What job did Al Franken fail to do when he had his own radio show (with attendant DFA like web site) with Air America?  Do you DFA staffers see why you inherited what Al Franken admitted he was too much of a lazy coward to do?  Click here to see the matter: http://messages.yahoo.com/Government_%26_Politics/Politics/threadview?m=tm&bn=18067330&tid=8344&mid=8344&tof=11&frt=2  What scared Al Franken was the fact that Jerry Springer failed first under the same circumstances!  Honor is earned; dishonor comes from taking the easy way out!!  Barack Obama will fail in fear and become a Republican mole pushing unconstitutional faith based initiatives if he can't count on the DFA staffers and members to stand with him!!!  Don't let him down!!!!

Brown concedes to McClintock

Sacramento -- Democrat Charlie Brown conceded defeat Wednesday in Northern California's 4th Congressional District race, 29 days after Election Day and two days after opponent Tom McClintock declared victory.

In a letter e-mailed to supporters Wednesday afternoon, Brown wrote: "A short time ago, I called Senator Tom McClintock to congratulate him on a hard fought victory, and to wish him well in Congress."

Brown, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who championed veterans issues during the campaign, trailed McClintock by fewer than 1,800 votes in the heavily Republican district, which stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the Oregon border.

Two years ago, Brown narrowly lost to Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is retiring from the 4th Congressional District seat amid an FBI probe into his ties to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ...full article 

From: "Eric Schultz, Al Franken for Senate" 
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2008 

Subject: Minnesota Senate Race Update

RECOUNT UPDATE: FRANKEN TAKES 22 VOTE LEAD OVER COLEMAN
By our count, Al Franken leads Norm Coleman by 22 votes with roughly 138,000 ballots left to be hand counted. Many media outlets are calculating the margin by a different method, relying on raw data from the Secretary of State's website to conclude that Coleman holds a lead of over 300 votes. However, that calculation assumes that every challenge will be upheld by the state canvassing board, whereas our calculation assumes that the original call by the impartial election judge wi ll stand. So, if the judge calls it for Franken, we say it's a Franken ballot. Likewise, if the judge calls it for Coleman, we treat it as a Coleman ballot - even if we have challenged it.
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/franken-claims-lead-2008-12-03.html
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1208/Franken_camp_claims_its_in_the_lead.html?showall

TODAY: FRANKEN WITHDRAWS OVER 600 CHALLENGES
This afternoon, the Franken campaign sent a letter to the Secretary of State withdrawing 633 challenges. The fact that we are withdrawing these challenges does not in any way have any effect on the likelihood that Al Franken will win the recount. The only practical impact of what we are doing today is that it will save the state canvassing board the trouble of looking at these challenges themselves. In other words, it will not affect our number (Franken leads by 22), although it will affect the less-accurate number (Coleman leads by over 300) used by some media outlets.
http://www.twincities.com/ci_11128659
Download a copy of the letter here:
http://www.alfranken.com/page/-/docs /recount/20081203_ChallengeWithdrawal.pdf

SECRETARY OF STATE DIRECTS LOCAL ELECTIONS OFFICIALS TO REVIEW UNCOUNTED ABSENTEE BALLOTS
The Secretary of State's office yesterday directed county auditors and county and city election officials to review all previously rejected absentee ballots and determine whether they fall under one of the four legal reasons for rejecting a ballot. The absentee ballot review will begin on December 8. As of the end of the day, we believe we will have received lists of rejected absentee ballots from all but one county in Minnesota. In the counties that have provided this data, more than 9,200 absentee ballots were rejected. Although we believe that the majority of these 9,200 rejected absentee ballots were properly rejected, it is clear that among them are improperly discounted ballots of Minnesotans who did everything right. We estimate that up to 1,000 ballots were improperly rejected.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/senate/35383869.html

KEY POINTS

• Attention will soon shift away from the numbers of this particular recount and toward the fight over whether or not these improperly rejected absentee ballots will be counted -- because those are the votes that will determine the next Senator from Minnesota. The Secretary of State has said there are roughly 12,000 absentee ballots rejected this past election. The Secretary of State has also estimated that 500 of them were wrongly rejected -- a number greater than the likely difference between Coleman and Franken at the end of the hand count. The Franken campaign actually estimates this pile is even larger -- up to 1,000 ballots.
  
  
• On top of the improperly rejected absentee ballots, reports of missing ballots in several Mi nnesota localities must be resolved before any recount is considered accurate or complete. According to the Secretary of State's website, there are numerous instances in which the number of recorded voters does not equal the number of ballots counted in the recount, thus certain ballots were counted on Election Day but not in the recount.
  
  
• We are determined to ensure that every Minnesotan who cast a vote -- either in person or via absentee -- ought to have that vote counted. And whether it is at the county level, at the canvass board, in the courts or before the United States Senate, we don't know yet. But because we believe the principle that every vote cast ought to be counted is universal, we remain confident these votes will be counted.
  
  
• Members of the State Canvassing Board affirmed our argument that improperly rejecting absentee ballots would amount to disenfranchising Minnesotans. In fact, as the decision to count these ballots emerges as the central discussion in the race, will Norm Coleman be in the extraordinary position of arguing they shouldn't be counted? Will elected judges and state officials want to look Minnesotans in the eye and say their votes shouldn't count?
  
  

No recount should be considered complete or accurate until all the ballots are counted -- that includes the improperly rejected absentee ballots, and any missing ballots from around the state.

Despite defeat, Martin says ’08 elections redefined the Democratic Party

Jim Martin, a former state lawmaker who fought for HIV funding and an inclusive hate crimes bill, told his supporters Tuesday night at Park Tavern that although he had lost his race for the U.S. Senate, they had done the right thing.

“Tonight we celebrate a victory beyond our campaign,” Martin said Dec. 2, after conceding to Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. “We celebrate a campaign that stood up for Georgians, ending the top-down economics that have destroyed our middle class, ending the war in Iraq that has destroyed our standing in the world.”

Although Martin forced a runoff in the Nov. 4 general election, he lost to incumbent Chambliss by a 14 point spread on Dec. 2. With election results still to be certified, Martin garnered approximately 900,000 votes to Chambliss’ 1.2 million, for a 57 percent to 43 percent loss. Chambliss’ victory ensures the Democrats will not have the 60 seat majority they need for a filibuster-proof Congress.

In Martin’s concession speech, he pointed to the election of President-Elect Barack Obama, and the future of the Democratic Party.

“In this process in Georgia, as Democrats, we found our soul. We are the party of opportunity for all Georgians,” he said.

[...]

Both the Republican Party of Georgia and the Chambliss campaign did not return calls from Southern Voice seeking comment. In the three Human Rights Campaign congressional scorecards on gay rights that have been issued since Chambliss won his Senate seat, he has received a score of 20 out of 100 for 2007-08 and 0 for the prior sessions of Congress.

HRC and the gay National Stonewall Democrats backed Martin in the race. The national office of the Log Cabin Republicans did not endorse Chambliss, although some members of the gay GOP group’s Georgia chapter supported him, according to Jamie Ensley, Georgia Log Cabin president.  ...more.