Less than 2 weeks till the 2006 midterm elections, surely you already know the outcome. Make yourpredictions in two ways. (1) Vote in the accompanying polls, and/or (2) predict every race in the Washington Post's Midterm Madness game.

My predictions...

Dems take none of the big three (VA, MO, TN) in the Senate so GOP stays 51-49, and take 23 seats in the House.

Senate: I see D pickups in Ohio, RI, Pennsylvania and Montana. I see the Rs holding on in Missouri, Tennessee and Virginia. The Rs will hold the Senate, IMO.

House: I see Ds picking up around 18 seats, just barely enough for a majority. The GOP candidates who will lose will be the more moderate members in suburban districts in places like NY, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Washington, leaving the GOP even more right-wing than the national mood (much like the '94 races where moderate Ds lost in the south).

I am not predicting a tsunami.

Just read a couple of encouraging headlines off various news websites. CNN said in its latest poll that despite the fact Bush has been out campaigning, his numbers have not changed a bit, in their latest poll. Approval ratings in the 30's. The other headline suggested the GOP is all but giving up on Minnesota now too.

My hope is that the Democrats win 30 seats in the House (though 20 would be great), and win back the Senate. Keep in mind that Lieberman may very well win, so he could switch and become a Republican, thus throwing the control to Cheney, OR he could take Donald Rumsfeld's position (God help us!), and Connecticut's Republican governor could then appoint a Republican replacement (such as right-winger Alan Schlesinger), not only giving Cheney control, but another true believer.

I don't think John Kyl or John Ensign is going to lose, but if they did, it would mitigate the Lieberman problem. He could switch, jump through hoops for the neocons, just clown to his heart's delight for the Right, and it wouldn't matter. Short of Kyl and Ensign losses, a laser-thin 51-49 margin would be golden. Keep in mind, though, that the push-pollers are going to town in Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, etc., and that Diebold touch-screen machines, which have been shown to have had multiple problems, are now widespread across Maryland. So it is not going to be easy by any margin.

I can already predict, the Democrats are going to sweep races in New York, Massachusetts, and Arkansas. Just watch.

Fantomas, I pray with all my heart that you are correct. The future of this country really depends upon this election. The arrogance that has been displayed by the Republican party is unhealthy for this nation. Never have I seen such division within this nation. I imagine (thankfully) it could only be worse if we were at civil war. May I never see another ad featuring Judy Barr Topinka.

I think the Dems will take the House, and have a very good shot at a slim majority in the Senate. Whats REALLY interesting, is that next door to me here in Idaho, which is always notoriously Republican, there is a very close House race and a Governors race going on, its so close the GOP is having to fly in Cheney for a fundraiser....thats pretty telling!

The Zogby poll on the American pulse. I always check this poll just a few days before the election. It's interesting to see what people are currently saying. Looks bright so far. The good thing about it is that Independents & Demos are in sync w/ regard to their overall opinions.

Flying Cheney in is a good thing? Wouldn't he repel more people than attract?

I guess if your a Repug. in Idaho, its a good thing. Heard on the local news yesterday that some seats still remained for him.

Seems like things in Nevada Gov. race are heating up.

I'm curious to whether or not Gibbons was drinking since he's a Mormon and Mormons aren't supposed to drink

MSNBC's final election analysis is interesting and gives an overall picture from all the recent polls.

MSNBC: It's All Over But The Counting

Have been watching MSNBC and they had a story a while ago about some voter ( machine) problems, already in both Harris County Texas, and Palm Beach Florida. Lord I hope this isn't the story on Tuesday evening.......

Don't forget about the HBO documentary tonight... "Hacking Democracy"

HBO: Hacking Democracy

Joyce Behar on "The View" mentioned this show today. Said she watched it last night, and was just aghast at the level of the problems, and potential problems. There is a national number to call 1-800-myvote1 to call if you encounter any problems of any kind voting next Tuesday.

The View is my new guilty pleasure and my favorite show to TiVo these days. Rosie is great and I love Joy. Elisabeth could possibly be the biggest dolt on TV. Barbara is up and down.

My new favorite political ad is a must-see:

Ad Challenges Voters

I agree with you about Elizabeth. She is pretty hopeless. Joyce had a great Kerry Zinger today, " Kerry botched a joke...Bush botched a WAR". It brought the house down.

That one is funny...because it's so true! I saw a hilarious political cartoon with Kerry at the mic saying "tell me if you've heard this one", and in the background, you see about five thousand dems trying to tackle Kerry before he starts the joke. The smear by the Rethugs here in Chicago is reaching a fever-pitch these days. They are spending quite the wad on local t.v. and radio....God love 'em! My pay raises for the next three years are secure thanks to the Rethuglican party!

Wow, this is pretty amazing from Rasmussen Reports....

"On the final Friday of Election 2006, Democrats take the lead for the first time in the race for control of the U.S. Senate. Today, Rasmussen Reports is switching two states (New Jersey and Montana from “Toss-Up” to “Leans Democrat”). We now rate 49 Senate seats as Democrat or Leans Democrat, 48 seats as Republican or Leans Republican and three as Toss-Ups. We polled in each of the Toss-Up States (Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia) on Thursday night and this may lead to further shifts in the Senate Balance of Power ratings.

Rasmussen Reports: Democrats Take Lead In Senate

Dubya "rallying" his base.

Last poll before Tuesday shows Republicans keeping the Senate.

I honestly think this poll couldn't come at a better time. I'm worried the Dems will stay home because of all the shoo-in talk and hopefully this poll will get their butts to the polling stations.

Send this link to your laziest Dem friends.

My predictions:

The Senate stays in Republican hands, barely.

The House shifts to Democratic control.

George Bush stays unwaveringly with his Sec-Def Rummy the Dummy, drawing the ire of many in Congress.

All of the predictions I have seen bear this out. House goes blue, and the Senate is still in play, Dems could pickup 5 +seats. Its IS possible! But as mentioned above our responsibility is to make sure our Democratic friends have VOTED! I remain cautiously optimistic, but the cork isn't coming off till all is said and done.

As starter of this topic, I should probably share my predictions.

Senate - Stays Republican with Democrats picking up 5 seats. Election surprises include Chaffe holding seat in Rhode Island, Webb winning in Virginia, and Corker winning by at least 10% in Tennessee.

House - Democrats pick up control with 22 seat gain. Election surprises include Idaho-1 (yes Idaho) going to Democrats.

Will I do as well/bad as I did in my predictions for the 2004 election?

I tell you what, Idaho is really, really interesting. I have NEVER seen this many Democratic attack ads that I am currently seeing right now. Tells me that the Repugs. are no sure bet there, and its in play. The Spokane tv market goes well into North Idaho, so we get their commercials as well as mine here in Wash. State, and Idaho is just a slugfest. They even had to fly in Dick Cheney last week in Coeur d' Alene for a love fest, which may have actually caused more harm than good. Just saw the latest poll on MSNBC, and the House appears to be going blue, BIG TIME. The Senate will indeed be close, they predict a Dem. gain of about 2. I have been out driving around town this morning, and the candidates are all over the place on the sides of the roads. Lets go BLUE!!!!!

Its already ugly in Virginia. Been watching Tucker on MSNBC, and David Shuster just did a report that Webb is accusing Allen of trying to supress the vote. Webb is claiming that callers are calling Webb supporters to tell them they're precincts have changed. Webb has got lawyers involved in this already....I get the feeling this isn;t going to be the last kind of story like this.

Election Day Weather ForecastSoggy weather = low turnout. Wonder if/how that will affect some of the tighter races in the southeast.

I am starting a prayer circle this very minute! Seriously folks, we all need to do our part and vote. If you have friends that might not vote, call them and ask them to vote. Especially if they are Democrats. The sheer volume of negitive ads should be an indicator to everyone as to the importance of this election. VOTE! JUST DO IT!

I picked 35 pickup for Dems in the house and 4-5 for them in the senate. I'm not sure it will matter much. with Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/etc. in charge and many of the Dems running as closet (or worse actual) conservatives.

This country has usually required a large domestic tragedy to recognize that it is on the wrong course and I don't think people see that coming yet.

We normally wait until too late - i.e. the Civil War, WWI, the Great Depression and WWII. This war will probably drag on as Vietnam did and the disaster it will cause will be much worse than than the previous ones: a more militarized earth and a human population ignoring what it is doing (and not doing) to destroy its environment while it bickers over diminishing easily accessible resources.

And remember if you have ANY problems voting call 1-888-MYVOTE1. But just make sure you vote, if we want change, we need your vote!!!!

Approximate results prior to the beginning of voting:

House
Dems 1-14 gain 9.4%
Dems 15-24 gain 68.8%
Dems 25-34 gain 18.8%
Dems 35-44 gain 3.1%

Senate
Dems 1-3 gain 37.5%
Dems 4-5 gain 50.0%
Dems 6+ gain 12.5%

In this unscientific poll, not a single person thought Republicans would have a net gain in either the House or Senate. How many of us also thought Kerry would win the 2004 Presidential election?

Well I voted. Crossing fingers.

I cast my meaningless ballot this morning - not to discourage anyone from voting, it's just that here in DC, the election is really determined at the Democratic primary (although I did cast my vote for Independent-but-former-Republican David Catania, who quit the GOP back in 2004 because of Bush's decision to use homophobia so callously and offensively). It is interesting that one potential ramification of a Dem pick-up of either Congressional chamber would be the potential for gay marriage in DC. Fenty, the mayor-elect (or he will be tonight) is a backer of gay marriage, and there is already a legal opinion written by the city's corporation counsel that many believe supports the mayor's right to recognize same-sex marriages conducted elsewhere. Because Congress (known fondly around here as "the plantation overseers") can veto any legislation voted on by the citizens of DC, or voted into effect by our "home rule" counsel, there has been significant reluctance to release the legal opinion, or take major steps toward gay marriage, because of a fear of what Congress would do. Perhaps today's vote can change that dynamic as well (my fingers are crossed).

I wrote in Faith for mayor. She is an 83 year-old jazz musician who has run for mayor in each of the last seven elections. I predict that Fenty will win.

I'm writing in myself for governor of Illinois. I think I could manage to do a better job than either of our candidates.

The talking heads are all saying they are hearing reports of big, big turnouts, and they think this favors the Dems. because of the # of people that say they want change. Plus voting problems in 10 states now.

I voted first thing this AM. I waited about 5 minutes to say my name and get my ballot and about five minutes to get to a voting booth.

No big deal and I feel pretty damn good about it.

When I voted today, all the county races were Republicans running unopposed! How lame is that? Not a Democrat running anywhere, state senate, state house, county board, forest preserve--nothing. I wasn't given much of a choice except for the statewide races.

We had full touch screen voting this time, with a paper ballot printed and stored inside the machine. We also had the choice of a scan-tron type of paper ballot, which I had used the last couple elections.

Hope you're all happy. For the last few weeks, people have been yelling "On Tuesday, November 7th, THROW THE BUMS OUT!" Britney Spears heard but apparently got confused...

LXN

Am I the only one who is giddy as a school girl for the results of this election?

CNN projecting that the VA marriage ban will pass.

Gay hater Rick Sanitarium is toast. Good riddance!

I'm glad that Sen. Feinstein here will still be in office here. AP just calling that right now.

Dems take House. Now how many?

Senate very close. Webb loses, Ford wins?

McCaskill/Talent here in MO has become nip and tuck

Paula Zahn may be the single most annoying person on TV.

I am sticking with MSNBC here. The local coverage sucks. I miss LA news when it comes to major events like this. Thus I rely on my giant antenna to pull in SF news at a time like this.

Wow....Virginia is CLOSE!!! With 99% of the vote in Webb (D) is leading by about 2500-3000 votes with Democratic precincts still left to come in to count. There will be a recount there as well as absentee ballots coming into the fold I imagine with it being so close. Harold Ford seems to have lost Tennessee which was expected. Ever since that ad came about with the playboy party blonde his numbers took a hit. It seems like if Webb holds on...it may come down to Montana. And my god...the democratic ticket for governor for Maryland should be called the beautiful ticket. Martin O'Malley, current mayor of Baltimore is an attractive man and his Lt. Governor running mate Anthony Brown is GORGEOUS!!!! At the beginning of the night I believed that the Dems would take the House and the Repubs the Senate but with Virginia being so close and the results of other spots I don't know.

Someone made a good point yesterday though during political analysis. If the Democrats take control of both houses of Congress, they take responsibility for how Iraq will play out now. In 2 years I believe Iraq will still be a mess. and if things don't improve or if troops aren't pulled out and if the country is still grumbling over it....if you are Hillary (the likely Dem nominee for president) do you want to run against a Democratic congress or a Republican congress. The political analyst said that when the Dems took over while Vietnam was still taking place they were looked at as being responsible for its end and it ended poorly and the Dems took years to recover from that. On the flip side they said that McCain (a likely GOP nominee for president) would prefer taking on a Democratic controlled Congress. They pointed out that the party winner of the mid term elections has historically, not always, but historically lost 2 years later in the presidential election. If somehow the Democrats take over both houses...they better bring it!!!!

History will be made. Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman to become Speaker of the House. Hopefully, Jack Murtha will become Majority Leader to boot. Ahhh.... Revel in this victory!