The Votes Are In, and Joe Walsh Wins... But Is Bean Going Away Quietly? (UPDATED x2: BEAN CONCEDES; BEAN SAYS SHE TOOK WALSH SERIOUSLY)

Looks like with all the votes counted, Joe Walsh has won the election in the 8th Congressional District in an upset that very few folks predicted....

But will Melissa Bean demand a recount? To paraphrase a famous saying, we count the votes, and if the right person doesn't win, we keep counting until he does... it worked for Al Franken in Minnesota, so the GOP needs to remain vigilant...

UPDATED 10:00 p.m.: The Daily Herald has now updated its story to state that Democrat Melissa Bean has conceded the race, which means no recount and no costly and drawn-out legal battle, which is great news. Walsh has a lot of work to get done in the House, so it's time to dig in and band together with his new freshman house members like Bob Dold to start making some real changes in Washington. Congrats, Joe!

UPDATED x2 11:30 a.m. 11/17/10: Melissa Bean is now speaking out about her loss to Joe Walsh and blames the national GOP tsunami. Bean says she took Walsh "seriously". Agree/disagree?

All Wrapped Up About The Map

Since the Republican wave that overcome the nation seemed to hop-skip-jump over Illinois in various ways (we won lots of Congressional seats but won few General Assembly seats), we are now facing the dubious proposition of being more or less shut out of the re-map process. The Chicago Tribune looks at the issue in depth today, complete with an above-the-fold photo of State Senator Terry Link (yuck) who will no doubt be inserting himself into the process, in order to cram as many GOP votes into as few districts as possible, to give the Dems an advantage for the next 10 years. I like to call that process "Terrymandering" (TM).

Before the election, even 'policy-over-politics' Ellen of the Tenth was unbashed about how important controlling the remap process was going to be.

Now we're a bit stuck with it. Any guesses on how this may change life here in Lake County? Which Congressional District is going to disappear, and who will be left to duke it out? What are our state rep/senate districts going to look like?

Meanwhile, in Washington, Congressman Charlie Rangel begins his ethics trial today before the House Ethics Panel. I guess that means he won't be sending any more money to three-time loser Dan Seals.

Oh- if you want to know what the funny map picture is all about, click here.

Weekend Potpourri: ObamaCare Waivers; Kirk and Dold on the Road (UPDATED)

Wow, this ought to really frost everyone. Looks like the number of "waivers" from having ObamaCare apply to companies and UNIONS (big shocker) is shooting up precipitously... and the Obama administration is certainly not advertising it. So says Fox News:



So, the law that was supposed to bring everyone these great benefits and level the playing field, stop insurance companies from profiteering and all that other polysyllabic bullsh*t, is obviously so flawed that it can't be enforced without doing such grave damage to the economy. But here's the kicker, as the Fox segment points out: the only companies and unions are the ones who can afford to hire attorneys to get a waiver. Stunning.

In more local news, Senator-elect Mark Kirk and Congressman elect Bob Dold jointly held a town hall meeting in Arlington Heights to discuss reducing federal spending before an overflow crowd. I think the record time between being elected and reaching back out to the people on the issues that matter most bodes well for how these gentlemen intend to govern.

(((UPDATE: Here's an interesting article about the freshman congressmen heading to Washington DC for the first time. Eric Cantor, the new or soon-to-be GOP Majority Leader, sent out a 144-page memo to frosh GOP congressmen, which included a host of good tips, such as "Don't: Completely disappear from the public" between Election Day and the new Congress. "Even though you won't take office until January, many of your constituents will view you as their member of Congress." Well, it looks like Bob Dold certainly 'got the memo,' huh? END OF UPDATE)))

What else are people hearing on the street? We mentioned last this week that soon-to-be former Congresswoman Melissa Bean may already be lining up a new job, but I'd like to keep an eye on some of the other Dem losers, like Dan Seals and Michael Bond, to see what kind of cushy government job they end up with. The Dems always take care of their own, make no mistake about it, folks.

I'm going to go watch the Bears, but before I do, I wanted to give a shout-out to my high school football team, Maine South, which won over the Stevenson Patriots last night that was a nail-biter right up until the end. Go Hawks!

Joe Walsh Prepares for Congressional Orientation, But Knows Time Is Ticking on Meeting 8th District Voters' Expectations; Bean Planning Her Next Gig?

As most of us are aware, the race between Republican Joe Walsh and Incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean for the 8th Congressional District has not been officially called yet due to remaining uncounted votes, although Walsh still has a lead of over 300 votes. But, the Daily Herald reports that Walsh is on his way to Washington, D.C., to participate in new member orientation, which is standard procedure in such cases. Bean obviously doesn't need any orientation, given that she's a three-term congresswoman. But, Bean may already be preparing to bow to the inevitable behind the scenes, and lining up her next gig, according to the Huffington Post (h/t to a commenter on the Daily Herald article).

Walsh, one of the few unabashed tea party candidates in Illinois that was successful, knows, however, that the voters are going to be watching the actions of the new Republican majority in Congress very, very, closely:

“As I say to my fellow Republicans, we have been given a gift,” Walsh said. “If we don’t do what we need to do in two years, our butts are going to be thrown out of that city (Washington, D.C.) so quickly.”

He said the new Republican majority would make a priority of curbing government spending and defunding the health care reform bill until a Republican president can help them repeal it altogether.

I didn't always agree with some of Walsh's rhetoric out on the campaign trail, but I think he's got this point dead-on. Walsh may have the makings of a decent Congressman, and he may continue to surprise those who have underestimated him before, including me.

Thank a Vet, By Name

While the entire Chicago area is obsessed with Rahm Emanuel's ascent to the Mayoralty, let's use our space today to thank a vet, by name, for all they do and have done.

TA would like to give a personal shout-out to a few special vets:

First off, Senator-Elect Mark Kirk. I genuinely already feel better about national security knowing someone with his military experience and deep foreign policy experience is going to be helping to lead the nation for the next six years.

My Uncle, Robert Tyrell, who was a Korean War vet and sadly passed away a few years ago from cancer. His son, Tom, is a big fan of the Blog. Hopefully he doesn't have a completely different idea of me now after reading my rants for the last few years.

GOP County Chairman Bob Cook, and his sons, who are vets: Bob has a really tough job trying to meld the varying interest groups that make up the Lake County GOP - a little word of advice to everyone - now that we've had a good election cycle, there's a lot more to do, so please don't go back to the old ways of instantly trying to screw each other over for a percentage. If you can't play nicely in the sandbox, go find your own.

Finally, although there are many more I could name (but I have to get to work), my new friend and fellow blogger Paul Mitchell, with whom I don't always agree, but we bonded over our mutual efforts on behalf of State Rep. candidate Dan Sugrue. Plus, Paul has a great voice.

That's it for me. Feel free to add your own personal tributes to your favorite vet(s) in comments.

Post 2010 Elections, Lake County, IL "Still Republican"

In the wake of last week elections, Pioneer Press has a nice set of articles recapping the local results, focusing on the congressional, county and state general assembly races.

First, Lynne Stiefel takes a look at the Dold-Seals matchup. Of particular interest in this article is the impact that voter turnout had in the 10th, where Waukegan Township, a Dem stronghold, had almost 10,000 voters less than in the Obama run in 2008, and Warren Township, which had 1,600 fewer voters turn out, but Dold increased his percentage win over Seals by about 5 points more than Mark Kirk in the last cycle.

Next, John Roszkowski takes a broader look at the county as a whole and interviewed the respective Democratic and Republican County Chairmen, Terry Link and Bob Cook.

"Everything went really well. Lake County remains a Republican county," said Lake County Republican Party Chairman Bob Cook.

The Joe Walsh-Melissa Bean race doesn't seem like it's going to be decided for another week, but Walsh' campaign seems pretty confident that he will prevail, so add his unlooked-for win over 3-termer Bean as another big victory for the GOP.

The Pioneer Press also interviewed our old friend Lauren Beth Gash of the Tenth Congressional Democrats, who rationalized Dan Seals' THIRD loss for the 10th Congressional District seat as follows:

"There's no question that this was a wave election but I still very much hoped Dan Seals would be elected," she said. "I think it probably shows there's nothing else Dan Seals could have done to win in this national climate."

OK, so Seals could not win in a landslide year for Dems (2008) and he couldn't win in a landslide year for Republicans (2010). Basically, the guy just can't win... which is what we've been saying for years.

Some Are Understandably Curious About Where Alexi Giannoulias Goes From Here

People seem curious about what the next move for defeated candidate Alexi Giannoulias is. We speculated after the election that:

[I]f Obama really misses Alexi that much, he can give Alexi a job in his administration somewhere, which I bet is a good possibility, since Alexi needs something to do, and to get some age on him, before he comes back to make a run for something else here in Illinois.

Others are also curious, and seem to be on the same page with us:

At 34, Giannoulias is likely to have options, said friends and strategists. He is young, wealthy and has an important ally in the White House.

A job in Washington does not seem out of the question, several political strategists said. If he chooses to pursue a political career, the analysts said, Giannoulias needs to broaden his resume, perhaps with fresh public and private sector experience.

President Obama, who befriended Giannnoulias in pickup games on Chicago basketball courts and repeatedly campaigned for him, could help.

What do you all think? Will we be seeing Alexi again soon here in Illinois, or is his best bet to go out and burnish his credentials and then return?