I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have in the next couple days, so here are my semi-educated predictions for Tuesday’s elections:
MN-Senate: The only question about this race is Klobuchar’s margin of victory. She’s run one of the best campaigns of this election cycle and has effectively portrayed Kennedy as the Republican tool we all know him to be. Klobuchar by 12%.
MN-Gov: This is a tight race and the Hatch campaign has flubbed things over the last few days. Note to Hatch: calling someone a “whore” is not considered Minnesota nice. Note to Dutcher: read your briefing books more closely, preferably with a highlighter in hand. But I think the (R) after Pawlenty’s name is going to hurt him in this season of discontent and I suspect that the inner-ring suburbs are going a deeper blue, giving Hatch enough votes to win. Hatch by 4%, with IP candidate Peter Hutchinson garnering somewhere between 6%-8%.
MN-06: I would love to see Patty Wetterling send self-proclaimed “fool for Christ” Michelle Bachmann back to the private sector, but this race makes me twitchy. It’s a conservative district where lots of voters are loyal foot soldiers in a culture war they’ve already lost. And Bachmann has hypnotized lots of them with her unnerving Stepford wife stare. Bachmann by 5%. I get solace from the fact that Bachmann can be counted on to make a complete ass of herself as soon as she is sworn into office.
MN-01: Who knew this would be a race? Tim Walz is getting good turnout at his rallies in this independent-minded district. And I just gave him fifty bucks, which has to count for something. Walz by 3%.
US House: Control of the House will undoubtedly return to the Democrats. But will we see a tidal wave or a tsunami? I’m going to be somewhat conservative and project 22 pickups for the Dems, but I won’t be surprised if it goes as high as 30.
US Senate: Definite pickups include RI, OH, and PA (bye bye, Santorum, you self-righteous, gay-bashing twat). I think we’ll also get MT, VA, and (crossing my fingers) MO. A slim Democratic majority, if the stars align just right and Democrats show up with their ground game.
Feel free to praise or savage my picks. I’ll be in Chicago beginning on Election Day, so I won’t be able to defend myself anyway. I’m probably being a little optimistic with some of these, but I think we Democrats are entitled to a little optimism after all these years.
