Great day in the morning, he won

The relief in this house is palpable. Tim Kaine has won the governor's race in Virginia. I think my fella and I remain a bit bruised from the election last November because, despite the good news from the AP around 9PM, as election results trickled in we lingered over the State Bd of Elections site, obsessively refreshing until we were absolutely sure there wouldn't be some last-minute turnaround. On a more practical note, we were also monitoring the maddening (and encouraging and yet still maddening) closing of the gap between Deeds(D) and McDonnell(R) in the race for Attorney General. At this writing, it stands at McDonnell 50.04% to Deed's 49.88%. Eight districts have yet to be included in the reporting, and there is the inevitable recount. The word recount actually causes a dull pain. I suppose saying I was "bruised" after the last elections doesn't really cover it; "broken", now there's a word.

As for voting irregularities, I still plan to follow-up on the placement of voting machines in various districts within the city. Then there's this little tidbit. I think, somewhere in all of us, there lurks a conspiracy theorist; something about the way we're wired, our inclination to see patterns and ordering influence, a system-seeker that can be tapped unexpectedly. Now call me crazy, but isn't the consistent switching of candidates' names (the same candidates' names) a rather specific malfunction? After hearing this great report on the vulnerability of voting machines to, ummmm, adjustments, word of such switching is hard to ignore. Awaiting news of an official investigation. Until then, the system-seeker is stirring.