It does seem that Webb’s lead is shrinking bit by bit, but I am still very worried as to the final outcome. Both scattered reports across the networks and comments to this blog seem to be indicating that the majority of the remaining ballots are in democratic parts of the state. We can still hold out hope. We can still maintain control of the Senate!

As of 1:21am EST, the vote in Virginia is 99.47% counted with Jim Webb in the lead by a margin of a mere 1,524 votes - that is a margin of less than seven one-hundredths of one percent of the total vote in the state.

This race continues to become more and more interesting.

It looks like Webb is in the lead, although it seems smaller than the 3000 vote margin that multiple networks were reporting about ten minutes ago. Current lead is Webb with a 1,789 vote margin.

Breaking 12:30am EST: And it now looks like FoxNews is calling the state of Tennessee

Could it be a glimmer of hope? George Allen has pulled slightly ahead again, his margin now increasing to 1,868 votes. No change in percentages, but we can still hope, right?

This is insane, I really wish they would count faster…

Edit 12:15am EST: FoxNews is now reporting that the VA vote is 100% counted and Webb is leading by about 3,000 votes. Not looking good. I hope TN and MT and MO hold out.

The Virginia results are really getting interesting.

The night started with a Webb lead, Allen pulled ahead, and his lead has been shrinking. At 12:00am Eastern, with 99.10% of the vote counted, Allen leads with a margin of only 1757 votes - approximately 0.07%. This is truly an intense race.

All of the networks, rightfully so, simply refuse to call the race. Some blogs out there have called it, but such predictions have little real basis at this point in time. I will not make a prediction, but the feeling in my gut is not that good. I want Allen to win, but I’m worried.

Breaking news at 11:15pm Eastern:

At this time both CNN and MSNBC are calling the House for the Democrats, FoxNews is still holding out on the final seat. Looks like the polls were correct with the takeover.

Update at 11:18pm Eastern: FoxNews has now called the House for the Democrats.

I’ve read through the Voter’s Guide and made my decisions, now that the drop boxes are closed, I’ll make them public (along with my reasoning) for all to see. Voting is supposed to be a private matter, but I really don’t care if people know - I’m proud of my choices.

State Measures:

39: YES - On the surface, this measure looks like an obvious yes. After what happened in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, I am very much inclined to vote for it. On the other hand, the opposition makes a good point that it will cost up to $30 million a year, with a good chunk of that being lawyers fees. The economic development aspect makes sense, but I’m really not sure that I like the idea to begin with. In the end, I’ll make this a reluctant yes.

40: YES - I most certainly understand what the opposition means when they say that electing judges by district will lead to different interpretations, but I think that it is a good thing. Judges are supposed to be non-partisan, but we all know that they lean one way or another. It seems to me that in selecting judges by district, the more rural and conservative parts of the state will have more of a say in how our laws are interpreted. If we can???t pull every bit of politics out of the courts, we should at least balance it. Besides, if it worked so well for years, it should work just as well now.

41: NO - I’m all for lower taxes, I’m all for smaller government, what I’m not for is a huge cut in school funding. This measure could take as much as $337 million from the schools. In Beaverton the amount would be about $21.22 million. I just can’t do that. In Beaverton we have the best public schools in the state, and we’re still hugely overcrowded. My school has just over 2600 students and was built (rather, upgraded for) only 2100. Until we get some real reform in the way the school system is run, schools need every penny they can get. Cut the waste, and then we can cut the taxes

42: No - This is silly, if you ask me. I’m not sure just how good an indicator of likely payouts a credit rating is, but I’m sure there is some sort of correlation. People who are irresponsible with money are probably more likely to have other accidents as well. I just can justify raising rates for responsible people.

43: YES - I can’t see why one wouldn’t support this measure. It does nothing to restrict the availability of abortions, it does not require parental permission, it simply requires parental notification before girl makes one of the most difficult decisions of her life. I understand that some girly come from abusive families, but it seems that the judicial overrides will work just fine.

44: YES - For a measure with no arguments in opposition, it would be hard to vote any other way. It costs the state nothing and will help tens of thousands of Oregonians without insurance get he medications they need.

45: YES - This is a tough one; I see valid points and good arguments on both sides. I very much dislike that some lawmakers seem to do nothing and keep getting re-elected, but at the same time there are many good, multi-term legislators. In the end, new voices win out in my mind.

46: YES - I agree that campaign finance reform is a good idea. Although I think that the legislature should come up with a plan that makes sense (unlike Measure 47) and then send it to the voters, this measure has very high requirement of 75% of both houses. It is the high requirement that makes me feel this is OK.

47: NO - While the idea of restricting campaign financing and spending makes - at least for candidates - some sense, all of the tedious rules and regulations in this measure (it is almost nine full pages in the Voter’s Guide) seem like overkill. I should be able to donate to Political Parties and PAC type organizations without restriction, and it is overkill to require major donor names and businesses in ads. I especially dislike the need for a special number if you donate more than $500 a year. This measure is simply insane.

48: NO - Again, this may come as a bit of a surprise, but I can’t bring myself to vote for this. Our state is growing, but not at an even rate. The Beaverton School District is the fastest growing district in the state and I simply can’t justify cutting millions from school funding. Cutting taxes is one thing, but limiting the spending of existing tax revenue makes no sense to me.

Candidates:

US Representative (District 1): Derrick Kitts - Yes, I’m mostly voting down party lines, but he seems like a good candidate. David Wu’s had his turn, now it’s time for a change.

Governor: Ron Saxton - Again, a somewhat partisan decision, but I’m not much of a fan of our current governor. Besides that, the Oregonian (a fairly liberal paper) endorsed Saxton over the incumbent Democrat Ted Kulongoski - something they very rarely do. I just hope that Mary Starrett doesn’t spoil it.

State Senate (District 17): Piotr Kuklinski - I do like Brad Avakian, but I felt that partisanship was the way to go. Regardless, I’m pretty sure that Avakian will win.

State House (District 34): Joan Draper - I don’t really know much about either of the candidates, but she seems to have a good platform and ideas.

State Supreme Court (Position 6): Jack Roberts - He seems to have good experience and a positive stance on judicial fairness.

State Court of Appeals (Position 9): Ellen F. Rosenblum - unopposed and I don’t know of a good write-in.

Circuit Court (District 20): Charlie Bailey - He seems to have a good background and a slate of endorsements from actual people, not just newspapers.

County Commissioner (Distinct 2): Desari Caldwell - She is running unopposed and seems to be a decent candidate.

METRO (District 4): Kathryn Harrington - She is endorsed by the major local papers and I like her background and previous experience a bit more than Cox.

Local Measures:

34-126: YES - Libraries are an important asset to the community. It seems that $33 a year for the average home is a small price to pay.

34-127: YES - Public safety is perhaps the number one responsibility of government; $81 dollars is nothing for these services.

26-80: YES - Oregon is renowned for its wilderness and conservation; it seems that some more money for wildlife and wetlands won’t hurt.

34-139: YES - This is a no brainier. If you’ve been in a Beaverton area high school in the last few years it is clear how important this is. We desperately need a new school and expansions of existing ones. Either pass this bond or put a moratorium on the construction of new homes in the greater Beaverton area.

34-133: YES - Fire and Rescue is just as important to public safety and well being as police are. To not pass this would be stupid.

Yet another day means yet another batch of polls, and today brings potential movement in both the Senate and the House.

News:
Looks like yesterday’s shift of Missouri and Virginia into the tie zone has reversed, as both states now have weak democratic leads. This brings the projected senate to 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans. Those numbers alone don’t mean much, what we really need to look at is the strength of each party’s states. For example, three states are barley democrat and four are weak whereas the republicans have no barley states and only two weak states.

The House remains destined for Democratic control, but one tie seat and one Democratic seat seem to have shifted to the Republicans. With the new polls, the House is projected to become a Democrat majority of 240-195 makeup.http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Views:
I really need to stop following these polls so closely, but I can’t seem to do so. I know that the polls and the actual election results will likely differ by multiple seats, but I find it kind of exciting - not unlike watching the results come in on election night. Regardless, only three days of polls remain.

The thing with sites like YouTube is that you never know if a clip is authentic. That said, I have been able to confirm that it was, in fact, a Santorum ad. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/10/31/94601.shtml For your viewing pleasure:

As a responsible blogger, it is my duty to investigate the facts of what I post. As such, decided to look into the claims by The Center for Security Policy.

I didn’t find much of anything on their site, but NewsMax.com offers an explanation:

Apparently Casey is (and was at the time) a board member and had some say in how the investments were made.

I’m not normally one to attack Republicans, but this ad really seems to take the claims made in the report a little too far and a our of context. Last time I checked, being a board member for a pension fund that works with companies that operate in nations that are linked to terrorism is in no way akin to investing in ‘organizations linked to terrorism’.

If I lived in Pennsylvania, I’d still vote for Santorum, although I wish politicians would not have to stoop so low in their attack ads.

Yes, I may be starting to get a little OCD on this, but the election is only four days away.

News:
While House numbers remain unchanged, today’s polls sent the Senate back into a deadlock with one likely Democratic seat returning to ‘tie’ status. The Senate now stands 49-49 with two tie seats.http://www.electoral-vote.com

Views:
As I mentioned before this is looking to be a very interesting election night and perhaps a very interesting session of Congress. Only time will tell.

Also, I remind each and every one of you that is eligible to vote (legal US citizens over the age of 18) to:

I would have love to have gotten this up this morning, but I just don’t have that kind of time before school.

Farly early this morning (shortly after 6AM), we awoke to the sound of a large number (perhaps three of four) helicopters flying overhead. Thinking that this was more than a little strange, my dad turned on the TV and it all made sense: there had been a murder less than 1/4 of a mile down Bethany Boulevard (the main road in this area). Now remember, this is a low-crime suburb of $300,000+ homes - violent crime is not something we see a lot of.

The news reports were sketchy, with local television stations reporting between one and five people killed and having no real details beyond that. As luck would have it, it was about 7:05AM by then and my sister and I had to leave to catch the school bus.

As a result of the police work and the proximity of the murder, Bethany Boulevard had to be closed (and it remains closed at this time). As one can imagine, there were traffic problems and more than a few school buses were late as a result.

At school there were no official announcements, allowing the rumor mills to run at full capacity. I never heard any actual names, but I heard that one of the people shot went to Westview and another to Meadow Park (a local high school and middle school, for those of you who don’t know). There were rumors of names, but I never actually heard them. The only rumor that I heard was that the person was an ‘Asian break dancer’, a moniker that could fit any number of people. Enough with the rumors, let’s see what the latest info on the local news sites tells us:

• Three victims - a woman and her two sons, ages 12 and 16
• Is is believed that this was not a random crime - the killer likely knew the victims
• There was no sign of forced entry into the house
• A man who lived in the house [presumably the husband or boyfriend] found the bodies on returning from a night shift at his place of work
• The family had lived there for about two years, and tended to keep to themselves
• Bethany Boulevard is to remain closed for an indefinite period of time [presumably due to the investigation]

Sources: KATU TV and KOIN TV

Bethany is in yellow and Cornell is about an inch or two off the bottom of the image (less than 1/4 mile):

3:45pm - Just received an automated call from my school notifying all students that counseling is available if it is needed. I would consider this confirmation that the older boy was a student at Westview.

4:30pm - From KGW.com “They were identified as Melody Dang, 37, and her two sons, 16-year-old Steven Dang and 12-year-old Jimmy Dang, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.”

With that, I can confirm that I do not know these people.