Stump time again in states with close races
WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain is scheduled to visit Georgia on Thursday to campaign for GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss, and Sarah Palin may not be far behind. Mitt Romney on Tuesday gave $5,000 to Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman as he monitors a statewide recount. And the counting of absentee and mail-in ballots resumes today in Alaska.
The campaign isn't over yet in three Senate races, and the stakes are high: If Democrats win them all, they could secure a majority large enough to steamroll over Republican objections to their agenda.
In Minnesota, a razor-close election triggered an automatic hand recount; in Alaska, tens of thousands of votes are uncounted. That leaves in doubt the fate of Republican Sens. Coleman and Ted Stevens of Alaska.
In Georgia, Chambliss won more votes than his Democratic opponent, Jim Martin. Even so, Chambliss didn't get 50%, so voters will decide in a Dec. 2 runoff.
Three House races are also too close to call in Virginia, Ohio and California, though Democrats are in firm control of the House, having added 20 seats to their 36-seat majority.
For the Senate and President-elect Barack Obama, the outcomes are significant. After picking up six Senate seats Nov. 4, Democrats will control 57 seats, three short of the 60 votes needed to overcome Republican filibusters. That tally includes independents Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders.
Democrats, who won control of the Senate after the 2006 elections, held a pre-election 51-49 voting majority, including the independents. Under Senate rules, 41 senators can block legislation by threatening a filibuster, and Republicans over the past two years used that tactic a record number of times to stop Democrat-backed bills. With 60 Democratic votes, Obama would have a far stronger hand to pass his agenda.
Chambliss opponent Martin has asked the president-elect to campaign for him, Martin spokesman Matt Canter said. "We don't know if he'll be able to come, but his campaign team has been a tremendous help," Canter said. A hundred Obama organizers are coming to Georgia, he said.
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