Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Senate Control in Jeopardy?

This is bad news--for Johnson, of course, but also for the Senate (and the country, and the world).

Keep your fingers crossed.

7 Comments:

Blogger Scorpio said...

Actually, SD requires and election to fill a vacated seat.

6:56 PM  
Blogger Winston Smith said...

Yeah, I just couldn't find out how temporary the temporary replacement appointed by the governor would be. Also, SD is hardly what you'd call a Democratic lock.

3:00 PM  
Blogger Mike Russo said...

My reading of the statute is that the special election needs to be held within 80-90 days of the vacancy. Doesn't say when the replacement would take office, but I presume it would be soon thereafter.

[The reason I say "my reading" is that there's another provision of SD law that says the special election "to fill the vacancy of senator shall be held at the same time as the next general election." It's unclear to me whether this means state senator or U.S. senator, and the previous provision clearly says it applies to U.S. senators and representatives, so it looks to me like the ambiguity should be resolved in its favor]

4:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Isn't it amazing how many bloggers found this before the MSM?

9:47 PM  
Blogger Tom Van Dyke said...

I couldn't find a definitive answer either, but that's OK.

We might think of the blogosphere as the MSM's auxiliary, which would be a very good thing. Reporters don't get paid very much, and can't afford research staff, so they...well, you know.

I recently had a correspondence with an MSM guy (whose confidentiality I will not betray), and I suggested he/she be open to using the blogosphere at least as bloodhounds, to track, not shoot.

No go, is all I can tellya. How unfortunate for all of us. A waste of available and willing human effort and talent, and a disservice to the search for truth.

2:08 AM  
Blogger Winston Smith said...

excellent idea, though.

11:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obviously, the MSM shouldn't publish unconfirmed rumor - sorry Drudge. But to fail to take advantage of Google is arrogant, stupid, and short-sighted.

Of course, reporters need to learn how to distinguish fact from fantasy in cyberspace. But they pride themselves (not always justifiably) with the ability to do that in real life, and this is just one more domain they need skills in.

I'll try to check with my MSM contacts to see whether they avail themselves of the internet. The tiny paper I wrote for in a semi-pro capacity up until 2000 didn't have any web resources. It was so technically backward the editor preferred that I file by fax!

12:04 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home