Matt Kaminski talks to Rand Paul, an then to Roy Blunt, representing the full outsider-insider spectrum of the new Senate class:

 Chris Christie's now at a 51% to 38% approval rating, an impressive figure with the economy still bad, and evidence that a clear and forceful

 This is not, I don't think, unique to Nevada, or to one party:

By now the sign on a dirt lot in the southeast valley has become

 Jeanne Cummings talks to Axelrod about a shift that began in the run-up to the election, from condemning outside money to condemning secret ou

 Jonathan Martin:

Independent voters moved decisively to the Republican Party in last week’s election and are more sympath

David Paterson has a new nickname for himself.

A look at Andrew Cuomo's business friends, and what they might get from the new governor.

WNYC charts Cuomo's possible cabinet appointments.

Cuomo said he welcomes Sheldon Silver's no-tax stance.

Democrats are worried this year's state Senate recounts could end up like Florida ten years ago.

The Wall Street Journal wonders whether the unsettled state Senate could slow Cuomo down.

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin wonders whether Journal reporters read their own paper.

Repealing Don't...

Ballot counting in three races that will decide control of the state Senate is moving at a glacial pace. But it is moving, according to Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Senate Democrats.

In the race between Sen. Antoine Thompson and Mark Grisanti, “three-percent audits” of the voting machines has begun. In this process, as you might imagine, three percent of voting machines are checked to see if the number of ballots that went through them matches the number of voters on poll books. Officials in Erie County began taking an inventory of the emergency (or “affidavit”) ballots that were cast, but are not yet opening them. Counting should begin next week. Grisanti leads Thompson by around 600 votes.

Two election districts remain uncounted in the race between Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer and Bob Cohen. it’s unclear why. Shafran said they are in the cities of White Plains and New Rochelle. Oppenheimer has a 366 vote lead.

There are 3,600 absentee ballots in the Nassau County race between Sen. Craig Johnson and Jack Martins. An inventory of the emergency ballots will begin tomorrow, and a three-percent audit will start next week. Martins leads Johnson by just over 400 votes.

“When all the votes are counted, Democrats will have retained the majority. Our objective is simple: we want a full, fair and honest count of every vote cast,” Shafran said.

Several sources indicate the Democrats — whose centralized campaign committee was $500,000 in the red the weeks before Election Day — have been shaking the money trees. Glenn Blain has a story based on an e-mail the party sent hitting up donors.

Shafran acknowledged this.

“We’re going to be getting all the resources necessary…We’re starting, potentially, the largest voter protection effort yet in the state of New York,” he said.

Republicans see it differently.

“This desperate shakedown of lobbyists isn’t about paying for a recount, it’s about helping Democrats get out from under a pile of debt and padding their legal defense funds while they’re still in the majority,” Republican spokesman Scott Reif said. “The Senate Democrats know their days in the majority are numbered and they’re simply trying to slow down the counting of votes so they can hang on for as long as possible.  We’re confident that when all the votes are counted the results will continue to show Republicans winning 32 seats, and possibly 33.”

This was sent to me by Lambda Independent Democrats: If you're curious about the future of grassroots organizing, down-ballot online politics, or the next crop of Brooklyn progressives - join...

...

In the aftermath of the election l almost forgot this was coming up! The November meeting of Central Brooklyn Eating Liberally will be TODAY, Tuesday, November 9th at 7 PM at Born Thai, 293...

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There are 145 appointments pending before the Senate, which may be cast to the wind if not acted on this year. (TU)

In Puerto Rico, Andrew Cuomo sent mixed signals about Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. (NYT)

Gov. David Paterson chatted with Cuomo at the event, and referred to himself as “governor eject.” (NYP)

Cuomo reiterated his pledge not to raise taxes. (AP)

Cuomo accepted millions from special interest donors, including PepsiCo and the Dolans, who own Cablevision. (DN)

Cuomo said that Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy could cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, were there a leadership struggle. (BN)

Democrats are raising money to fight for control of that chamber. (DN)

630 gallons of radioactive water spilled into the Mohawk River in Niskayuna. (TU)

Ex-Gov. George Pataki is “looking at” a run from the presidency, noting Peekskill is bigger than Wasilla. (NYP/DN)

Sen. Chuck Schumer thinks there needs to be a change in Senate leadership. (SOP)

Howie Hawkins, savior of the Greens. (CapNY)

John Jay LaValle defended Ed Cox. (SOP)

The head of Columbia’s Earth Institute says green infrastructure can be Cuomo’s key. (HuffPo)

As Cuomo channels Hugh Carey, will he continue his tradition of bringing in good people? (Empire Page)

Sen. Chuck Schumer is traveling around New York urging a focus, like a laser, on the middle class. (BN)

At a speech, pollster John Zogby “compared the tea party to a gorilla that was taught to play golf by scientists. When the gorilla was brought out on the course, he could drive the ball 420 yards down the fairway but couldn’t get the ball in the cup when it was two feet away.” (Legislative Gazette)

Bars need to apply for all-night New Year bashes soon. (DN)

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg said a manager exchange program yielded “friendships.” (City Hall)

Bloomberg essentially stood by comments that new members of Congress “can’t read.” (DN)

Counting continues today in the Maffei-Buerkle race. (Post-Standard)

And here are some national headlines…

In an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, George W. Bush looks back on his presidency and life. (DN)

Barack Obama endorsed India for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. (WP)

GOP statehouse control will prevent complete implementation of the health care law. (WP)

Democrats are planning how they can counter corporate money in the 2012 elections. (Politico)

Why did Democrats lose so many House seats in New York? (WP)

A Brit thinks Politico is the key to the future. (Guardian)

Grief counselors visited the offices of House Democrats. (Politico)

Rep. Michelle Bachmann will likely fail in her bid for a leadership position. (WP)

There’s a re-count coming in the Bishop-Altschuler race. (NBC)

Republicans want to flip West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin. (NYP)

And below: the beginning of Lauer’s interview with Bush:

Philip Carlo, chronicler of mass murderers and survivor of Lou Gehrig's disease, succumbs to cancer.

I’ve got a story in today’s paper about the 145 nominations that Paterson has put in for a myriad of posts but which have yet to be confirmed by the Senate. At this point, it’s unclear if they ever will be confirmed.

Here’s the list of nominees :

Senate Confirmation Status (Senate Finance) 11-3-10[1]

Well what a topsy turvy race this has been. On election night we thought that Maffei had it in the bag, only to discover, when all 4 counties that make up NY-25 reported all precincts, that the Republican candidate was in fact in front by 684 votes!

Below the fold for more........
Now almost a week after election day it seems that about 11,000 absentee ballots were distributed across the 25th. Final returns won't be known for at least another week.

What we do know is this:
Election day numbers (D/R):

Cayuga - 959(35.4%)/1748(64.6%)
Monroe - 16426(45.1%)/19987(54.9%)
Onondaga - 72323(53.7%)/62419(46.3%)
Wayne - 9191(37.3%)/15429(62.7%)

Election day totals 98899(49.8%)/99583(50.2%)

Absentees issued (final total)/returned (as of last wednesday night)
Cayuga - 148/117
Monroe - 1660/1243
Onondaga - 8154/5578
Wayne - 1683/1226
TOTALS - 11654/8154

So lets test three scenarios:
1) Vote %'s remain as they were on election day and absentees as per last wednesday night (highly unlikely) then the vote totals will be (D/R):
Cayuga - 1000/1824
Monroe - 16985/20671
Onondaga - 75432/65068
Wayne - 9651/16212
TOTALS - 103068/103775

2) Vote %'s remain as they were on election day but absentee return rate is 100%(also unrealistic)
Absentee returns:
Cayuga - 148/148
Monroe - 1660/1660
Onondaga - 8154/8154
Wayne - 1683/1683
TOTALS - 11654/11654

Votes (D/R)
Cayuga - 1011(35.4%)/1844(64.6%)
Monroe - 17175(45.1%)/20898(54.9%)
Onondaga - 76702(53.7%)/66194(46.3%)
Wayne - 9819(37.3%)/16484(62.7%)
TOTALS - 104707/105420

3) Absentee returns increase by 5% and Maffei Onondaga vote increases by .5%
Absentee returns:
Cayuga - 148/124
Monroe - 1660/1326
Onondaga - 8154/5986
Wayne - 1683/1310
TOTALS - 11654/8746

Votes (D/R)
Cayuga - 1003/1828
Monroe - 17024/20715
Onondaga - 76742/65160
Wayne - 9680/16250
TOTALS - 104449/103953

Maffei by 496.

So what does this mean?
Simply put the only way for Maffei to win is to get a higher percentage of the absentee vote than he did the election day vote. A high absentee return will not by itself get him over the line.
Obviously the most likely way for him to make up enough votes is in Onondaga county, the largest part of the district, and the only county he won.

Can he do it? Time will tell. I think he can by the way as absentees tend to trend toward incumbents as compred to election day votes (as a rule of thumb).

Your thoughts?

FishbowlDC editor Betsy Rothstein called out the Washington Post on Monday with a blog post that accused the paper of taking two stories from other outlets without attribution -- Politico's story about Keith Olbermann's campaign contributions and FishbowlDC's scoop about the ouster of TBD.com editor Jim Brady.

WaPo reporter David Montgomery's article on the Olbermann suspension gave credit to Politico, but other Washington Post stories about the situation did not mention Politico's role in the story...

Ninety-five percent of first responders in the suit must accept the settlement for it to take effect.

It snowed. Congressman-elect Michael Grimm says he's focused on creating jobs, not putting President Obama out of one. Maghabe reports staffers for a Congressional Democrat who got knocked out in...

The building, across West 57th Street from Carnegie Hall, is known for its illustrious occupants.

Via NY1:

During a wide-ranging interview for tonight's "Inside City Hall," NY1's Michael Scotto asked Pataki if his active involvement in this mid-term election cycle meant that he was planning on throwing his hat into the 2012 presidential race. The three-term executive said that he is looking at the field and assessing the contenders.

Pataki: "I've learned enough to never say yes or no with absolute finality, so I'll see going forward."

Scotto: "So you haven't ruled it out?"

Pataki: "No, I haven't."

Scott: "Are you leaning one way or the other?"

Pataki: "I'm looking right now. We're still a week out of the elections. I want to see who else is out there and think about it."

Please allow me to be the first to say, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

If Governor Speedbump's delusions of grandeur extend to thinking that the Tea Party and the rest of the Republican base is going to swoon for a pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-environment, Catholic, moderate, ex-governor from the northeast, then I would say that he's probably either drunk, or insane, or both.

But please do run, George. Whatever way you slice it, it'll be fun to watch the train wreck.  

Shelly Silver shoots down rumors that he is on the way out

John Jay Lavalle is defending Ed Cox.

Andrew Cuomo was unable to avoid the press in Puerto Rico.

Grief counselors for Capitol Hill staffers?

Alec Baldwin for Congress?

Darrell Issa is planning hundreds of investigations into the Obama administration (Also check out that art on the office wall..)

Who watches Obama's You Tube videos? No one...

On the heels of longtime GOP state Sen. Frank Padavan's formal concession of defeat to Democrat Tony Avella, another Queens Republican hopeful, Anthony Como, is doing the same. Anthony Como...