On Thursday, Georgia’s Department of Labor announced that the state’s unemployment levels rose to 7 percent in October, the highest in 16 years; approximately 43,093 unemployed Georgians are looking for work. That same day, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who is locked in a tough run-off election battle with Democrat Jim Martin, gave a campaign speech on the state’s economic troubles:

It’s imperative that we continue down the road of putting liquidity, integrity and confidence back in the financial marketplace so that we can see the credit market free up and people having the ability to borrow money to to operate and expand their businesses.

However, Chambliss was so busy campaigning that day that he actually skipped the Senate’s vote on the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008, which extended unemployment benefits “by 13 weeks in states with an unemployment rate of at least 6 percent.” Chambliss was one of just four senators to miss the vote. WCTV reported that Chambliss later sent out a press released praising “the passage of the law and hopes it will help laid-off workers get by while seeking a new job.”

Yesterday, WXIA in Atlanta said that Chambliss claimed he would have voted for the bill anyway. Watch WXIA’s report: http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/22/chambliss-unemploym… /

Chambliss, Too Busy Campaigning to Care

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The Emerging Center-Left Majority

Conservatives dismiss the notion that this election represents the solidifying of a center-left America. A new poll shows they are wrong.

“2008 may well mark the beginning of a new era of progressive reform and the consolidation of a center-left America.”

Robert Borosage and Stanley B. Greenberg | November 13, 2008

The scope of Barack Obama’s sweeping victory hasn’t yet registered in much of the media. Conservatives and Republicans have responded to defeat with one constant refrain: they can take solace in the fact that America is a “center right” nation. That reality means defeat is only temporary, its causes largely transitory. The losses this time are attributed to Bush’s many failures, from Iraq to the economy (the explanation varies from faction to faction).

But election 2008 was not simply a testament to the remarkable candidacy of Barack Obama, nor a product of Bush’s catastrophic presidency. Rather, the results suggest that this may not simply be a change election but a sea-change election. An extended election-night survey undertaken by Democracy Corps and the Campaign for America’s Future suggests that we may be witness to the emergence of a new progressive majority, that contrary to conservatives’ claims, America is now a center-left nation.

The conservative claim to a center-right majority comes from addition. More voters say they are conservative than liberal (by a margin of 34 to 22 in this election). Add conservatives to the 44 percent who say they are moderates and you’ve got the majority.

But the addition doesn’t hold up under any analysis. It assumes that moderates are without definition and more likely to swing right than left. This simply ignores reality. In 2008, self-described moderates, about 44 percent of the electorate, voted 60 to 39 for Obama. And, as has been increasingly true in polling going back to 2004, broad majorities have a world view far closer to liberals and Democrats than to conservatives or Republicans.

more at:
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_emergin…

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Allegations have surfaced of voter irregularities involving a paid staffer of Norm Coleman, and the ramifications could have a profound impact on the outcome of Coleman’s race against Al Franken.

A reporter for the Minnesota Independent, a progressive online publication, was working on a story about voter turnout when she overheard that Republican poll challengers monitoring voting at the precinct had brought in Mahamoud Wardere to help voters translate.

The Coleman campaign confirmed that Wardere is a paid member of their staff

THESYNDROME.COM

“I had already spoken to at least three people who told me that translators were telling them to vote for Norm Coleman,” she said.

The issue could end up being the basis of a legal challenge. According to Prof. Joe Daly of Hamline University, state election law has a provision that if there is a deliberate, serious or material violation of state election law, a district court judge must gather the evidence and present it to the presiding officer of the U.S. Senate, who would then decide the merits of the allegations.

The Senate could even revoke the results of the election and decide who would be seated as senator.

Read more: http://wcco.com/election/voter.irregularities.allegatio…

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TERRELL - Protestors spoke out Thursday against The Terrell Tribune’s decision not to put Barack Obama’s

An Alabama Redneck Says, "Hell, Even I Voted For O'Bama"

presidential victory on its front page.

The day after Obama was elected as president, the banner headline for the Tribune focused on the county commissioner’s race. The headline read, “Jackson defeats Schoen.”

About 25 residents, who said they had hoped to save the local paper with Obama’s victory noted front page, picketed the newspaper’s office Thursday.

…

Protestors pointed out that on Election Day, the Tribune had printed a John McCain-focused story as their lead story on the front page.

..

The Terrell Tribune’s publisher, Bill Jordan, declined an on-camera interview.

“We run a newspaper, not a memory book service,” he said. “We covered the local commissioner’s race. We thought that was more important.”

Read more: http://www.fox11az.com/news/topstories/stories/texas-20…

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PETER CAVE: US president-elect Barack Obama is being briefed for the first time on the key security threats facing America and he’s facing intense scrutiny over who he’ll choose to fill key staff and Cabinet posts.

Fellow Illinois politician Rahm Emmanuel is the first to come on board, having just accepted the offer of becoming the White House Chief of Staff.

At the same time the recriminations are flying within the Republican ranks about who’s to blame for the big election loss.

Our North America correspondent Michael Rowland reports from Chicago.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Two days after the election and the presidential transition is well underway.

Barack Obama is receiving his first intelligence briefings as he prepares to assume the role of commander-in-chief.

Roger Cressy, a former National Security Council official in the Clinton and Bush administrations, says Senator Obama has to quickly immerse himself in the issues he’ll face in the White House.

ROGER CRESSY: Now that he is the president-elect, there is a whole new area of information he is now going to be privy to and this is going to be really important to get him comfortable with it before the inauguration.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: Barack Obama will travel to Washington next week for a meeting with President Bush who says he’s doing everything he can to help his successor.

GEORGE W. BUSH: This peaceful transfer of power is one of the hallmarks of a true democracy and ensuring that this transition is as smooth as possible is a priority for the rest of my presidency.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: The president-elect is continuing the process of selecting the team he’ll take with him to the White House. Democratic congressman Rahm Emmanuel will be the new president’s Chief of Staff.

With the economy in crisis and financial markets still volatile, Senator Obama is also moving quickly to choose his Treasury Secretary. Former Clinton White House economic official Alan Blinder says it is a job that can’t be left hanging.

ALAN BLINDER: The new secretary of the Treasury is going to have to hit the ground running with unusual speed. I mean, I guess that is a cliché you could say about any administration but in this case, I am pretty sure he is going to have to hit the ground running before he is Secretary of the Treasury.

MICHAEL ROWLAND: In Republican ranks the blame game is intensifying and most fingers are pointing at vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Unflattering stories are starting to appear about the Alaska Governor.

More details are emerging about her clothes buying spree just before the Republican convention. Republican officials are grumbling about a final bill that’s said to be much, much more than the $150,000 reported at the time.

McCain campaign staffers are telling journalists Sarah Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent when she was being briefed on foreign policy issues. Former McCain advisor John Weaver says the choice of Sarah Palin was a huge error.

JOHN WEAVER: She was not vetted in an appropriate way and it was taking someone with little experience but with great political skills and strapping them onto a rocket. It was just an inappropriate pick… SOURCE

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