 24-months to start undoing the damage inflicted over the last three and a half years.

Polls Closed, Updates Abound (Update: Brown WINS!)

Ok, it's 25-minutes since the polls shut down and the early and often and dead voters went home. No numbers thus far but there is some news:

-Pollster Frank Luntz is having trouble getting Coakley supporters to sit for his usual election night group.

-O'Reilly just said with 7% in Brown leads by 3%; 51-48%.

-Allah predicts heartbreak, but then he generally does. (Note: as of 9:13 Hot Air has crashed.)

-AP also has this showing results in Ashland: 54-45% for Brown.

-Early results show Brown by 7% with 238 of 2168 Precincts Reporting. That's 11%.

-36% Brown by 5%.

-Update: Some heavy hitters call it for Brown. As it stands it's Brown by 7% with 63% in. It's over and Brown has done it.

-None of the nets have called it but it's over. The big loser is Barack Obama. Who would want that guy to come in and stump them? He lost at Copenhagen...twice in a few months. He couldn't push Corzine over in deep blue New Jersey and he's failed to carry Coakley over the finish line. Reid and Pelosi are a close second.

-County by county here.

-Lots of major websites are crashing. The entire country is paying attention.

-Coakley concedes! Fox, AP, MSNBC and everyone else calls it for Brown. The look on Maddow's face was awesome.

-Chris Matthews looks like he's constipated. I guess no tingles up his leg tonight.

-Maddow and Matthews are spinning like whirling dervishes calling Tea Partiers "hypocrites" and spewing the typical lib rhetoric that it wasn't policy, it was message. Please, please, please keep that mindset until November.

-Norah O'Donnell is apoplectic. It's like a funeral at MSNBC. I've never had fun at a funeral until tonight. Hell, O'Donnell is even wearing black. Maddow sounds like his dog died.

Massachusetts Senate Update

Polls close in 52-minutes. I wouldn't expect to get info right away but you never know. Hey, the AP is so good, they had the results a full 6-hours before the polls closed.

-The Mass. race has started a cat fight between the pussy, whining chief liberal and the RINO over at MSNBC.

-The Dem get out the vote effort thoughts they were picking up Dem Coakley backers. They had it half right.

-"No one is using the coat check at Coakley HQ" Heh.

-Coakley screams voter fraud and Brown makes her look stupid once again.

-What to look for in Mass. results.

A Political Earthquake is Imminent

In the waning hours of the Coakley-Brown campaign, we're seeing the polls still trend toward Brown. Obama is set to land in Massachusetts (using our tax dollars and spewing massive amounts of carbon into the air) to prop up the flailing Coakley effort. The largest entitlement program in history hangs in the balance and the future of our nation over the next decade comes down to a special election in a deep blue state that has elected a Democrat in every federal election in recent memory.

Here's how the healthcare fiasco could shake out: Suppose Brown does win, the Dems will have to work fast to pass the healthcare fiasco. Chances are it will be close and the Massachusetts authorities will call for a recount to ensure that the outcome was indeed valid plus they will have to count the mail-in ballots. In other words, they will work as slow as possible. However, the GOP is set for legal action:

Appointed Senator Paul Kirk will lose his vote in the Senate after Tuesday’s election in Massachusetts of a new senator and cannot be the 60th vote for Democratic health care legislation, according to Republican attorneys.

Kirk has vowed to vote for the Democratic bill even if Republican Scott Brown is elected but not yet certified by state officials and officially seated in the Senate. Kirk’s vote is crucial because without the 60 votes necessary to stop a Republican filibuster, the bill will be defeated.

This would be a devastating loss for President Obama and congressional Democrats. The bill, dubbed ObamaCare, is the centerpiece of the president’s agenda. Brown has campaigned on becoming the 41st vote against ObamaCare.

But in the days after the election, it is Kirk’s status that matters, not Brown’s. Massachusetts law says that an appointed senator remains in office “until election and qualification of the person duly elected to fill the vacancy.” The vacancy occurred when Senator Edward Kennedy died in August. Kirk was picked as interim senator by Governor Deval Patrick.

Democrats in Massachusetts have talked about delaying Brown’s “certification,” should he defeat Democrat Martha Coakley on Tuesday. Their aim would be to allow Kirk to remain in the Senate and vote the health care bill.

This will make Bush v. Gore look like arguing a parking ticket as the Dems have almost grasped the holy grail--healthcare reform--and will not go away without a knock-down, drag-out brawl. They will use every means to get this done including invoking arcane rules and procedures and will never stop if they have any avenue to subvert the will of the people.

Grab the popcorn because this is about to get really good.