We all know that riding mass transit in pretty much any sizable city is bound to come with some adventures. I myself have LOADS of stories riding Metrotransit buses and light rail. I had the 2:30 #16 homosexuality debate between the ardent lesbians and the "you don't know until you try it" heteros.... There was the National American "Smoke-iversity" singer.... and the random people who wanted to beat my friend up for supposedly staring at her boyfriend while other women on the bus were tying there hair back to step in to defend her. So yes, riding the bus can often times be an adventure. Usually it comes from the passengers....

However, occasionally it comes from the drivers. I have nothing but utter respect for these drivers who have to navigate in rush hour and all types of weather. In fact, I'm always amazed when I see a Metrotransit bus in my neighborhood in Saint Paul during the winter when roads narrow by about 10 to 25% and they STILL don't hit anything. But... I guess the pressure of being a bus driver can get to you.

Metro Transit's Bad Boy List

Its a decent read but also somewhat disturbing that we have issues such as this coming from public servants. Yes, they are human and make mistakes... but you don't leave people outside when its -22 F (-30 C) while you take a nap. Its at that point dangerous and potentially life threatening. What scares me the most is that these people remain on the job after some near 30 LEGITIMATE complaints (not including the ones that people don't follow through). This of course could be used as more anti-union fodder and in some sense, yes, I agree there needs to be more reform to weaken the union somewhat. Just kinda weird that people who physically threaten disabled people can still drive city buses.

Anywho....

Minneapolis decided to secretly work towards the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I mean VERY secretly. In 2008 when Saint Paul was awarded the RNC, it was well known for some 2 years that the Twin Cities were attempting to bid jointly and got a lot of work done right in the open for all to see. But somehow this year with the deadline being TODAY to bid... Minneapolis didn't say a word publicly until actually submitting the bid. This surprised many pundits who didn't see this one coming the least bit, especially in the chorus of more vocal bidders such as Saint Louis and Philly, as well as Charlotte, Cleveland, and Phoenix.... well and any other unannouced city.

 So I've lived in my apartment for the year which comes equipped with a single solitary parking spot. Which normally isn't a big deal but the multitude of parking restrictions in our neighborhood through out the year, especially during winter, road construction and the occasional gas leak or sink hole have made it rather.... irritating. But what is worse is that on Sunday nights (technically Monday 2 AM to 7 AM), we cannot park in front of our building. On the street I live on, there are a lot of businesses and parking is thus restricted to allow high turnover, but the sections in front of residential buildings are for the most part exempt (which allows non-residents to park all day if they so choose to).  So I'm baffled why my building gets this really weird parking restriction. I know full well its not street sweeping, or at the very least it better not be. Who street sweeps 200 feet....

What I believe is the case is that this sign is old. Ages ago there used to be a small grocery store on the first floor of my building and like all other stores, they have to stock up. A Monday stocking time seems VERY logical as weekends are typically the big shopping days and 5 hours for a grocery store less than 5000 square feet seems logical. So currently I'm assuming that this is an old sign yet to be taken down. 

So... who do I call... there's not exactly a number on the Saint Paul website that pertains to "Inquiry odd road signs call ______". So I looked at their directory and none of the numbers were really a 100% fit for my question so I picked the "Street Design" number... I figured that since our street was remodeled (narrowed) and they kept the sign, that perhaps theres a unique design element. I doubted that but figured I didn't have anything to go off of. I figured I'd get redirected a couple times anyway.... 

Action: Call Street Design
Result: "I think you need to talk to Parks and Rec, I'll redirect you..." Umm... why? 

Action: Listened to Parks and Rec Menu
Result: Hung up. Nothing there would have helped

Action: Called Generic Public Works info line....
Result: "Oh you need to contact a right of way inspector... here's the number". Sweet! Getting somewhere!

Action: Dialed number for Right of Way office
Result: Phone refused to even dial....

Action: Repeat previous action... twice
Result: Me getting frustrated and pissed off.....

Action: Looked up "Right of Way Saint Paul" and found a random document about a street space permit for vendors. Perhaps that parks and rec lady WAS right...
Result: Found phone number!

Action: Dialed said phone number
Result: "sorry, but this number has been disconnected call "****** 7250" Turns out the first guy who tried to connect me to the right of way office told me 7200, and it was really 7250... UGH

Action: Called right of way office's REAL number
Result: Call either of these two folks... Victory is at hand!!!!

Action: called both numbers
Result: Answering machines....

Overall Result: wasted some 15 mins on my cell... great....

PotD #11

 Today the Republican Party of Minnesota will begin the process of nominating the gubernatorial candidate for this falls election. The DFL conducted their convention and chose Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher who will then have to face the general primary against a currently unknown number of Democrats in August before facing the soon to be determined Republican. But candidate selection isn't the only purpose of a state convention. These conventions also select the official party platform which is supposed to be the generally binding commonly held beliefs for members of that party, with a few disagreements here and there. Although this is the case for all parties, the Republicans have far stronger unity with fewer dissenters. 

However, if you ACTUALLY read the party platform, I think even moderate Republicans will realize that the party that born out Progressive Republicans just 50 years ago has long disappeared and given way to the Tea Party and their allies, complete with their lunacy and illogical and contradictory beliefs. Anyone with even a remote hint of understanding what the composition of the actual federal budget would realize that there is only so much spending cuts and tax cuts (which essentially are treated as a form of "spending") that we can sustain without joining the PIGS of Europe in financial crisis. 

But here's a link to the article about the Minnesota Republican Party platform and a link to the ACTUAL platform is embedded in the article.

Personally, I think Obama is doing a pretty good job given the circumstances and I think a lot of people are displeased because they didn't get "THEIR" President and personally I think there is a lot of racism to play still in a lot of the anti-Obama groups. If you check the cross tabs of polls where people disagree with Obama, large majorities or at least pluralities of these folks STILL believe he's muslim... harbors a "black" agenda, was not born in the US, and is a "socialist" which any RATIONAL person would realize is wrong on ALL counts. But... the Tea Party is likely the result of moderate Republicans who once dominated the party and suppressed the lunacy of its fundamentalists falling victim to conservative democrats in 2008 allowing the once silenced sleeping wing to awaken. This of course scares me on practically every issue and I fear I will not vote for anyone in the Republican Party for several election cycles. 

But it really isn't the Democrats that should be worried (as much anyway, still a rough 2010 cycle coming up).

The faction that is in most peril would actually be Moderate Republicans, many of whom were sniped in 2008 out of office by Blue Dog Democrats (some of whom were actually republicans that switched parties when the sinking ship was clearly taking too much water). There are three main reasons why Moderate Republicans should be worried.

Association
Long Term Demographic handicap
Strong Party Politics

Association: This one is probably the most evident in the 2010 elections. Poll after poll after poll have shown a generic nameless "Republican" beating a generic nameless "Democrat" in this falls election by some 6 to 8% points which I wont' go into specifically but COULD spell disaster (www.fivethirtyeight.com had a lot of the math on this) but actually examining each individual race does not suggest that strong of a Republican victory. Why is that? Even though there is a vast enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, I believe that a lot of the candidates who are in moderate territories that have to pander to Independents/conservative Democrats are going to struggle to shed the "lunatic" labels that people are throwing at them. It'll be easy for homogeneous suburban districts to maintain Republican seats, but places like Ohio's rust belt that was racked with unemployment and support of health care reform as well as support higher taxes for the richest Americans supposed to consciously vote for a party associated with being highly antagonistic. I think that its going to be the moderates that either have to forgo their own beliefs and pander to the party for money or get grouped in as a whole with the party and take a hit at the polls. 

Long Term Demographic Handicap:
The Republicans realized they were in trouble when they not only got beat in 2008, but walloped losing states like NC and Indiana and barely holding on to Missouri. Although 2008 was clearly a "wave" year, it made the Republicans wonder what the long term viability of their party was, namely their shrinking base. The controversial pick of Michael Steele, the first black Republican to head the party, was seen as a political "rebuttle" against Obama, although his leadership has been .... crazy.... at best. But even he realized that they needed to appeal to other demographics, especially minorities and the youth. By 2050, the US will be a minority majority nation, the same minorities that shunned Republicans; Hispanics by 2-1 and Blacks by 9-1. With the Republican party dependent on high voter turnout from older and white constituents, they are hitting a wall soon. This should lead to their liberalization, but we'll have to wait and see. But in the mean time, Republicans will have to fight even harder for every vote often with moderate Republicans losing their seats in contentious districts. 

Strong Party Politics:
The Republicans are well known for their strong party unity often demanding unwavering support lest they remove their dissidents from funding rolls or committee seats. This is true federally and locally. The Democrats have long been the more splintered unorganized party which often benefits the Republicans. However, moderate Republicans wanting to keep the funds rolling for election campaigns have to adhere minimally to a rather large chunk of the Republican platform. The very same thing that makes the Republicans such a formidable force in Congress (especially in respects the record number of filibusters this session so far) will hurt Moderate Republicans. As the Tea Party fanatics have drawn in people like Michelle Bachmann and Palin, who although controversial have a lot of money, their wing of the party has become even stronger. As the Tea Party money flows to the furthest right wingers of the party, they will have disproportionate say in using those funds and determining the party platform and they in turn will demand people adhere to this platform. Moderates will either have to abandon the party (See Governor Crist of Florida and Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania). 

I don't doubt that the Republicans will make an impressive showing in the polls this fall unless the economy has a more than stellar turnaround (although its not that bad). Personally, I think the 5 or 6 quarter recession from such a devastating collapse is pretty impressive. But concerns about the debt (which we ALL have) will hurt the Democrats who are perceived as the main culprits of the debt (although people fail to remember Bush's chronic deficit during GOOD times, but its okay cause he's white).

Additionally, I recently read a blog about the Tea Party and it asked "what if they were black" and I think the situation would have been viewed much more differently.

Potd #10



My first game at Target Field! Best seats in the House!

 So today marked the first MLB game to be played at the new Target Field. Despite its controversial start that saw the threat of moving the Twins or permanently contracting the team and a stubborn public clamoring to vote no for any tax hikes, the Stadium now shines as a stunning accomplishment and a resounding rejection of modern MLB stadiums fetish with "retro" architecture. This deviation and the stadiums integration with the intermodal transportation hub while being intimately tied with the fabric of downtown has been well received. Between the limestone facade, state of the art green technology and construction, and revamped luxury food options, this stadium undoubtedly a success even before the regular season opens. I have tickets for the April 20th game and I'm absolutely thrilled! The sterility and awkwardness of the Metrodome has been cast aside and now we have the summer open air baseball stadium that since 1982, Minnesotans have wished for. 

Of course, some still wanted a roof and today they nearly got the irony needed to prove them right. Earlier today thunderstorms dumped heavy rain over the Twin Cities threatening to delay or cancel the game. Thankfully the storms moved out and the game remained untouched and the great season long celebration with World Series dreams has begun. 

PotD #6



A Severe thunderstorm with small hail pushes through Saint Paul in the Summer of 2008. The tornado sirens across the river were initiated but other than temporary street flooding, the storm was nothing more than a welcome relief from a short stretch of warm weather, one that I welcomed as I didn't have AC in that house, and still don't at my current location.  

 Back in 2007, Minneapolis announced an effort to replace some of the cities most popular and shorter (so non-express, non-suburban or connectors) bus lines with modern street cars to much fan fare. RT Rybak for years has championed this cause and was on the approach to getting city approval. Unfortunately, the Bush administration's hostile criteria for federal funding assistance stalled the street car plans to which even Rybak pointed out in his State of the City address as one of his biggest non-accomplishments. But with the election of a more transit friendly administration, the Minneapolis City Council is set to embrace a long term street car plan along the densest corridors in the city providing cheap and relatively reliable service to the transit dependent while hopefully encouraging even more dense development that was characteristic of the 2000 to 2008 boom. 

Of course, this always leads to the argument about whether this sort of funding is worth it and the inevitable "why are we subsidizing". To be frank, I find this argument rather pointless as pretty much all modes of transportation (with very few notable exceptions) require some sort of public funds either through local or state bonding and usually with a federal grant. So highway or street car, we're using public funds. At this point in American urban development, our network of highways is for the most part "complete" and the vast majority of highway projects are usually interchange re-planning or widening with the miles of new limited access roads decreasing. In terms of societal efficiency, we just don't really have the room for highways with similar levels of car dependencies. If the US does reach the 450 million mark around 2050, and the population continues to urbanize, we have to move the extra 140 million people and the net gain in cars from this population growth has to be very small. The US can't afford financially to both build and  maintain hundreds of thousands of new highway lane miles and its accompanying demand for resources. I don't doubt the benefit of interstate highways, but as the US struggles with oil dependencies and chronic congestion, we have no choice but to invest in these forms of mass transit, even if it comes at a somewhat greater public financing cost. Highways are quickly becoming antiqued and inefficient. States that are increasingly highway based also face the economic weight of gas prices now becoming an increasing burden, especially on Sunbelt states that have generally avoided mass transit. In addition to the increased societal cost of increased highway construction, and the impending oil demands, there's also the added health cost of being a sedentary population, stuck in traffic jams for hours at a time. Cities with great massive transit plans also tend to have lower rates of obesity and obesity related diseases just from the fact that you have to walk to and from transit entrance and exit points. So in a way, mass transit has a hidden cost BENEFIT that is never included in federal funds requests. Of course, no individual project can claim a reduction in municipal fat but the evidence is clear.  

In the planning community, street cars have a love-hate relationship with many. One the one hand, street cars are slow, operate in traffic, and are usually limited in scope. However, there is no doubt that these street cars have time and time again encouraged development and promote commuting and even equalize racial disparities in ridership. Unfortunately, whites tend to avoid mass transit buses in droves but change it to a street car which is essentially no different, and its a hip new clean way to travel. Its unfortunate that mass transit has to combat on social preconceptions as well as financial ones, but its the reality of American transit. So as illogical as street cars are compared to other lines, they still get the job done and encourage growth and at a significantly lower cost than light rail. Many of the lines proposed in Minneapolis' transit plan are barely a mile long (at first) but can see tens of thousands of riders a day at 1/10th the cost of a light rail line. 

I think Minneapolis is doing a great job so far in its mass transit planning (of course, implementation is a whole 'nother story) and its approach is very systematic and reasonable. Minneapolis' plan is to use a gambit of transit options to meet generally at one intermodal station that would connect buses, BRT, commuter rail, light rail, taxis, street cars and even bikes and skyways in downtown using the best solution for each corridor necessary. This is a logical plan that I'm surprised many cities aren't following through with. Yes, many cities beat Minneapolis in current mass transit construction, but many of the systems I've looked at run independently from the other systems or at best intersect haphazardly here and there. 

Personally, I just like the fact that Minneapolis used its new baseball stadium to anchor the intermodal station which will be constructed in the coming years.


PotD #5


Reflections on the Mississippi River late night in Saint Paul. Again... not studying when I should have been.

 Lets face it... the vast majority of us speed, myself included. Sometimes that damn 55 mph sign is just too slow or if you're like me you live near an interstate with illogically low speed limits like I-35E. 45 mph on the freeway is just a sin. However... it appears as though the recession is attacking even our speeding cushion. Its unfortunate that our municipal tax revenue is becoming reliant on citations to remain economically viable but at the same time, 5 mph is a reasonable cushion. I mean, all it takes for some cars to go the extra 5 mph without the driving noticing could be slight decline. For example, my car doesn't shift like traditional cars and I can't feel when my car changes gears (which I actually like) but it sometimes will hit a bump and my car will increase the gear ratio and even though my foot hasn't depressed on the gas any more than it was before, my car will respond by accelerating. Its the 5 mph cushion that makes it not a big deal but if that goes by the way side... crap...

Besides... EVERYONE speeds. I very rarely see anyone doing 55 on I-94 between Minneapolis and Saint Paul and when they do, traffic tends to jumble around them as people switch lanes to get around them. Yes, everyone's speeding TECHNICALLY breaking the law, but until we somehow convince the majority of people to stay at the speed limit, then this 5 mph cushion is needed. 

Anyway...

Today was an absolutely stunning day outside reaching in the upper 70's. I had to turn the AC in my car on (as rolling down your windows above 40 to 45 mph is wasting more gas). Summer is finally coming and soon it'll be fricken hot... How humans enjoy such heat is ridiculous. Come on fall!

PotD #4


Minnehaha Falls on a stunning early autumn evening. I took this picture instead of studying.  This is a few miles from my apartment on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi. Its a nice little park to go wading stream side, walking your dog off leash, or just enjoy the scenery.

 Been a pretty busy time recently so I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of things like I wanted to and with weather not being particularly welcoming, I have resigned myself to waiting until the final thaw. Currently we have something around 18-24 inches of snow on the ground which isn't particularly bad, just annoying knowing full well that its here to stay for quite a long period of time. 

Unlike the East coast, storms rarely dump snow and start melting right away. Yes, the East Coast storms were massive this past winter and as an upper Midwesterner, we give them props for going through this. As much as we are proud of our winter heritage, we also realize that 30 inches of snow in a 24 hour period is nothing to scoff at. Minnesotan's for once were not envious of the East Coast. But despite the massive snow totals, I'm sure that we will have snow longer than the East Coast cities (I'm sure some of the higher elevations may beat us out). My parents had 11", 20", and 8" within a very short time frame burying theircity which usually experiences relatively mild winter. 

Our winter in Minneapolis has been stunningly average. October was colder than average and November was far above average temperature wise. December came in slightly below average and our very volatile January ended up balanced to be near average. Snowfall wise, we are just a couple inches up. Somewhere near 40". Although the airport had some anomalous totals this winter falling well below the rest of the metro on several occasions, but... statistically speaking, it should balance out (maybe not this year but in others). So while the East Coast digs out... Minneapolis lies relatively content with our easy average winter. Our forays into the negative territories were relatively minor and bearable. The only downside to this winter is the lack of an extended thaw that has led to a deep icy snow pack and particularly rough potholes. Minneapolis recently banned parking on one side of the non-snow emergency routes eliminating an estimated 80,000 on-street parking spots until April 1st or the snow melts significantly. The roads were getting so narrow that emergency vehicles were struggling to get to their destinations with some calls being forced to park a block or more away and hauling their gear to the scene.

Here's a few quick pics from the last week that I took...


After shoveling my Uncle's driveway for the umpteenth time, I took this pic. Sadly there was yet another snowfall after this storm bringing some piles in his area to the 4 to 5 foot area. 


I edited my iPod Touch's theme to be super cool :D.


More Snow pics


A look towards the Cathedral during one of our moderate snow events.
Crossing 50,000 miles on mmy car.


The Pupster at the computer :D



My first half-ass'd attempt at combining Minneapolis' and Saint Paul's skylines. Nearly height proportional. 


Before

After carwash!

Finally... 
I've been reading this book called... and don't laugh... Cop Book, which despite its rather poor title, has been a fascinating look into the life of a cop in the Twin Citie's suburb of Bloomington. Its been quite the emotional rollercoaster as he recounts his life and stories with such vivid details and a sometimes macabre sense of humor. I personally recommend this book to people who enjoy memoirs and have a decent stomach. Here's a selection of the book that I absolutely loved. He recalls his story as the first K-9 cop in his city and the rather funny situations his dog got him into. 

 I've decided to share an entire FOLDER of my stuff (with a few exceptions to keep within the rules of Simtropolis). This folder was my random folder. This folder was for a long time my "stuff folder"... appropriately named "stuff". While surfing the internet or working on college essays/presentations or arguing in chat, I would save things to my desktop. After a short period of time, it'd get too cluttered and I'd clean up my desktop by throwing everything into this "stuff" folder. Additionally, I loved stumbling (using the Firefox add-on "Stumble Upon!") and I would save funny images or images I liked. Other images I found on websites I frequent often like skyscrapercity or wunderground. Some I've taken. So here's a quick view into my "Stuff folder" from back in August of 2008. Sorry, some of the pics are small, but the limitations of the blog software is forcing me to resize them to fit the average monitor. 

 So its the first Tuesday of November... the day we hold our annual elections (although for completely different offices, unless its only for a one year term). After the undoubtedly historic election of 2008 and the turmoil that occurred concurrently and since, this election appeared to have snuck up on many of us, some even asking "What election?" Yes there is one and there are a number of races that were highly watched as they were labelled a "barometer" of Obama's presidency as Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota put it. There were interesting races across the country from governorships to numerous municipal elections. I'll start with the big ones...

Virginia and New Jersey Governorships:
Before I get to each individual race, lets just analyze the current state of American politics, briefly of course. The big question is... Are these races in any way a referendum on Obama's Presidency. The answer, in my opinion is a simple no. Americans are GREAT at separating Federal and State Elections. Now I'm not discounting the existence of coattails... but thats usually a bigger phenomenon when the person pulling the coattails is ACTUALLY on the ballot. Obama is NOT on the ballot. Additionally... there are unique conditions in both Virginia and New Jersey that even I concede I don't have a clue about. Wins in the Republican column in no way mean anything in terms of Obama's Presidency. Lets put this in a simple caricature....

Lets leave the President and his current agenda and issues as is. Health Care Reform, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Climate Change bills being his main concerns. But say a state is choosing their governor.... do national issues ALWAYS trump local issues in elections? Of COURSE not. A state may be more concerned about slot machines, sales tax, budget crises and other things. There's a reason why we have a federal structure of government... issues are handled at different levels. So what may be the focus of the federal government it does not necessarily match state governments and I think most people realize that.  The election of a particular candidate at the state level does not mean that the approval or disapproval of the president has any bearing (especially since the powers of these two offices almost never overlap). 

Additionally... we are dealing with ACTUAL candidates in state elections. Its not "Obama's Party" v. "Not Obama's Party" (although after last years thwomping, it may seem that way). There are names and faces, debates and ads. State elections are inherently separate animals then their federal counterparts. ESPECIALLY when its an off year election as it is now. Off year elections almost ALWAYS favor the party NOT in power.

So specific to this year... What should we have expected before today... Voter turnout will be abysmal. I'm talking 20% in most places. This has very astounding effects. 
A) Federal elections get a lot more media attention and will attract more voters due to perceived "importance". What does this mean in terms of results. Biased sampling will be far more prevalent. Since people are not generally passionate about the off year elections, the people who DO turnout will not be representative of the population as a whole (sampling bias). The people who are more passionate will show up in greater numbers (and its usually the people who are not in power). The Republicans SHOULD do better in this election. 
B) Minority and Youth turnout is expected to be low. With 2008 numbers for both youths and minorities at record levels, it is only natural to see them collapse. But off years even more so. Older generations tend to vote with more regularity (only somewhat more). The enthusiasm gap that plagued Republicans last November is now reversed. Youths and minorities are not going to match the numbers they put up last year and never have come out in force on off years. Older white rural voters tend to have a greater share of the vote in off years. Again a plus for Republicans

So does this translate into wins in New Jersey and Virginia....

New Jersey:
Given Corzines approval ratings flirting with the freezing mark, yes, Christopher Christi should have one. Really, had Republicans put up a more qualified candidate who could articulate his thoughts (and apparently was skinnier), they would have solidly won this (easily by double digits). Corzines abysmal approval rating should have marked a tidal wave of votes for the Republicans and given the conditions of 2009, Christi's sub-50% win is actually disappointing. But, a W by a Republican in a blue state is still a good W. Besides, in non-Wave years, flips like this are rather pointless. Great, the GOP have a governor in New Jersey. Too bad he doesn't control the legislative agenda and his party is the minority in New Jersey. A pretty hollow victory.

Virginia:
Despite the rather large victory by Obama in 2008, Virgina is still a fairly red state. But as I pointed out earlier, this is not an Obama Referendum. The candidate the VA Democratic Party put up for governor was a poor candidate and may have lost for NOT being liberal ENOUGH and resulted in a piss poor enthusiasm in the Democratic base. When polls earlier this summer suggested a close race for tonight, instead of trying to enthuse his base and getting the Youth and Minority demographics out in force, he tried moving left of center suggesting he'd opt out of the public option being among his most controversial things. As McCain struggled with alienating his base (his TRUE moderate base), Deeds has repeated that problem. This and the off year election factors that favor the Republicans in 09, there is no surprise that Republicans won. 

Here's how it should be looked it... the Two Governorships falling into Republican hands SHOULD have occurred. If they didn't, that would have been a very large upset and would have spelled huge troubles for the Republican Party. So tonights victories, although still good, isn't stellar. 

The GOP should be worried about losing NY-23, a district that normally favors Republicans. But the confusing split in the Republican ranks may have just handed the election to the Democrats. A big loss indicative of the moderates becoming disillusioned with the Republican party and following Dede Scozzafava's advice of backing the Democratic just shows that the ideological split in the GOP can and will still spell trouble in 2010. This is a race that the Republicans should have held on to, but the Teabagging wing of the Republican Party has turned off many moderate Republicans. 

My local races:
Nothing terribly exciting in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul cruised to re-election by garnering nearly 70% of the vote in their respective cities. The big news of the day is that Minneapolis used Ranked Choice voting (instant runoff voting) and ran very smoothing and across the Mississippi, Saint Paul's voters voted to use this same system for future elections. The vote won with around 53% of the vote. 

Other major races include... 
Atlanta (First white female?)
Houston (First Openly gay mayor?)
The Gay Marriage referendum in Maine

As of the writing of this post, Atlanta and Houston were poised to make history. The Gay Marriage referendum may overturn the legislature's efforts to legalize gay marriage although a recount is possible in Maine. If there are any races anyone else wants to comment on ... go for it.