War Room

Schumer sees the Senate going Dem

The DSCC chair says Virginia, Missouri and Montana will go blue.

He didn't quite say it outright, but DSCC chairman Chuck Schumer just came about as close as he could to declaring that the Democrats have taken the U.S. Senate.

Schumer said that there won't be any need for a recount once all the votes are counted in Virginia. Democrat Jim Webb leads by almost 8,000 votes now, and Schumer said absentee ballots yet to be counted from Fairfax County will give Webb a recount-proof advantage. "We have now won Virginia," Schumer said. "The numbers are close, but the changes that will occur will increase the votes on our side."

Of course, Virginia alone won't give Democrats control of the Senate. They'll need victories in Montana and Missouri, too, but they seem to be on the verge of getting those now. Claire McCaskill holds a very slim lead over Republican Sen. Jim Talent in Missouri, and even Fox News is saying that the votes yet to be counted suggest that she'll ultimately prevail. Democratic challenger Jon Tester holds a substantial lead over Conrad Burns in Montana now.

Politics in the news

Loading...

About War Room

War Room is written and edited by Alex Koppelman, with contributions from Salon reporters around the country.

Currently in Salon

  • From Balloon Boy to Sarah Palin's death panels, the media chased a lot of hoaxes in 2009 and called them news
  • Special ho-ho-ho-infused, not-quite-gift-guide edition: MST3K, Wenders, film noir, wine snobs and more
  • From cash-strapped polygamists to rogue lawn mowers at Sterling Cooper, the greatest shows dared to provoke
  • Grab a partner. You have some cooking to do. Plus: Last week's winners
  • At least, I was until now. Because in my circle, nothing is more embarrassing than being religious
  • Sex scandals, swine flu, tea parties, Michele Bachmann -- and that's just the first half of 2009
  • What the Democrats can learn from the Republicans about managing the ménage à trois within the party
  • Jacob Hacker breaks with fellow progressives, comes out in favor of the Senate's proposal
  • She never became Hollywood's It girl, but she was as daffy and heartbreaking as her A-list contemporaries
  • An extraordinary new memoir by a college jock whose brain began to bleed

Other News