Highlights from my week included protesting
the Clinton speech /rally in Las Vegas with my “Kerry Flip Flop” Tshirt
on – it was
Wendy, Brian, and I vs. the union goons;
learning to play black jack without losing any money; and seeing Hulk Hogan
and the guy
from Extreme Makeover (they are doing
a house in Las Vegas).
Post election, though, I find I’m having
a hard time remembering all the names and numbers myself, so I thought
that friends and
family could benefit from a “cheat sheet”
of talkers. Here is what Tuesday brought us:
President Bush received 51% of the
popular vote, the largest popular vote in history for a Presidential candidate.
How did Bush win
the popular vote? 1)
Bush increased his % support from the 2000 election in every state except
Vermont, where he lost a few points,
and in Idaho and DC where it was
constant with 2000 numbers. He got higher support in Calif, NY, CT,
RI, etc.; 2) Only 1 state gave
Bush less than 40% of the vote —
Massachusetts.; 3) 14 states supported Bush with at least 60% of
the vote. A state-by-state
comparison from 2000 to 2004 follows
this email….
Republicans now hold 231 (out of 435)
seats in the House (a 14 seat majority) and 55 seats (out of 100 – 44 Democrats
and 1
Independent) in the Senate.
This majority sets or ties the previous high majorities since World War
II. This is the largest number of
House seats Republicans have held
since 1946 -- In 1994, Republicans picked up 52 seats to take back
control after 4 decades in the
minority, finding themselves controlling
230 seats in the House.
Of the 7 open Senate seats, Republicans
claimed victory in 5. Republicans won in Florida (Mel Martinez,
former HUD Secretary,
defeated Betty Castor to win the seat
of retiring Bob Graham); Georgia (Johnny Isakson defeated Denise Majette
to succeed retiring
Senator Zell Miller); Louisiana (David
Vitter defeated two Democrat opponents and escaped a December runoff with
52% of the vote);
South Carolina (Jim DeMint beat Superintendent
of Education Inez Tenenbaum), and North Carolina (Richard Burr defeated
former
Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine
Bowles). Republicans also kept seats in Kentucky (Senator Jim Bunning)
and in Alaska
(Senator Lisa Murkowski) which were
tight races.
David Vitter will be the first Republican
to represent Louisiana since Reconstruction. It will also be the
first time since Reconstruction
that Georgia has been represented by
two Republican Senators.
Republicans also picked up 1 “non-open”
seat by winning in South Dakota (John Thune defeating Senate Minority Leader
Tom
Daschle). No sitting Senator
lost their election except for Daschle.
In the Senate, Democrats won 2 of
the 7 open seats -- Illinois (Barack Obama defeating Alan Keyes) and
Colorado (Attorney General
Ken Salazar defeating beer mogul Pete
Coors). Ken Salazar’s brother also won a house seat in Colorado.
What do the 2004 election numbers mean
for 2006? In the five elections since WWIII where a president has
been in his 6th year, the
party out of the oval office has picked
up an average of 29 House seats and six Senate seats. Republicans
do not think that will be the
average next time, but are comparing
2006 to the “third quarter in a football game when you go in already ahead.”
In 2006, 17
Democrats and 15 Republican Senators
will be up for reelection. Of the Democrats, eight were first elected
in 2000 and six will be older
than 70 by 2006. Of the Republicans,
the only obvious places the Democrats may pick up a seat are in Tennessee
and Mississippi,
where Frist and Lott are expected to
retire.
Here is
the link to the red / blue counties map – look how many are RED!!!!!!!
This map really puts into perspective how small the “democrat” areas are
in our country. We love the heartland and the south!!!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/vote2004/countymap.htm
Here is the breakdown of the popular
vote:
Alabama
2000 -- 57/42
2004 -- 63/37
Alaska
2000 -- 59/28/10
2004 -- 62/35/2
Arkansas
2000 -- 51/45
2004 -- 54/45
Arizona
2000 -- 51/45
2004 -- 55/44
Colorado
2000 -- 51/42/5
2004 -- 53/46
Florida
2000 -- 49/49
2004 -- 52/47
Georgia
2000 -- 55/43
2004 -- 59/41
Idaho
2000 -- 69/28
2004 -- 68/30
Indiana
2000 -- 57/41
2004 -- 60/39
Kansas
2000 -- 58/37
2004 -- 62/37
Kentucky
2000 -- 57/41
2004 -- 60/40
Louisiana
2000 -- 53/47
2004 -- 57/42
Mississippi
2000 -- 57/42
2004 -- 60/40
Missouri
2000 -- 51/47
2004 -- 54/46
Montana
2000 -- 58/34
2004 -- 59/39
Nebraska
2000 -- 63/33
2004 -- 67/32
Nevada
2000 -- 49/46
2004 -- 51/48
North Carolina
2000 -- 56/43
2004 -- 56/44
North Dakota
2000 -- 61/33
2004 -- 63/36
Ohio
2000 -- 50/46
2004 -- 51/49
Oklahoma
2000 -- 60/38
2004 -- 66/34
South Carolina
2000 -- 57/41
2004 -- 58/41
South Dakota
2000 -- 60/38
2004 -- 60/39
Tennessee
2000 -- 51/48
2004 -- 57/43
Texas
2000 -- 59/38
2004 -- 61/38
Utah
2000 -- 67/26/5
2004 -- 71/27
Virginia
2000 -- 52/45
2004 -- 54/45
West Virginia
2000 -- 52/46
2004 -- 56/43
Wyoming
2000 -- 69/28
2004 -- 69/29
The Purple states (flips)
Iowa
2000 48/49
2004 50/49
New Hampshire
2000 -- 48/47
2004 -- 50/49
New Mexico
2000 -- 48/48
2004 -- 50/49
Bush support improved even in Blue
States
California
2000 -- 42
2004 -- 44
Connecticut
2000 -- 39
2004 -- 44
Delaware
2000 -- 42
2004 -- 46
DC
2000 -- 9
2004 -- 9 (2000 more votes, though)
Hawaii
2000 -- 38
2004 -- 45
Illinois
2000 -- 43
2004 -- 45
Maine
2000 -- 44
2004 -- 45
Maryland
2000 -- 40
2004 -- 43
Massachusetts
2000 -- 33
2004 -- 37
Michigan
2000 -- 47
2004 -- 48
Minnesota
2000 -- 46
2004 -- 48
New Jersey
2000 -- 41
2004 -- 46
New York
2000 -- 35
2004 -- 40
Oregon
2000 -- 47
2004 -- 48
Pennsylvania
2000 -- 47
2004 -- 49
Rhode Island
2000 -- 32
2004 -- 39
Vermont
2000 -- 41
2004 -- 39
Washington
2000 -- 45
2004 -- 46
Wisconsin
2000 -- 48
2004 -- 49