JimHackerMP wrote:BBC reports 52 seats to the GOP. I think that's what I guessed, 52 at least, no more than 54, did I say? I think most of us were at least fairly close.

Doctor Fate wrote:

JimHackerMP wrote:BBC reports 52 seats to the GOP. I think that's what I guessed, 52 at least, no more than 54, did I say? I think most of us were at least fairly close.

That doesn't account for LA or AK.

bbauska wrote:I had 54.

What does ‘join a caucus’ mean?" he added in the interview. "Does it mean casting one vote to organize the Senate, and then you’re on your own? Or does it mean you have to truly join the caucus, go to the meetings and participate fully, or you lose your committee assignments? How the parties handle that with me is going to have a significant influence on my decision.”

Despite his talk, King might be a bit out of place in the current Senate Republican Conference. According to the 2013 National Journal vote ratings, King's voting record makes him more a more reliable Democratic vote than 11 Democratic senators, including Mary Landrieu (La.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Joe Manchin III (W. Va.).

rickyp wrote:

What does ‘join a caucus’ mean?" he added in the interview. "Does it mean casting one vote to organize the Senate, and then you’re on your own? Or does it mean you have to truly join the caucus, go to the meetings and participate fully, or you lose your committee assignments? How the parties handle that with me is going to have a significant influence on my decision.”

Despite his talk, King might be a bit out of place in the current Senate Republican Conference. According to the 2013 National Journal vote ratings, King's voting record makes him more a more reliable Democratic vote than 11 Democratic senators, including Mary Landrieu (La.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Joe Manchin III (W. Va.).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... es-senate/

bbauska wrote:Noted

rickyp wrote:Sen. Angus King (I-ME) said Wednesday that he would continue to caucus with Democrats in the Senate minority.

"I think it's in Maine's interests to have a senator in each camp," King said in a press conference in Brunswick. "Nothing can or will happen without bipartisan support.”

1. Reid cleverly gets Baucus (MT) to resign early to be appointed ambassador. The Dem governor than appoints a senator can run as an “incumbent.” They appoint a guy who has plagiarism problems and has to drop out. They can only find some whacko woman to run instead. Easy R pick up.

2. The Dems get excited about picking up a seat in Mississippi because there was a primary fight. The Dems are smoking way, way too much dope whether it is legal or illegal. This issue faded away quickly.

3. Dems try to paint Tom Cotton as out of touch. They bring Bubba and Bubbette in to salvage Pryor’s back side. Cotton wins going away by 17. R pick up.

4. The open seat in SD looks good to Dems because former senator Larry Pressler runs as an independent, potentially siphoning away R votes. When he admits to voting for Obama his campaign loses what little air is has. Easy R pick up.

5. Mark Uterus (CO) runs a campaign focusing on the war on womyn, disgusting almost everyone. R pick up.

6. Joni Ernst is painted as another warrior on womyn. She is indeed a warrior and beats a trial lawyer who told a small group of Texas lawyers what he really thinks of Iowa farmers. She wins by 7.

7. The Dems get excited about firing Mitch McConnell and run a women who pretends to care about coal and guns. McConnell wins by 16.

8. The Dems get excited about firing Pat Robertson who has been in DC too long. They persuade their own candidate to withdraw from the race in Kansas, running a Trojan horse as an independent. Roberts wins by 9.

9. The Dem cypher incumbent in NC runs a perfect campaign and loses in the tidal wave.

10. Mary Landrieu claims her independence from Obama, but because Reid won’t let anything of substance come to the Senate floor her voting record is 97% with Obama. She will lose the run-off in December.

JimHackerMP wrote:I think the President's words were not entirely "conciliatory" as he said he was going to be. In one breath, he's being conciliatory, but in the same paragraph he hints at getting his own way on certain matters. I can't remember his exact statement but he sounded rather disingenuous.