It looks like the country might need him to take control of the senate away from the republicans. Hopefully the benefit concert the boys had for him in 2005 has helped the cause.

he also has the ugliest poster in the Pj catalog, courtesy of Jeff Ament

http://www.expressobeans.com/show.php?print=31070

the CNN exit polls have Tester apparently winning a tight race.

allright people, MO has gone to the dems and it looks like Webb has a slight lead heading into a recount.

so if our boy Tester can pull this shit out a MAJOR WAVE has swept accross the land today!

i can go to sleep tonight a little more confident in the American people and our democracy!

We have handed the senate and house to the Dems, now lets see them make a progressive change

It's looking good for the crew cut.

*waits for Gallatin*

Dang, narrowing a bit, But Tester still up.

This is gonna be close, we probably won't know until tomorrow

I think Tester is good. Close, but good.

though i'm all for multiple parties in a country, at this point in time i don't understand why the independent voters are not voting for Tester.

According to exit polls, 59% of independents did.

I just read on Yahoo news that Tester is predicted to win Montana

Tester just announced on CNN that he won and is asking his opponent to acknowledge he lost

i knew i should have flew out early for the gorge show and went to the missoula show

a show in wghich they perfromed ZERO covers by the way! just a little trivia for you folks out there

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eln_election_rdp

Democrats win House; Senate now tied

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer
14 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Democrats won a cliffhanger race in Montana on Wednesday that brought them to the brink of control of the Senate, after Americans sick of scandal and weary of war ended the Republican majority in the House.

With Democrats now assured of 50 Senate seats, the battle for outright control came down to Virginia, where the party's candidate, Jim Webb, held a small lead.

For Republicans, it was an election that started out grim and got only grimmer with the new day. First, voters brought down the Republican House majority after 12 years in power, and gave Democrats a majority of governorships for the first time in just as long.

Then Senate control began slipping away, the narrow GOP majority ground down to nothing, protected only by Vice President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote if the contest ended at 50-50.

Democrats hoped to shape a 51-49 majority with a Virginia victory for Webb, a former Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan. Webb led by fewer than 9,000 votes out of more than 2.3 million cast, and with the margin so small and so much on the line, GOP Sen. George Allen (news, bio, voting record) was not conceding. If a recount is held it could take weeks to be conducted by a panel of judges.

Electoral officials were canvassing the unofficial results Wednesday, and both parties had teams ready to monitor and intervene in the event of a recount, anticipating the process could stretch into next month.

In Montana, Democrat Jon Tester, an organic grain farmer who lost three fingers in a meat grinder, prevailed in a protracted contest with three-term Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), who was weakened politically by his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Tester held a 3,128-vote lead over Burns with only one county left to count its votes. That county had fewer than 1,000 votes to report. An AP canvass of Montana counties estimated there were not enough provisional ballots still to be counted for Burns to overcome his deficit.

That meant the election of 48 Democratic senators as well as two Democratic-voting independents — Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

A succession of tainted Republicans lost seats as their leaders lost power, a stinging referendum on the ways of Washington. A large majority of voters surveyed across the country said their disgust with corruption influenced their choice.

Setting a standard her party will be judged on in elections two years from now, speaker-in-waiting Nancy Pelosi promised: "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history."

The California Democrat was on the cusp of making history herself, as the first woman speaker. President Bush called her Wednesday morning to congratulate her.

Democrats took 20 of 36 governorship races to give themselves a majority of top state jobs — 28 — for the first time in a dozen years. New York, Ohio, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland and Arkansas went into the Democratic column.

Republicans hung on to Florida's governorship, with Charlie Crist prevailing in a race to succeed Bush's brother Jeb, and Bob Corker won a closely watched Senate contest in Tennessee, denying Democrat Harold Ford Jr.'s bid to become the first black senator from the South in more than a century.

But the night was one Republicans wished they could forget. For a two-term president who has led with Senate and House control for most of his time in office, easing the way for his tax cuts and war policy, it was an unaccustomed dose of defeat.

The best face his spokesman could put on it was that some people saw it coming. It was not a "a slap-on-the-forehead kind of shock," Tony Snow said. Of the results, he said: "They have not gone the way he would have liked."

Control of the Senate came down to two races once considered safely Republican until gaffes by the two GOP candidates.

Burns, 71, first elected in 1988 as a folksy, backslapping outsider, came under siege as a top recipient of campaign contributions from Abramoff. He did himself no favors, either, when he confronted members of a wildfire-fighting team and accused them of doing a bad job.

Allen, a former Virginia governor, struggled for months to get his campaign back on stride after he used the obscure racial slur "macaca" to introduce a man of Indian descent to an all-white rally.

Across the country, voters expressed exasperation with the criminal convictions, the investigations and the recent sexual e-mail scandal that befell Congress over the past two years.

In surveys conducted at polling places, three out of four voters said corruption and scandalous behavior in Congress made them more likely to vote Democratic.

Also in the surveys, about six in 10 voters disapproved of the Iraq war and only a third believed it had improved long-term security in the United States.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., echoing Pelosi, said the election shows "we must change course in Iraq."

More broadly, he said, Americans "have come to the conclusion, as we did some time ago, that a one-party town simply doesn't work."

Without losing any seats of their own, Democrats captured 27 GOP-held seats and were leading for two more, assuring them of control 12 years after a Republican rout brought a new generation of conservatives into office.

"Unprepared members were swallowed up by the sour national environment," New York Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the House GOP's election effort, said on CNN. He was re-elected.

Democrats also defeated four Republican incumbents in the Senate — Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, Mike DeWine in Ohio, Jim Talent in Missouri and Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island — who covered the spectrum from conservative to moderate.

Indiana was particularly cruel to House Republicans. Reps. John Hostettler, Chris Chocola and Mike Sodrel all lost in a state where Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' unpopularity compounded the dissatisfaction with Bush.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was Republican Rep. Jim Leach (news, bio, voting record)'s defeat in Iowa after a career that spanned 30 years, losing to Dave Loebsack, a college professor making his first run for elective office. The two parties spent lavishly on television commercials in dozens of districts deemed competitive — but not that one.

Scandal took an undeniable toll on the Republicans. Democrat Zack Space won the race to succeed Bob Ney, who pleaded guilty to corruption this fall in the Abramoff scandal. Republican Rep. John Sweeney (news, bio, voting record) lost his seat in New York several days after reports that he had roughed up his wife — an allegation she denied.

Republicans also lost the seat that Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) had held. He resigned on Sept. 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit computer messages he had written to teenage pages.

Rep. Don Sherwood (news, bio, voting record) lost despite apologizing to the voters for a long-term affair with a much younger woman; and Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record), also from Pennsylvania, was denied a new term after he became embroiled in a corruption investigation.

The GOP also lost the Texas seat once held by former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Surveys of voters suggested Democrats were winning the support of independents with almost 60 percent support, and middle-class voters were leaving Republicans behind.

About six in 10 voters said the nation is on the wrong track and disapproved of the way Bush is handling his job. Voters in all groups were more inclined to vote for Democratic candidates than for Republicans.

Over half of the voters registered dissatisfaction with the way Republican leaders in Congress dealt with Foley. They voted overwhelming Democratic in House races, by a margin of 3-to-1.

The surveys were taken by The Associated Press and the networks.

History worked against the GOP, too. Since World War II, the party in control of the White House has lost an average 31 House seats and six Senate seats in the second midterm election of a president's tenure in office.

More than the party-run battle for control of Congress and the statehouses was at stake.

South Dakota voters rejected the toughest abortion law in the land — a measure that would have outlawed the procedure under almost any circumstances.

In a comeback unlike any other, Lieberman won a new term in Connecticut — dispatching Democrat Ned Lamont. Lieberman, a supporter of Bush's war policy, ran as an independent but will side with the Democrats in organizing the new Senate when he returns to Washington.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton coasted to a second Democratic term in New York, winning roughly 70 percent of the vote in a warm-up to a possible run for the White House in 2008.

In Ohio, DeWine lost to Rep. Sherrod Brown (news, bio, voting record), a liberal seven-term lawmaker. Chafee, the most liberal Republican in the Senate and an opponent of the war, fell to Sheldon Whitehouse, former state attorney general.

Among the GOP losers, Hostettler, Santorum and DeWine all won their seats in the Republican landslide of 1994 — the year the GOP grabbed control of the House and Senate from the Democrats and launched the Republican revolution.

"It's very hard to watch," lamented Dick Armey, who was House majority leader in those heady GOP days.

Democrats piled up gains in the nation's statehouses.

In Ohio, Rep. Ted Strickland (news, bio, voting record) defeated Republican Ken Blackwell with ease to become the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. Deval Patrick triumphed over Republican Kerry Healey in Massachusetts, and will become the state's first black chief executive. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer won the New York governor's race in a landslide.

Voters in Vermont made Sanders, an independent, the winner in a Senate race, succeeding retiring Sen. James Jeffords. Brooklyn-born with an accent to match, Sanders is a socialist who will side with Democrats, as he did reliably in the House.

In Maryland, Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin captured an open Senate seat, defeating Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.

Tester wins. ament must be stoked. cool!

C'mon Virginia...

nothing better than having a friend of jeff ament swing the senate!


http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005 ... news05.txt

They came from eastern Montana and Washington and Arizona. Some wore their political inclinations on their sleeves, or on their chests, their shirts proclaiming everything from the derogatory - "Bush Sucks!" - to the hopeful: "Tester For Senate." There were preteen kids in backward baseball caps, graying men in business suits, and even a few avowed Republicans.

Most at Monday night's Pearl Jam concert at the Adams Center at least shared the knowledge that the event was a benefit for Jon Tester, the Big Sandy Democrat vying for a seat in the U.S. Senate now occupied by Republican Conrad Burns.


But a few were clueless.

"Is he the incumbent?" one concertgoer innocently asked a Tester volunteer.

That guy, at least, could be excused: He was Dale Green, 29, a Pearl Jam fan who had traveled from Aberdeen, Wash., in order to see the band perform in Missoula. Green nonetheless was intrigued by Pearl Jam's willingness to support Tester.

"The fact that (Pearl Jam bassist and Missoula resident) Jeff Ament is supporting (Tester) says a lot," asserted Green. "To see Jeff putting himself out there for this guy means something."

That sentiment - that Jon Tester must be cool, because Jeff Ament is cool - seemed to rule the night at the concert, which drew a near-capacity crowd to the arena on the University of Montana campus.

"I read about (Tester) in the paper," said Jenaveve Bell, a 22-year old University of Montana student. "He sounded like a good guy, and he's friends with Jeff Ament, so I'd like to know more about him."

Bell probably didn't learn much Monday night. Other than a small, two-sided card being handed out before the event by volunteers who ringed the entrance to the Adams Center, little information about Tester's positions was offered at the concert.

"Whether we raise a nickel, if we can get the young people of Montana fired up about this campaign, we've succeeded," said Tester, standing outside the arena greeting concertgoers before the event. "We're not really pushing our platform here; we just want to raise awareness."

Inside, after an opening performance by Seattle band The Briefs, Ament took the stage around 8:30 p.m. to a standing ovation from the crowd. After a few thank-yous, he introduced Tester, who was welcomed with equal warmth.

"This is what happens when a dirt farmer from Big Sandy runs for Senate teamed up with a bass player from Montana who's a member of a world-famous band," said Tester to the crowd.

With that, Pearl Jam launched into its performance. (Read a review of the concert in Thursday's Entertainer.)

For most in attendance, that was what the event was all about: a concert. Especially for people like Josh Richards.

"I'm a Republican," said the 20-year old business student. "But you can't pass up Pearl Jam."

Republican senator won't concede in Montana

Democrat Jon Tester declared victory over Republican Sen. Conrad Burns in Montana on Wednesday in a close contest, but the incumbent declined to concede in a race crucial to control of the U.S. Senate.

"We won this thing," Tester, the state senate president and organic farmer, told a Great Falls news conference.

U.S. media called the election for Tester even as some results continued to be tallied after a night of uncertainty.

"Jon Tester ran a good race and has the lead right now, but it is extremely close," Burns said in a statement. "There are still votes out there that deserve to be counted."

"I believe we need to continue to let that process play itself out and there is no need to rush to a conclusion when the votes are this close."

A Democratic win in Montana would give the party 50 seats in the 100-seat U.S. Senate, with the only undecided contest in Virginia.

"It's over," Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who campaigned for Tester, said by telephone. Burns is "no longer a U.S. senator come January."

Incumbent Burns, first elected in 1988, was tainted by links to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his campaign was marred by several gaffes. Montanans have traditionally voted Republican.

Updated unofficial results from the Montana secretary of state's office said Tester won 176,857 votes, compared to 175,059 for Burns.

A recount would be allowed if the margin of victory in the official Montana tally is 0.5 percent or less of votes cast -- a possibility given the tight contest.

Tester said he had not heard from Burns and did not know if the Republican would push for a recount.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061108/pl_ ... montana_dc

It's over...once the Democrats take over both Houses in January, it will only be a matter of time before the Muslim hordes begin storming the coasts.

Better start practicing your Arabic.

Well, if their voting record is any gauge, you might want to think about changing your board name to "Nostradamus."