# Last Senate Predictions Before The Polls Close Tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 4, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627 "2014-11-04T15:18:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/21 "2014-11-04T20:27:31Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Anything less than 10 seats will be a humiliation for the Republicans. This is like someone saying, “If the Colts can’t beat the Giants by more than 21 points, it’ll be a humiliation for the Colts.” I think the winning side gets to determine how it feels about its victory. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/22 "2014-11-04T20:28:38Z")
One other prediction: Democrats’ lectionaries will substitute “obstructionist” behavior (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation) for “heroic” (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/23 "2014-11-04T20:31:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > May we take it, then, that in your opinion the elections in Georgia meet all of our ideals and expectations for a free and fair election? Or that they meet the somewhat lower standards of “legal and Constitutional”? I have no idea what the specifics are. I’m taking at face value your representation that “Some 40,000 voter registrations seem to have just sort of wandered away.” And I’m pointing out that federal law provides a remedy for a voter who is eligible to vote in an election for Federal office, but whose name does not appear on the official list of eligible voters for the polling place. My ideals for a free and fair election would involve banning “walking around money.” I suspect yours don’t, so I believe that you and I don’t share a common vision of what “free and fair” elections look like. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/24 "2014-11-04T20:36:11Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I could be wrong, but I think the POTUS uses a stamp for vetoes. One of the things **The West Wing** has taught us. The POTUS stamps it AND signs it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/25 "2014-11-04T20:37:03Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > One other prediction: Democrats’ lectionaries will substitute “obstructionist” behavior (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation) for “heroic” (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation). If they can motivate the Republicans (assuming they win the Senate) to end the filibuster as it currently exists, then it will be damn well heroic! Bring back the talking filibuster! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/26 "2014-11-04T21:13:25Z")
I think I’m going to cling to my prediction of a month or two ago, albeit with far less certainty: 50-50. I do readily admit that the Republicans are trending to 51 or 52 seats, but the electorate is extremely volatile this year. I’m hoping for the best, and I see 50-50 as the best my party can hope for. That includes Orman as a D, which. . . who knows. If his vote gets the Republicans to 51 or the Democrats to 50 (and then Biden), well, he’s going to be offered everything but the kitchen sink by both parties. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/27 "2014-11-04T21:19:26Z")
I think Republicans take the Senate. I won’t like it, but that’s the way the polls all lean. I would be happy to be proven wrong. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/28 "2014-11-04T21:21:03Z")
Ain’t over till the fat lady is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/29 "2014-11-04T22:57:38Z")
It would be useful if posters would state who they want to win, so that the correlation between preference and prediction would be more apparent. In the runup to the 2012 elections there was much wailing about how the Republicans were in denial about the polls and that the Democrats were better than that, but ISTM that the same holds for both sides. This is supported by what I see here (& in other threads) but there are some whose ideology is not so well known. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/30 "2014-11-04T23:11:38Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It would be useful if posters would state who they want to win, so that the correlation between preference and prediction would be more apparent. Other than “gotcha ya”, what purpose does this serve? My posts in political threads on the SDMB since 2002 have made it amply clear which party I support, and if you haven’t figured that out by now, I’m not going to do your homework for you. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/31 "2014-11-04T23:16:08Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Other than “gotcha ya”, what purpose does this serve? The notion that Republicans are uniquely predisposed to wishful thinking seemed to be of great interest to a lot of people on this board for the past two years, judging by the number of posters who kept harping on it. I can understand why a lot of these people would be less interested in the subject now, but for some the interest lingers. > [@](#): > > My posts in political threads on the SDMB since 2002 have made it amply clear which party I support, and if you haven’t figured that out by now, I’m not going to do your homework for you. Not everyone is following you or your posts since 2002. However as it happens your post to this thread was pretty explicit as to who you support, so all is well. ---
**Author:** ![EndlessEntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@EndlessEntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EndlessEntropy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/32 "2014-11-04T23:22:04Z")
What is wrong with kentuckyians that keep voting for mcconnell ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/33 "2014-11-04T23:26:52Z")
McConnell’s a guy who just needs to go away. But you can’t beat something with nothing. She couldn’t even admit that she voted for Obama in 2012. How is that giving KY voters an honest choice? My prediction stands: 53 GOP Senate seats. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/34 "2014-11-04T23:28:10Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The notion that Republicans are uniquely predisposed to wishful thinking seemed to be of great interest to a lot of people on this board for the past two years, judging by the number of posters who kept harping on it. OK, well that makes sense, but. . . > [@](#): > > Not everyone is following you or your posts since 2002. However as it happens your post to this thread was pretty explicit as to who you support, so all is well. You’ve been around the board long enough to have a good idea of who supports which party, if you really cared enough to pay attention. I’m sure there are posters who don’t generally post in political threads who have been drawn in by the election today, but I doubt if they’re the wishful thinkers you are looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/35 "2014-11-04T23:53:11Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You’ve been around the board long enough to have a good idea of who supports which party, if you really cared enough to pay attention. Generally I don’t care enough to pay attention (although in some cases it’s hard to miss). It’s relevant to this particular thread, though. Plus, it’s not all about me. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/36 "2014-11-05T00:11:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > One other prediction: Democrats’ lectionaries will substitute “obstructionist” behavior (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation) for “heroic” (the minority party in the Senate stopping legislation). A marvelous false equivalence, equating the blocking of a fair number of bills one party doesn’t like, with blocking pretty much everything the other party tries to do. 1/3 = 1. **Bricker** math. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/37 "2014-11-05T00:23:16Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > A marvelous false equivalence, equating the blocking of a fair number of bills one party doesn’t like, with blocking pretty much everything the other party tries to do. > > 1/3 = 1. **Bricker** math. Nah, baby. Bricker math is counting up all the money hopeful liberals are going to send me, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/38 "2014-11-05T03:03:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The GOP revolt falls short and McConnell goes down to defeat in Kentucky. One of the first races called was McConnell winning. How wrong were you, say, on a scale of 1 to 10? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/39 "2014-11-05T04:08:22Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I think I’m going to cling to my prediction of a month or two ago, albeit with far less certainty: 50-50. > > I do readily admit that the Republicans are trending to 51 or 52 seats, but the electorate is extremely volatile this year. I’m hoping for the best, and I see 50-50 as the best my party can hope for. > > That includes Orman as a D, which. . . who knows. If his vote gets the Republicans to 51 or the Democrats to 50 (and then Biden), well, he’s going to be offered everything but the kitchen sink by both parties. Say goodbye to Orman. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627/40 "2014-11-05T11:36:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Say goodbye to Orman. Well, my “51 or 52” also appears to be wrong. I hoped for the best; I got the worst. _shrug_ It happens. On to 2016! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/last-senate-predictions-before-the-polls-close-tonight/703627.md?page=3)