I'm a little bit late reporting this but that's what happens when you get blinded by all the shock and awe of the Obama Nation.
In Georgia, Republican Saxby Chambliss won the run-off election for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. This may come as a surprise to those of you who have spent the past few weeks being steadily brainwashed by the "Everyone-Has-Embraced-The-Party-Of-Obama" drumbeat that has been coming from the mainstream media.
Liberals, you may remember, hate Chambliss because he defeated incumbent Democrat Max Cleland back in 2002. Cleland was disabled veteran of the Viet Nam War and hence, it was felt that Chambliss had no right to criticize the man's politics.
(Of course, some would claim that this is the exact same attitude that certain Republicans took concerning Barack Obama's attacks on John McCain during the presidential campaign. And to those people, I say "Shut up!" I say this because, essentially, they're right and I wish they were not.)
Anyway, Chambliss ended up getting forced into a run-off election because a Libertarian candidate won enough votes to narrowly prevent Chambliss from getting 50% of the vote back in November. There was a lot of speculation, in the press, that Chambliss would end up losing to Democrat Jim Martin.
If this had happened, the Democrats would have ended up with 59 seats in the Senate. Then, if by some act of malice on the part of God, Al Franken ended up winning the recount up in Minnesota, the Democrats would have ended up with a filibuster-proof majority.
Luckily, this did not happen.
Instead, Chambliss won the run-off and, with 57% of the vote, he won rather easily.
(That said, I'm sure that, if pressed, the Democrats can probably find at least one or two Republicans willing to help them end a filibuster. After all, Susan Collins was reelected.)
To his credit, President-elect Barack Obama did not campaign in Georgia for Martin or against Chambliss. Especially at this point, with the country divided four ways between those who love Obama, those who like Obama, those who wish they could like Obama but just can't, and those who hate Obama, it's a good idea for him to, if nothing else, pretened to be above such partisan squabbles.
(By the way, I'm in the third group. I keep trying to like Barack Obama but the whole messiah thing keeps getting in the way. That said, I don't hate him. I'm saving that for the second term.)
Former President Bill Clinton (who, at this point, is about as relavent to American life as the hula hoop) did come down to Georgia to campaign for Martin. Sarah Palin flew in to say a few good words for Chambliss.
In the end, Chambliss won.
Congratulations.
Now, if we can just get this stupid recount finished up in Minnesota, we can finally put 2008 behind us.
