The Commentariat -- Nov. 6, 2014

Internal links, defunct videos & photo removed.

Juliet Eilperin, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Obama said Wednesday that he accepts the American public's message in the midterm elections that Washington needs to break its political gridlock, even as he will now face a tougher final two years after Republicans won control of the Senate for the first time in seven years. 'I hear you,' Obama said at a news conference in the East Room":

     ... Here's the transcript of the presser, via the WashPo. ...

... Josh Lederman of the AP: "Speaking the afternoon after his party was dealt a punishing blow in the midterm elections, Obama said a new military authorization is one of a few areas where he will seek to work with Congress during the lame-duck session before a new Congress is seated in January. He said the goal was to update an authorization narrowly tailored to the fight against al-Qaida to be more applicable to the current mission against IS extremists in Iraq and Syria." ...

... Dana Milbank is awfully upset that President Obama didn't at least prostrate himself before the public, if not promise to repeal the ACA. CW: If Milbank had glanced at the exit polls, he would understand why Obama doesn't think he made a bad turn. ...

... Jim Newell of Salon: "He's basically the same guy he was the day before the election, and that's going to send many in Washington to their fainting couches." Read the whole post. Also, the Post should buy Milbank a fainting couch. ...

... Which Milbank can share with Ron Fournier of the National Journal: "From all appearances Wednesday, the president won't change -- not his policies, not his style, not his staff, not nothing. Defiant and begrudging, the president said he would meet with GOP leaders, seek their suggestions for common ground, and maybe grab a drink with Senate Majority Leader-to-Be Mitch McConnell." CW: Fournier pulls down a handsome salary for writing this garbage. ...

... AND Charles Pierce is aggravated that the President is polite. ...

... CW: How long does it take for liberals to figure out that railing against Republicans is not Obama's style? (It wouldn't help either, because the majority-white-racists in these here United States would get all askeert of an Angry Black Man.) If I were Obama, I'd do just what he did: concede he could manage sitting down for a drink with McConnell but otherwise deflect Stupid Reporter Questions. ...

... AND here was Pierce yesterday, urging Obama to "make them squeal." CW: I'm drawn to Pierce's mastery of the language & I'm in sync with many of his ideas, but I'm damned glad he doesn't hold a position of power.

Nathaniel Herz of the Alaska Dispatch News: "A day after Republican Dan Sullivan sprung to the lead in Alaska's U.S. Senate race, his opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, refused to concede, citing tens of thousands of outstanding votes -- particularly those in rural parts of the state. Numbers released by Alaska elections officials Wednesday morning showed Begich facing daunting odds...." ...

... Alex DeMarban of the Alaska Dispatch News: "Candidates in [Alaska's] squeaky-tight gubernatorial race have urged supporters to stay patient, saying the contest is too close to call. Gov. Sean Parnell, hoping to win his second full term but trailing slightly, said in a statement Wednesday it could be two weeks before all the votes are tallied and a winner -- either Parnell or Republican-turned-independent challenger Bill Walker, the top of the 'unity ticket' -- can be determined."

NBC Washington: "NBC News is calling incumbent Mark Warner the 'apparent winner' in Virginia's Senate race, as officials work to certify election results in the razor-close race. Throughout the day Wednesday, Warner hung onto a slim lead over Republican challenger Ed Gillespie."

Scott Lemieux in Lawyers, Guns & Money: "The in-party -- even in cases where presidents are transformative and/or have bold agendas that deliver plenty to their constituents — rarely fares well in the midterms of term 2. Combined with a very unfavorable map, the fact that midterms massively favor the Republican electorate, and Republicans at both the state and federal level figuring out that the damage you inflict on constituents will actually be held against the party controlling the White House, the Democrats were going to get clobbered, and the 'this proves Obama should have led with leadership by ...' genre is mostly a waste of time. Messaging and position-taking might matter a little at the margins, but there wasn't any magic formula that was going to prevent the 2014 midterms from being a bloodbath at the federal level."

Gail Collins: "Always look on the bright side." ...

... OR NOT. Frank Rich: "The electorate's message could not have been more clear: Having soured on hope and change, Americans voted for change without hope.... The most misleading morning-after-the-election story line is that the Republicans triumphed because the Establishment struck back and shut down the crazy gaffe-prone candidates who have dogged the GOP in the past two cycles.... Scott Brown's ability to lose in this Republican blowout was awesome, though not in a good way."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "... turnout among core Democratic groups was lower in 2014 than it was in 2012 or even 2010. Many Democrats would have won if turnout had resembled a presidential election year. But Democrats also lost in states where turnout surpassed 2010, according to an Upshot analysis of preliminary returns and voter turnout data."

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "The lesson of the last decade in politics is not to over-interpret the results of any single election. The dominant trends in American politics were mostly reinforced yesterday: the country is increasingly polarized; the low-turnout midterm electorate benefits Republicans; the Senate will remain closely contested for the foreseeable future; the House will remain the anchor of the Republican Party; Democrats have a demographic advantage in presidential elections. And very little will get accomplished in Washington."

Brad Plumer of Vox: "The outlook for climate policy looks just as dismal after these midterms as it did before -- at least in Washington. True, there were small shifts in attitude here and there. Some Republicans no longer think it's viable to deny global warming outright." ...

... John Light of Grist: The big money environmentalists spent in this election cycle mostly didn't pay off. ...

... FOR Example. Rebecca Leber of the New Republic: "In handing Republicans control of the Senate on Tuesday, Americans effectively voted for the party's hostile plans against President Barack Obama's environmental legacy. Their votes also put the Senate's environment and climate policy into the hands of the worst science-denier in national politics: Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who is almost certainly the next chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee."

Harold Meyerson in the American Prospect: "... the Democrats' failure isn't just the result of Republican negativity. It's also intellectual and ideological. What, besides raising the minimum wage, do the Democrats propose to do about the shift in income from wages to profits, from labor to capital, from the 99 percent to the 1 percent?" ...

... CW: Meyerson is right. In allowing itself to be taken over by special interests, the Democratic party has become a Seinfeld meme: the Party of Nothing. The party can't give up its pretense of "feeling the pain" of the working class, but it also can't afford to alienate its big-money donors by actually doing the things that would better the lot of working people vis-a-vis said big-money donors. Remember, healthcare reform came about only because it was an accommodation to a couple of super-huge industries. (Maybe it would have been an unchallenged success if it included a provision to process all claims thru Koch Industries.) This election was less about Obama than it was about voters' real-life economic hardships. Voters don't think either party will help them. And they're right. Democrats' tepid policy proposals -- $10.10/hour & lower college loan interest rates -- are more insulting than inspiring.

New York Times Editors: "On at least six high-profile and often contentious issues -- minimum wage, marijuana legalization, criminal justice reform, abortion rights, gun control and environmental protection '' voters approved ballot measures, in some cases overwhelmingly, that were directly at odds with the positions of many of the Republican winners."

Matthew Yglesias: "McConnell is not the most charismatic politician of our time, but he is arguably the sharpest mind in contemporary politics on a strategic level.... As McConnell told Josh Green, the key to eroding Obama's popularity was denying him the sheen of bipartisanship, and that meant keep Republicans united in opposition.... To prevent Obama from becoming the hero who fixed Washington, McConnell decided to break it. And it worked." ...

I wanted to win. -- Mitch McConnell, explaining his political philosophy

"The Dawning of the Age of McConnell." Evan Osnos of the New Yorker: "... we are entering a period of paralysis.... McConnell has told big donors that he will 'work at every turn to thwart the Obama agenda, and use appropriations and the budget process to force the president to roll back key elements of Obamacare, to water down Dodd-Frank, to tilt toward coal -- to move forward on the Keystone XL pipeline, and to stop Environmental Protection Agency action on climate change,' according to the National Journal. For some Republican senators, that will not be enough. Before the election, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, refused to pledge his support to McConnell, and offered his own vision of the Senate's priorities, including opening congressional hearings into the actions of the Obama Administration, 'looking at the abuse of power, the executive abuse, the regulatory abuse, the lawlessness that sadly has pervaded this administration.'... Cruz might look like a moderate next to some of his new colleagues; in Iowa, the Republican Joni Ernst, as the Times summed it up, 'wants to ban abortions and same-sex marriage and impeach the president.'"

Lori Montgomery & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Within hours of solidifying their control of Congress, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker John A. Boehner were quietly laying plans for a series of quick votes in January aimed at erasing their obstructionist image ahead of the 2016 elections. First up: Action on long-stalled bills with bipartisan support, including measures to repeal an unpopular tax on medical devices and approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.... Pressure to follow through on the party's most conservative priorities was already building Wednesday. Several tea-party leaders gathered at the National Press Club and reiterated their demand that repealing the Affordable Care Act remain the party's priority. In a memo, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) also emphasized the health-care law as a top target." ...

... Here's the Wall Street Journal op-ed by McConnell & Boehner laying out their brilliant agenda. It's firewalled, so unless you're a subscriber, Google "Americans have entrusted Republicans with control of both the House and Senate. We are humbled by this opportunity to help struggling middle-class Americans" ... especially if you feel like making yourself sick. ...

     ... Greg Sargent: "Interestingly, they pledge a new era of constructive governance, even as they also vow to '... repeal ObamaCare, which is hurting the job market along with Americans' health care.' This is just bluster for the base, but still: Those who profess a love of bipartisan cooperation will politely ignore the absurdity of vowing to get government working again while simultaneously vowing to keep up the repeal crusade." ...

     ... Steve M.: "Republicans are still awfully good at concocting (and, through repetition, meme-ifying) lofty-sounding descriptors for not-so-lofty policy goals. (They're also excellent at scaring the crap out of voters with deceitfully negative sounding phrases: 'death panels,' 'death tax,' etc.)"

Nelson Schwartz & Clifford Krauss of the New York Times: "Business interests face a much more receptive audience now that Republicans are poised to control both the House and Senate next year.... [BUT] there is much less appetite on the part of business leaders for wholesale changes to the health care law. For one thing, many of the insurance exchanges are finally working well, and businesses have adapted to the new landscape. Even more important, added demand from the newly insured is likely to increase profits in sectors like hospitals, pharmaceuticals and medical devices."

Ben White of Politico: "Voters want the GOP to fix the economy. Good luck with that.... Even if Republicans manage to overcome internal fissures and unify around a set of economic proposals next year -- a big open question -- there is only a limited chance that any of them will have the kind of profound impact voters might reward in 2016.... Republicans on Tuesday bought themselves a big share of a structurally troubled American economy but may lack the tools needed to fix it. Their best hope, in fact, could be for the economy to finally gain some traction on its own, putting the GOP in position to claim credit." ...

... Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "... Republicans ousted some of the red-state Democrats most inclined to work with them, such as Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas, reducing the number of potential Democratic allies.... Mr. McConnell, with few votes to spare, will have to balance the views of a handful of more moderate Republicans, such as Senator Susan Collins of Maine, with those of unyielding conservatives such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas...."

Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Two Senate sources say they expect Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to reach out to Independent Sen. Angus King (Maine) and centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) about joining the Senate Republican Conference. Republicans have a 52-seat Senate majority and that could swell to 54 seats depending on the final vote tally in Alaska and a runoff in Louisiana next month. Both are solidly red states."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Wherein Charles Pierce complains that a CNN on-air personality has sold herself to the Republican party: "what is purported CNN 'analyst' S.E. Cupp doing bringing her smart-person glasses into an effort to groom candidates for one party or another, and then going back to opine on her handiwork both on the television and on the Intertoobz?"

AND, in Totally Unrelated News. J. K. Trotter of Gawker: "The Daily Mail is reporting the name -- Robert O'Neill -- of the retired Navy SEAL who plans to appear on Fox News and reveal that he shot Osama bin Laden. O'Neill's father, Tom, confirmed his 38-year-old son's identity to the Mail a week ahead of the Fox News interview scheduled to air on November 12. The Mail's report comes two days after the special-forces website SOFREP -- and an anonymous Gawker commenter -- both claimed that the Navy SEAL was Robert O'Neill."

Presidential Election

Jonathan Chait: "The structural advantages undergirding Republican control of both chambers of Congress are so imposing that only extraordinary circumstances could overwhelm them.... As long as Democrats hold the White House, Republican control of Congress is probably safe -- at least for several election cycles to come.... Hillary Clinton is the only thing standing between a Republican Party even more radical than George W. Bush's version and unfettered control of American government." ...  

     ... CW: OR some more messianic left-ish political figure. I just don't see Hillary as the salvation of the Democratic brand. As Frank Rich remarks (linked above), "A cautious Clinton campaign standing for little in particular and distancing itself from Barack Obama could yet be vulnerable, just as such a Democratic campaign proved this year."

Tim Egan on gun control: "... Washington showed the model for other states. If you take the issue out of the hands of cowed politicians and put it directly in front of the voters, the results are as expected -- the will of the people prevails."

Steve M.: "How many people nationwide have heard of Sherrod Brown? Amy Klobuchar? Kamala Harris? Maybe Kirsten Gillibrand gets a bit of national attention, and self-promoters like Cory Booker, Wendy Davis, and Elizabeth Warren get more. But the party doesn't have anything like the GOP hype machine. If you don't work the system yourself, a la Barack Obama, you're nobody.... And that's why Republicans have so many A-list presidential candidates for 2016 and Democrats, with Warren taking a pass, have precisely one."

The Commentariat -- Nov. 5, 2014

Defunct video, photo removed.

Unless you live in a solidly-blue neighborhood, look around. The majority of your neighbors are stupid or selfish or both. But, hey, what the fuck do I care? Yesterday was my birthday, & the Stupid & the Selfish gave ME, ME, ME a buncha great birthday presents.

Yeah, a lot of people are going to get sick & die unnecessarily because they can't afford health insurance & their Republican governors & legislatures will keep denying the Medicaid expansion. But I'm on Medicare & it's too late for Republicans to take it away.

A lot of decent, hard-working immigrants are going to remain in the shadows, suffering all manner of indignities & inconveniences (including death!), but I've got my genuine U.S. birth certificate, so I'm cool. Also, I no longer have to worry about the hordes of Ebola-carrying terrorists swimming the Rio Grande.

Yeah, black people will continue to get the shaft in too many ways to count. But you should see me: I am whitey, white, white. Nobody's going to stop me for driving while white or question what I'm doing in my nice neighborhood or keep me from voting.

Low-wage workers won't get decent wages in most states, but I'm not looking for a job at McDonalds or WalMart, so why should I care? My burgers are cheap & I can keep getting swell bargains at WalMart. Wages a bit further up the pay scale will remain stagnant, but my stock portfolio should be fine, so lucky me. Those wonderful Republicans will keep Democrats from raising my taxes, so thank goodness I won't have to kick in my fair share.

Public schools will get crappier, but I'm long past worrying about that. My neighbors might be ignorant, but their kids will definitely be ignorant. So what? Public universities? Aaah, let students be saddled for life with debt. I paid off the $750 loan that covered my college shortfall, so they can pay off the tens of thousands they'll owe. Good luck, kids!

Sure, the overall economy will continue to stagger along, but relatively-speaking, I'm doing fine. Okay, I've got that house in Florida in danger of falling into the Caloosahatchee, but I'm sure I can sell it for a good price to a climate-change denier before it submerges. Wahoo!

Justin Sink of the Hill: "President Obama will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon, facing the White House press corps one day after Democrats were blown out in the midterm elections.... President Obama attempted to call Sen. Mitch McConnell, slated to become the new majority leader, last night, but couldn't connect with the newly reelected Kentucky Republican. The president left a message for McConnell, and spoke to numerous other Republican and Democratic House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates." ...

... AND, No, Peter Baker of the New York Times, Obama is NOT "left fighting for his own relevance." Presidents are relevant.

Marin Cogan of New York writes an excellent summary of the "meaning" of the Republican sweep.

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "... if a 'wave election' is one that signifies important changes in the underlying dynamics of the American electorate, then this wasn't a wave election."

Victoria D. recommends Charles Pierce's liveblog of the results. So do I.

AND Rand Paul taunts Hillary Clinton & her gallery of losers.

The New York Times' liveblog of the election has a handy tabulator in the upper-right-hand corner of the page, which will show the Senate & House totals, by party, as races are called.

The Washington Post's liveblog is here.

Here's the Guardian's livefeed.

Greg Sargent says at 6:46 that exit polls show the demographics for Democrats are looking better than in 2010, not as good as in 2012.

Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP: "President Barack Obama compared the political landscape for the midterm election Tuesday to the 1958 elections during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower when Republicans suffered severe losses in the Senate. One-third of Senate seats are up for election this year and Obama says many states with contested races tilt to the Republican Party. 'In this election cycle this is probably the worst possible group of states for Democrats since Dwight Eisenhower,' Obama said Tuesday on WNPR, a Connecticut public radio station."

Paul Rosenberg in Salon: This election is all about race. CW: I have wondered for a long time why Southern white voters were willing to put up with their own poverty levels in states which over the last several decades have been largely governed by Republicans. Rosenberg has the answer: the white voters blame blacks -- not government policies -- for their states' poverty.

Elliot Hannon of Slate: "A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Kansas to stop enforcing the state's ban on same-sex marriage, because the law violates gay couples' constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree granted a preliminary injunction but put a hold on the ruling until Nov. 11 in order to give the state the chance to appeal."

Senate & House Races

The Party of No, Ctd. New York Times Editors: "Republicans would like the country to believe that they took control of the Senate on Tuesday by advocating a strong, appealing agenda of job creation, tax reform and spending cuts. But, in reality, they did nothing of the sort.... Campaigning on pure negativity isn't surprising for a party that has governed that way since Mr. Obama was first sworn in. By creating an environment where every initiative is opposed and nothing gets done, Republicans helped engineer the president's image as weak and ineffectual."

"Meet the Real Senate Majority Leader." Sahil Kapur of Think Progress: "Texas Sen. Ted Cruz ... is poised to make life very difficult for ... [Mitch McConnell] by harnessing the power of the GOP base's rightward drift to wage fierce battles with President Barack Obama. Cruz telegraphed his strategy in a post-election interview Tuesday night on Fox News, calling on Republicans to do whatever it takes to repeal Obamacare and and prevent Obama's upcoming executive actions on immigration."

Dana Milbank: "Republicans have set themselves up for chaos, if not outright fratricide."

Alex Rogers of Time: The Republican Senatorial Committee conducted exercises to try to gaffe-proof their candidates. It pretty much worked.

Jonathan Weisman & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "An election that started as trench warfare, state by state and district by district, crested into a sweeping Republican victory. Contests that were expected to be close were not, and races expected to go Democratic broke narrowly for the Republicans."

The Times' interactive Senate map is here.

The Times' interactive House map is here.

States are listed in alpha order.

Alabama. Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (R) has won re-election against nobody.

Alaska. Republican Dan Sullivan is leading Sen. Mark Begich (D) by about four points with 100 percent reporting, but the race hasn't been called yet. ...

... Nathaniel Herz of Alaska Dispatch News: "Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan appeared to grab an insurmountable lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich early Wednesday, with all of Alaska's precincts reporting. With results from all 441 precincts counted, Sullivan led 49 percent to 45 percent. The margin remained essentially the same from the first returns early in the evening."

Arkansas. NBC News projects Rep. Tom Cotton (RTP) has defeated Sen. Mark Pryor (D). This of course is a Republican pick-up.

** Colorado. Cory Gardner (R) has unseated Mark Udall (D).

Delaware. Chris Coons (D) has won re-election.

Florida. Gwen Graham (D), daughter of former Gov. & Sen. Bob Graham, has won a House seat in Florida's 2nd Congressional District, which usually polls Republican.

Georgia. David Perdue (D) is predicted to be the winner in Georgia, & should win more than 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a runoff.

Hawaii. CNN projects Brian Schatz (D) has won.

Idaho. Sen. Jim Risch (R) has won re-election.

Illinois. Dick Durbin has won re-election.

Indiana is reporting early results as of 6:45 pm ET.

** Iowa. NBC News has called the race for Joni Ernst at 11:30 pm ET. That means Republicans control the Senate. I'm going to bed. Good night. ...

... Ted Barrett of CNN: "Republican Joni Ernst has won the race for Iowa's U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, defeating Democratic challenger Bruce Braley, according to a CNN projection."

Kansas. CNN has called the race for Sen. Pat Roberts (R) over independent Greg Orman. ...

... Dion Lefler & Bryan Lowry of the Wichita Eagle: "Pat Roberts won a fourth term in the U.S. Senate and probably the chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, despite a strong challenge from independent candidate Greg Orman." ...

... At 8:49 pm ET, the Senate race is really close.

Kentucky. CNN projects Mitch McConnell will win. NBC News gives it to McConnell, too. ...

... Jay Newton-Small of Time interviews Mitch McConnell: "Some examples of things that we're very likely to be voting on: approving the Keystone XL pipeline, repealing the medical device tax, trying to restore the 40-hour work week, trying to get rid of the individual mandate.... I'll give you a couple of examples where there may be areas of agreement [with President Obama]: comprehensive tax reform and trade agreements. Most of my members think that America's a winner in international trade." He wouldn't answer questions about "undoing the nuclear option" on confirmation of nominees nor on immigration reform.

Tina Nguyen of Mediaite: Chris Matthews & Al Sharpton bashed Grimes' "concession" speech. CW: McConnell's victory speech, BTW, was gracious.

... Returns are coming in already at 6:20 pm ET. Looks mighty good for Mitch with a fraction of precincts reporting.

Louisiana. Bruce Alpert of the Times-Picayune: "Louisiana's Senate campaign is heading into overtime. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. and Bill Cassidy were running neck-and-neck ahead of the field of eight candidates late Tuesday, but well short of the 50-percent-plus-one vote needed to avoid the Dec. 6 runoff. Rob Maness, the Tea Party conservative, was running a distant third." ...

... The Louisiana Senate results are here.

Maine. The NYT has called the race for Republican Susan Collins.

Massachusetts. Sen. Ed Markey (D) wins his first state-wide election. ...

... Seth Moulton (D) wins House race, per NBC News. ...

... Stephanie Ebbert & Kathy McCabe of the Boston Globe: "Seth Moulton, an Iraq war veteran and first-time candidate, swept to victory as a change agent for the Sixth Congressional District on Tuesday, denying Massachusetts Republicans their best hope of picking up a seat in the US House this year. With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Moulton was beating Republican Richard R. Tisei, 55.4 percent to 40 percent. Tisei conceded the race around 9:40 p.m." ...

How to win ...

... And lose a Congressional race:

Michigan: Gary Peters (D) wins, per NBC News.

Minnesota. Sen. Al Franken (D-Terrific) has won re-election. ...

... Katy Bachman of Politico: "Democratic incumbent Sen. Al Franken coasted to a second term over Republican challenger Mike McFadden. With four percent of Minnesota precincts reporting..., the Associated Press called the vote. The 2014 race between Franken and McFadden, an investment banker, was a stark contrast to six years ago, when Franken barely pulled out a win against Norm Coleman. Separated by a mere 312 votes, Franken didn’t take office until July 2009, following a protracted recount." With 100 percent reporting, Franken garnered 53.2 percent of the vote to McFadden's 42.9 percent.

Allison Sherry of the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Republican Tom Emmer, who failed in his bid to be Minnesota’s governor four years ago, won the seat being vacated by Rep. Michele Bachmann in the conservative Sixth ­Congressional District, ushering in an era that Emmer vows will be marked with civility and service to constituents. Emmer, who was known as a fiery state legislator, has simmered down this election season, touting conservative messages of fiscal responsibility and a willingness to reach across the aisle."

Mississippi. The NYT projects Sen. Thad Cochran (R) has won re-election.

Montana. The Republican Steve Daines wins, according to NBC News. This is a Republican pick-up. It's the seat held by Max Baucus (D), then John Walsh, the plagiarist guy.

Nebraska. Ben Sasse (R) has won, per the NYT.

** New Hampshire. Dan Tuohy & Mark Hayward of the Union Leader: "Sen. Jeanne Shaheen kept 'purple' New Hampshire from turning to Brown. The Democratic incumbent defeated Republican Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts Senator who moved to the Granite State last year, in one of the hottest U.S. Senate races in the country. ABC News projected a Shaheen victory shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday. An hour later, it was a razor-thin margin, and Brown supporters clung to hopes he could pull off the upset. But Shaheen tallied yet more votes, and won a second term. She pulled ahead, 51 percent to 49 percent, with 80 percent of the precincts reporting."

... Scott Brown is not conceding (at 10:55 pm ET) & is insisting he hasn't lost the election. The count is very close right now, about 192K (Shaheen) to 190K (Brown). ...

... ABC News has called the race for Jeanne Shaheen @ 8:45 pm ET. "The Constitution provides that every state has two Senators, but not every Senator has two states." -- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

... Jeanne Shaheen is looking good against Scott Brown, with 13 percent of the vote in, but @ 8:25 pm ET, the networks haven't called the race.

... Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) of New Hampshire's first district lost to Republican Frank Guinta, so New Hampshire no longer has an all-female Congressional leadership (or an all-Democratic one).

New Jersey. Sen. Cory Booker (D) won re-election.

New Mexico. Sen. Tom Udall (D) retains his seat.

New York: Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm (R), despite a 20-count federal indictment against him, won re-election, largely because his Democratic opponent, Domenic Recchia, is a dimwitted hack. CW: I seldom endorse third-party candidates, even when they're the best in the field, but I'm with the woman cited at the end of the New York Times story linked here. She voted for the Green party candidate. Once in awhile throwing away your vote is the only thing you can do.

North Carolina. The repugnant Thom Tillis (R) has unseated Kay Hagan (D).

... Kay Hagan is "in a world of trouble," according to Steve Kornacki of MSNBC.

Oklahoma. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Neanderthal) has won re-election. ...

... James Lankford (R) has won the special election to replace retiring Sen. Tom Coburn.

Oregon. Sen. Jeff Merkley has won re-election. ...

... Jeff Mapes of the Oregonian: "Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley cruised to a strong re-election victory over Republican challenger Monica Wehby. Merkley's victory was clear minutes after the polls closed as he held a commanding lead of a more than 2-to-1 ratio over Wehby in partial results.... Republican strategists once had high hopes for Wehby, 52, a pediatric neurosurgeon from Portland. She was one of several doctors around the country recruited by Republicans to run in a year when the new federal health care law -- known as Obamacare -- was having a rocky rollout."

Rhode Island. Sen. Jack Reed (D) has won re-election, per the NYT.

South Carolina. NBC News projects Sen. Tim Scott (R), a Nikki Haley appointee, has won his special election. ...

... NBC News projects Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) has won re-election.

Texas. Sen. John Cornyn (R) has run re-election.

South Dakota. Mike Rounds (R) wins, per NBC News. This was a 4-way.

Tennessee. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R) wins re-election.

Virginia. Mark Warner (D), a heavy favorite going into election day, barely won. Gillespie (R) had predicted he would lose by one point or less. He was right. ...

Byron Tau of Politico: "Democratic Sen. Mark Warner is clinging to a small lead over Republican Ed Gillespie in an unexpectedly tight Virginia Senate race. With nearly all precincts reporting, about 13,000 votes separated the two men -- with Warner edging Gillespie by less than 1 percent of the vote. Warner made a brief victory speech on Tuesday night, despite the fact that the Associated Press still considers the race too close to call.... Virginia law does not have an automatic recount process but allows the loser in any race decided by less than a 1-percent margin to request one. Gillespie declined to concede in brief remarks to supporters, urging patience with the final vote tallies and the few remaining outstanding precincts." ...

... At 10:08 pm ET, Republican Ed Gillespie is still ahead. This has been considered a safe Democratic seat. ...

... Mark Warner's numbers are looking better now. (8:05 pm ET) But NBC has changed from "too early to call" to "too close to call." ...

... It's not looking so good for Sen. Mark Warner (D); his challenger is the weasel-y Ed Gillespie. However, the burbs around D.C. usually come in late. Warner was expected to win handily, so there has been little national attention to the race.

West Virginia. NBC News has called the Senate race for the Republican Shelly Capito. This is a Republican pick-up; Democrat Jay Rockefeller is retiring. Capito is the daughter of a former W. Va. governor, Arch Moore.

Wyoming. Mike Enzi (R) holds his seat.