Gregoire Beats Rossi?

The latest suggests that Democrat Christine Gregoire has now won the gubernatorial race in Washington over Dino Rossi by a mere eight votes.

The head of the state Democratic Party said late Tuesday that recount results from King County give Democrat Christine Gregoire an eight-vote victory in the closest governor’s race in state history.
Neither King County nor the Republican party could confirm the hand recount results on Tuesday night. But if the Democrats’ analysis is correct, it’s a stunning reversal in the gubernatorial race, which has been hotly contested ever since election day.
Republican Dino won the first count by 261 votes and won a machine recount by 42 votes.
“We’re confident Christine Gregoire has been elected the governor of the state of Washington,” Democratic Chairman Paul Berendt said. “I believe Dino Rossi should concede.”

Something seems strange about this. I wouldn’t throw in the towel yet. Mr. Berendt thinks Rossi should concede so quickly after an unconfirmed 8 vote margin, but a 42 vote lead was something that enough money being put into recounts could beat?
A Rossi spokesperson said “It’s just too close to call,” and that Republicans are looking at the data also.
It’s just a coincidence that Democrats somehow managed to count a Democrat victory right? Eight votes? In a manual recount, I think that’s within the margin of fraud.

Berendt and Democratic party officials reached their conclusion after crunching numbers supplied by King County. The county has finished tallying its 900,000 ballots, but election officials said they still need to reconcile differences in the precinct totals.

See, this is where this whole thing gets fuzzy. Democrats “crunched numbers.”
That’s not enough to convince me. Why on earth would Berendt want Rossi to concede when the results haven’t been truly finalized? Does Berendt and the Democratic party not want these results to scrutinized? Did they toss in just enough ballots to skim a victory?
UPDATE: Ipse Dixit seems equally suspicious…
UPDATE: Sound Politics has lots on this election…

Time’s Man of the Year is George W. Bush

In what should be no surprise to anyone, the most transformational man in the world today is the “Person of the Year” as named by Time magazine:

For sharpening the debate until the choices bled, for reframing reality to match his design, for gambling his fortunesóand oursóon his faith in the power of leadership, George W. Bush is TIME’s 2004 Person of the Year.
An ordinary politician tells swing voters what they want to hear; Bush invited them to vote for him because he refused to. Ordinary politicians need to be liked; Bush finds the hostility of his critics reassuring. Challengers run as outsiders, promising change; it’s an extraordinary politician who tries this while holding the title Leader of the Free World.

Powerline was named “blog of the year” although I would have voted for Instapundit.

62 MILLION!

According to David Leip’s Atlas of US Presidential Elections, the latest tally of the popular vote has Bush with over 62 million votes!

What Could Be More Funny Than Going On A Republican Killing Spree?

What a knee-slapper! Pat Rothfuss, a teacher at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is.

“But a group of students from the UWSP College Republicans organization wasn’t laughing Nov. 4 when a post-election Rothfuss column included phrases like “punching smug-looking Republicans in the mouth” and “key every car you see with a Bush bumper sticker.” The column’s premise was that Rothfuss was drunk while writing to himself, and it suggested, “Why don’t you go on a killing spree? I pet you can take out fixteen for sisteen republicans beofre they gun you down. Duke, youd’ be like a heroe.”

I wonder if Mr. Rothfuss has posters of his favorite stand-up comedian, Timothy McVeigh, hanging all over his walls.
Can you say “2nd amendment”? You know you can.
HAT TIP: Right Wing News
UPDATE: Here’s the original article by Rothfuss.

Tom Ridge To Resign

Via Fox News…

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is resigning, FOX News confirmed Tuesday. He is expected to announce his decision at a 2:45 p.m. EST press conference.
In an e-mail circulated to senior Homeland Security officials, Ridge praised the department as “an extraordinary organization that each day contributes to keeping America safe and free.” He also said he was privileged to work with the department’s 180,000 employees “who go to work every day dedicated to making our company better and more secure.”

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin reacts to his press conference and offers a response to conservatives who want Rudy Guiliani to take Tom Ridge’s place.
She laments, “I’m not sad to see Secretary Ridge go. But I’m not very optimistic that his replacement will fare any better.”
I wonder who she would recommend?