- Part 2 of my train series. Maybe tomorrow.
- As Thursday is health day for me in this blog site, I have a couple of topics in my mind: which supplement pills to take and why?; does one get less mentally stable with older age?; Part 5 on the science to stop and reverse aging; should you continue to get vaccinated?....and so on. Well, they'll all come in the future.
- I decided, instead, to spend one more day meandering through that Blue America Tsunami.
But first, I noticed that Donald Trump again appeared on the cover of Time magazine. Last month he broke the record of Richard Nixon. With this latest, Trump has now been on the cover 57 times. Click here to see the first 56 covers.
Why are Republic states given the color red, why are Democratic ones blue, swing states purple? From Wikipedia:
- Our flag is red, white and blue.
- During the Civil War, maps showed Confederated movement using a blue pencil, with red for the Union.
- Thus, Lincoln's Republican party was red.
- In 1904, The Washington Post used red for Republican states, Blue for Democratic states and Yellow for doubtful states.
- In 1976, John Chancellor, anchor for NBC Nightly News, asked the staff to light a state red when Democrat Jimmy Carter prevailed, and blue when Gerald Ford led or won. The reasoning was that in Great Britain, blue was used for conservatives and red for liberals.
- Yet, as late as 1996, color use remained mixed.
- The contentious 2000 presidential election between W. Bush and Al Gore, ended up with the state of Florida counting ballots.
- On election night on November 7, Florida had Bush leading Gore by only 1,784 out of 5,963,110 votes.
There was an automatic recount, so on November 8, the margin was only 900 votes.- Then a statewide machine recount, which on November 10 gave Bush's lead of only 327 votes.
- Thus, a manual recount began on November 12. All counties had to complete doing this by November 14. That day, the Bush lead was 300 votes.
There were numerous court battle that began after election day.- Overseas absentee ballot counting was completed on November 18, increasing Bush's lead to 930.
- On November 26, after most of the dust cleared, Bush was ahead by 537 votes.
- The Supreme Court on December 1 considered this matter.
From Google AI: Ultimately, the election was finalized on December 12, 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in Bush v. Gore to halt the ongoing Florida manual recounts due to inconsistent county-by-county standards. This allowed Florida's certified numbers to stand, making Bush the 43rd President of the United States. [1, 2, 3]- Gore conceded on December 13.
- However, Google AI also said: Under a hypothetical full statewide recount: If a comprehensive, statewide recount of all uncounted ballots (both undervotes and overvotes) had been conducted across all 67 Florida counties, Al Gore would have likely won the state, and consequently the presidency. [1]
Clearly, Florida leaned in the Bush direction through the whole ordeal.- Actual popular vote:
- George W. Bush 50,456,002
- Al Gore 50,999,897
- My sense is that Gore deserved to be the victor.
- In any case, Florida arbitrarily used red for Republican states and blue for Democratic states. This system prevails today.
- Why are swing states purple? Mix red and blue and you get purple.
- Mississippi. Democrat Scott Colom, Republican, Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Independent Ty Pinkins. Remember, the winner does need to get more than 50%. Don't bother with the details. This recount process will linger for another week or so. Watch the betting odds, and those spending their money look at things like who these final votes will go to.
- Kalshi.
- Over $30.2 million has been bet on the race
- As of 1PM ET today, Kalshi has 97.3% of this vote.
- Polymarket
- $3.65 million bet, with Colom getting 97.2%.
Alaska. Democrat Mary Peltola vs Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and others. This recount could take until the end of this month. While Peltola had the early lead, more recent ranked-choice estimates now show Sullivan ahead. Nevertheless.... Betting odds.- Kalshi
- Peltola 94%
- Sullivan 6%
- Polymarket
- Peltola 95%
- Sullivan 7%
- At this writing, 251 Democrats and 155 Republicans. 32 seats not yet confirmed.
- 218 seats needed for a majority vote.
- NBC News projects that the 120th Congress will have 259 Democrats and 176 Republicans, an 83-seat majority.
- Democrats had 263 seats in 1948 and 235 in 2018. The first year that the House had 435 total seats was in 1913.
In short, looks like Democrats will have a 56-44 edge over Republicans in the U.S. Senate in the 120th Congress.- There are now a lot more disgruntled Republicans who just don't trust President Donald Trump.
- Impeachment begins in the House only with a majority vote.
- But the Senate requires two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 votes.
- Will eleven Republican senators vote to impeach Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who will be the first to go?
- Losers.
- Republican party.
- Donald Trump. Nuf said.
- Elon Musk.
- At least $474 million spent on races, with no victories, only alienation.
- He could lose perhaps a billion and more, when you count stock values and reduction of influence.
- His DOGE effort will undergo scrutiny.
- Not to worry, though, for he was the first trillionaire, and is still worth around $850 billion.
- The rich class, especially billionaires.
- Mixed.
- Pollsters, for while they got things mostly right this time, no one predicted the extent of this Blue American Tsunami.
- I'm sure there are others.
- Winners.
- Democratic party, by flipping both the U.S. House and Senate.
- People of color and the working class. As there are supposedly 93 million "workers," counting the household, that means 288 million out of a total national population of 350 million.
- Senator Jon Ossoff has become one of the frontrunners for the 2028 presidential election.
- Southern Democrats, especially Rep. James Talarico, who is quite the orator.
- There were some Democratic losers, but even they are now better positioned for 2028.
- Democratic governors.
- 36 states held gubernatorial elections.
- Democrats flipped 6 governor's offices.
- Tally for 2027 will be 29 Democrats (from 24) and 20 Republicans (from 26).
- Kansas still to be determined, although will 99% votes counted, Democrat Cindy Holscher has 549,974 votes and Republican Ty Masterson has 542,929, a lead of 7,045 votes.
- Democrats made gains in state legislative chambers.
- Democratic women and minority victors.
- People who want the USA to remain a Democracy.
- Humanity and Planet Earth.
After this Blue American Tsunami, got to add this. Today is World Tsunami Awareness Day.
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