Cognizant of the early calls of Florida for Gore in 2000, the news networks have learned not to prematurely call states and elections without 100% of the data - and litigation is now the norm, rather than the exception. Given this environment, no major news medium is calling what is now clear will happen - the Democratic party has taken both the House of Representatives and the Senate majority tonight, as well as a significant majority of governorships.

Though late into the night, two outstanding races - in Virginia, and in Montana, have yet to be called, and the Democrats need both states to declare victory, the margin of victory is expanding to the point that a Republican victory in either race would be increasingly miniscule. When the votes are all counted, whether that be by tomorrow morning, or following legislated recounts in a month, the Democratic party will have won a slim majority in both houses, taking back the Legislative branch of the US government, held hostage by the Republicans for more than a decade.

With every victory and seat party change, the Democrats said it was a call for change, a call for a new direction, new ideas, and a 180 from the bullheadedness we've seen this entire administration. While those words are strong, every single party that is not in power says the same thing - we're here to change. Now, despite not owning the Executive branch and Judicial branch of government, the Democrats have a fighting chance to slow down the deterioration of our economy - to stop our foreign policy which has run amok, and to institute the recommendations of educated experts.

While not all the numbers are in, and while some are holding off on making the final tallies official, the Democrats did what some only dared to dream - taking what looks to be 30+ seats in the House and the necessary 6 seats in the Senate. Down by three with three to go, the Democrats went deep and sunk a three pointer... and the crowd cheered. Victory.

A good friend of mine since high school told me yesterday that he's moved his allegiance to the Green Party instead of the Democrats, in the hope that the party would theoretically move left, and address some of the few issues that separate Green loyalists from mainstream Democrats. I said that his view concerned me, as instead of getting a Green candidate elected, his vote and others like it would only make it more easy for Republicans to gain the advantage - as we so memorably saw when Ralph Nader siphoned away Al Gore's margin in Florida, teeing up the mess we have now. I was told instead that his one vote didn't matter - especially in California.

Tonight, as the Senate majority hangs in the balance, a small handful of seats are still up for grabs. Most notably, with 97% of votes counted in Virginia, the Republican candidate, George Allen, has a 3,000+ vote advantage over his Democratic opponent, and he just might win (although CNN is saying Webb has eked ahead with 99% in). The major issue here? A candidate, G G Parker, of the Green Party, has nearly 25,000 votes. One could safely say that Green voters would be happier casting their votes for Democrats than Republicans, and yet, here they are handing the race away.

Real-time Virginia Precinct Results: http://sbe.vipnet.org/

It's mind boggling. Want to throw your vote away? Do it in a race that doesn't matter.  Want to completely nullify your vote and accomplish the opposite of your goals? Then go ahead and vote for a third party in a close race. You might as well not vote at all.

At the age of 11, I hid behind the couch as my parents watched the late night news, taking in the 1988 Super Tuesday results, and marking down the winners, state by state. I had the political bug, and have always craved the results flowing in on Election Night, be it the presidential elections every four years, or the biannual tussle over House and Senate seats. With the Web's emergence in the political sphere, I'm now glued, not only to the set, watching CNN's flim-flammery, but reloading each of the various political sites to see who's going to break the next news on individual seats, which when added up, could present a vastly different state of government come morning.

My biases are clear. I've been pulling for the Democrats to take a majority role in Congress, and hopefully, they can somehow find a way back into the White House in a couple years - should everyone come to terms with a single candidate. Tonight, the projections have seen the Democrats riding the groundswell of frustration against President Bush and a rubber stamp Congress, and are seen as taking the House of Representatives. But it looks less likely they'll gain the lead in the Senate - with a 50-50 tie being very possible.

Some of the sites we're following in this fun evening?

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/called/
Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/
Drudge: http://www.drudgereport.com/
Eschaton: http://atrios.blogspot.com/
MyDD: http://www.mydd.com/
Talking Points Memo: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

PS - Yes, of course I voted this morning.

If rumors are true, the nomad-like Oakland A's are on the move again. After the franchise started its tenure in Philadelphia, the team later moved to Kansas City, before settling down in Oakland, where they've played since 1968. Economic pressures being what they are, the team now looks like they're going to make a move down to Fremont, as close to San Jose as they possibly can without running afoul of the San Francisco Giants' "territorial rights".

See: The A's May Know the Way to San Jose

But if the team moves, it's not yet clear what the franchise will be named. The Fremont A's? The East Bay A's? The San Jose A's? The Silicon Valley A's?

We present the Top Ten reasons the A's, once moved, should be named the Silicon Valley A's.

Top Ten Reasons for the A's to become "Silicon Valley A's"

1. The team could hire cheerleaders and rename them "Valley Girls".
2. Intel could sponsor the teams batting as "Dual Core".
3. High speed wireless Internet at every seat in the park.
4. Every A would wear an RFID chip to help with safe/out calls.
5. Umpires could be replaced with virtual umpires.
6. The stadium could be cleaned with an army of grass-eating Roomba mowers.
7. The team would "defrag" in the off-season.
8. Meetings on the mound could be sponsored by WebEx.
9. After a championship season, the team could IPO on the NASDAQ.
10. Silicon Valley loves three-letter acronyms. They'd be known as the SVA's.