Bush leading in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Arkansas. Gore ahead in Michigan. Florida and Pennsylvania - dead heat.
Looks good for Bush.
WOW…Rillian… that’s one helluva way to introduce yourself to the board! You ROCK. Would you be my best friend??
Excellent, excellent…beautifully thought out, clear, true, and expressed. I bow before you!
stoid
Elvis,
Well, since we don’t have a two-party system (at the moment there’s three big ones, two not quite so big ones and a plethora of smaller ones), there’s practically no time when any one party (or even two) holds enough seats to force a law through.
A simple majority is required for an ordinary law to pass, after it has gone through various committees and discussions.
Usually a law passes when it has the support of two big parties (holding around a quarter of the seats) and one of the smaller ones.
Party discipline is much stricter here than in the US, so it’s unlikely for controversial laws to get enough votes.
The president can also veto a law proposal, sending it back for a new vote.
A constitutional change proceeds much like an ordinary law, but the first simple majority vote only sets the proposal to “rest”, until the next parliament is elected.
Then there’s a new proceeding, at the end of which a 2/3 majority is needed to pass the law.
No-confidence motions are given by the parliament to the administration (ie. the ministers), but the administration can’t decide on laws, they can only submit proposals for discussion.
America Votes Today
The jury is still out. No final word, but from everything I have seen, the turn-out is at record levels. I saw 98% turn-out being predicted for many counties in FL, and over 70% in other states.
In addition to the leftward slide our country must stop, voter apathy is another major issue we need to face.
Go Vote!!!
Bush leading by 2% in Pennsylvania. Gore by 6% in Florida. If these numbers hold up, Bush is in.
Not so fast, pardner - if Gore takes Florida and Michigan, how do Bush’s remaining states add up to a win? And how did Pennsylvania switch columns so quickly? He had Gore winning there earlier today.
Of course, Drudge could be just BS’ing us to get his hit count up.
Jaakko, thanks for the clarification. Apparently, real disagreements about policies get resolved between the parties in the government in private, making the actual votes a formality? If no party is in a dominant role, and the coalitions are fluid, I guess that’s democratic.
Elvis-
Gore has CT, DE, DC, HI, IL, ME, MD, MA, NV, NJ, NY, RI, and VT locked for 125 votes.
Bush has AL, AK, AZ, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MS, NE, NH, NC, ND, OK, SC, SD, TX, UT, VA and WY locked for 177 votes.
Leaving AR, CA, FL, IA, MN, MO, NM, OH, OR, PA, TN, WA, WI and WV with 207 votes open.
So if Gore adds CA, FL, and MI, that still only puts him at 222, and still needing to take 48 of the “open” 110- nearly half.
So Gore doesn’t “lock” it by taking FL and MI.
Actually Bush doesn’t even need Florida or Pennsylvania. Assuming Drudge’s other reports about Arkansas, Wisconsin and Oregon hold up, Bush needs only 14 more electors to get to 270. Pennsylvania has 23, but there’s also Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire & New Mexico, which have between them 27 electors.
If Drudge’s other reports about Arkansas, Oregon and Wisconsin hold up, then Bush needs only 14 more electors. Pennsylvania has 23. But even without Pennsylvania, there’s Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico & New Hampshire in play, which have 27 electors between them.
Of course, Gore could concievably pull an upset in state that is thought to be in the Bush column (e.g. Ohio). But there hasn’t been any indication of this as of yet.
I did not see Drudge say that Pennsylvania was leaning to Gore. When did you see this?
Arghh. Fuzzy math.
Add “MI” to the undecided, and change that total “unknown” to 229.
Add “MT” to Bush’s total, and change that to 184.
But the basic premise is still the same.
Thanks Stoid. And I’ll be glad to be your friend. Just be clear, the end of my article is a quote from the Atlanta Consititution newspaper, not my original text.
Will you still be my friend?
I have read a few stories that say there are so many absentee ballots to count, we may not know who won before 11PM in the East. See y’all tomorrow.
Absolutely. The only friends I want are those who are as bright, articulate, and clearly thoughtful as you. Come sit by me.
By the way, I just heard the results up to now:
Bush: 43.6
Gore: 43.5
I am a wreck!!!
It’s gonna be a looooooooooong night…but the day will dawn bright and crisp…
stoid
Stoid, where’d you get those numbers? I have about 15 news sites open here and I don’t want to think there’s some that I’m missing.
but I heard them a few hours ago on MSNBC. It was with just a teesy percentage of the count.
It is Looking SOOOOOO good!!!
I’m happier every minute… Gore got every state they were saying he would have to get in order to pull it out. And he gave Geeorge a big slap in the face by pulling out his borther’s state.
Now I just have to count on my fellow Californians not to blow it. I have to say I’ve been a bit annoid with Al that he’s ignored us in terms of ads while every time I turned around I had Dubya in my face. But California couldn’t possibly elect Dubya…
I’m a happy girl right now!
stoid
I see Flordia is faltering. Bush is leading by 1 Mil (Wash. Post), and CNN pulled it from Gore to undecided.
Nader’s couple of percent really seems to be hurting Gore.
I just need to say that I am a fucking wreck. I HATE THIS!!!
And I can’t tear myself away… Like my staring at it obsessively is going to make a difference. This is CRUEL.
Newest news flash: Gore is ahead, and in order for Bush to win, he has to (either) win every single 'swing" state,OR, pull CA out of his ass. Gore now has PA & FLA. It is still very close, and Bush looks to win the popular vote.