Too Close To Call

So we New Yorkers (really, those New Yorkers) had a special election to fill the House seat vacated by our new Senator, Kristin Gillibrand (or is it Kirsten?).

It's a mostly Republican district, but a lot of New York Republicans aren't exactly Sarah Palin/Rush Limbaugh/right-wing Republicans. Of course, that also means that the Democrats aren't exactly Dennis Kucinich/Michael Moore/left-wing Democrats.

But an unknown Democrat called Scott Murphy has found himself 65 votes ahead of Republican Jim Tedisco, largely because he kept to the mantra, "I support the stimulus package, and my opponent doesn't, or he won't say if he does or doesn't, and isn't that suspicious."

Still, the race is too close to call, with several thousand absentee ballots left to count.

Although the Republican Party seems determined to keep the Minnesota Senate race between Al Franken (who's won) and Norm Coleman (who hasn't) going for "years" (according to Senator Jim Cornyn of Texas, the head of the NRSC, which is the National Republican Senate Committee - I think - and they're bankrolling the court case), and even though this one too will likely end up in court, it should be resolved in weeks, not months or years.

This race, by the way, is also an unofficial test for the leadership of new Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele who, so far, has largely just been making an ass of himself. This is a Republican district, and the Republicans are struggling like hell to win it. Doesn't bode well, Man of Steele.