Romania – One country and two presidents

According to the exit polls,  Mircea Geoana, the Social Democratic Party candidate is the winner of presidential elections in Romania. It is far from a decisive victory, the score is pretty close (Mircea Geoana – 51.2%, Traian Basescu – 48.8%). So both candidates have declared victory in front of television cameras.

UPDATE:  7 December, at 16,00 (Bucharest time)

Central Electoral Bureau has released the final results.
Traian Basescu – 50.33%
Mircea Geoana – 49, 66%

Social Democratic Party will contest the election result.

Klaus Johannis, Mayor of  Sibiu, said for mass media that: “The outcome of a vote to be accepted. My nomination as a possible prime minister ends here”.  According to the results of this time, Traian Basescu won with a difference of 0.67%. I know that journalism, like politics should be done with warm heart and cool mind. As for that I shall refrain from other comment. Because I respect decision of the nearly 50% of Romanian that Traian Basescu considers it “a trifle that has riddled with them” (according to “common sense ” statement made by the old and the new president of Romania). A statement  and mentality that can be considered non-democratic and senselessly ! So more care, if your want to be president of all Romanians, Mr. Basescu.

UPDATE – 11 december

Following a request made by the Social Democrats for invalidating the second round of Romanian presidential elections, the Constitutional Court of Romania decided in the first instance that invalid votes will recounts. Note that the number of invalid votes is 136,000, twice the difference between the two candidates, Traian Basescu and Mircea Geoana.

UPDATE – 14 december

Constitutional Court of Romania has validated the presidential election. CCR decided that Traian Basescu win. Ceremony of investment of the President will take place on December 16. Mircea Geoana said that “Accept the decision of Constitutional Court of Romania”.

]]> http://iowajournalism.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/2525/ Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:02:11 +0000 iowajournalism http://iowajournalism.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/2525/ http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/04/cnn-exit-polls-november-3-2009-new-jersey-and-virginia/ Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:11:25 +0000 cnnpoll http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/11/04/cnn-exit-polls-november-3-2009-new-jersey-and-virginia/

TOPICS: Exit polls in New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial elections

Full results for New Jersey (pdf)

Full results for Virginia (pdf)

Discontent Voters Heavily Favored Republicans in VA, NJ Races

abc news

The Polling Unit

ANALYSIS By GARY LANGER

Nov 3, 2009

Vast economic discontent marked the mood of Tuesday’s off-year voters, portending potential trouble for incumbents generally and Democrats in particular in 2010. Still the gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey looked less like a referendum on Barack Obama than a reflection of their own candidates and issues.

The gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey looked less like a referendum on Barack Obama than a reflection of their own candidates and issues. Still, the two Republican victories, in predominantly Democratic New Jersey and in purple Virginia, had to smart.

Just under half the voters in Virginia, 48 percent, approved of the way Obama is handling his job, rising to 57 percent in New Jersey. Most in both states, in any case, said the president was not a factor in their vote.

Perhaps most striking were economic views: A vast 89 percent in New Jersey and 85 percent in Virginia said they were worried about the direction of the nation’s economy in the next year; 56 percent and 53 percent, respectively, said they were “very” worried about it. …

http://abcnews.go.com/PollingUnit/Politics/election-2009-virginia-jersey-exit-polls-obama-economy/story?id=8984551

What political party is responsible for the current state of America’s economy? And how did that political party manage that state?

There are obvious answers to the above questions but for those who have trouble coming up with decisive answers, let us revisit a little common sense and a little history.

A Little Common Sense:

A stitch in time saves nine. I believe most Americans would have no trouble understanding and using those six words. Those six words suggests that the sooner one responds to a problem, the less likely the problem will grow into something bigger. There is, of course, no assurance but common sense would suggest “getting as earlier a start as possible”.

A Little History:

April 22, 2008

UPDATE 1 – Bush: U.S. economy not in recession, in slowdown

December, 2007

Business Cycle Dating Committee

Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity

For what reason, did the leader of a country facing dire economic consequences, not EVER tell America it was in a RECESSION? The start of the recession enjoys the same anonymity as the start of the Iraq war.

So, what was the delay for? A stitch in time might have saved nine. But it looked like the neocons kept mum about a recession until they passed the banner to the Obama administration – then they went wild. They got extremely vocal. The neocons dumped their economy fiasco into the laps of the Obama administration – let the world know there was a problem with America’s economy and demanded that the Obama administration fix it.

Do independent voters think the ones who got us into this mess are the ones capable of getting us out of this mess? Do independent voters think that the neocons have given up their VOODOO ECONOMICS model for America’s economy.

The Republican party is the only American political party that can  “boast of” two economies killed on their watch.

So, what can the neocon government offer independent voters? Caging has already been allocated. Can the neocons offer good government to the independent voters? If the measure of good government could exclude the CIA, the economy, diplomacy, legal behavior and restrictions against the president using nuclear weapons at his discretion – then perhaps the neocons could offer something to the independent voters.

What good is a messiah who is of no effect?

Obama (The ONE) personally campaigned for both of the New Jersey and Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidates. Both lost, yet voters say Obama’s acti0ns had no effect.

Pretty much the same thing happened with the Olympic bid. No effect. At least, no positive results.

Maybe we’ll get lucky, and the entire administration will shortly become irrelevant!

(CNN) – Independents appear to be playing an important role in the country’s two off-year gubernatorial races and in both states, and they are voting Republican.

In Virginia, where 30 percent of voters identify themselves as independent, 65 percent cast their ballots for CNN’s projected winner, Republican Bob McDonnell. That’s according to early CNN Exit Poll data. Democrat Creigh Deeds earned the votes of 34 percent of independents.

In New Jersey, the projected winner, Republican Chris Christie, took 60 percent of the independent vote while incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, got only 30 percent. The candidate running as an official Independent, Chris Daggett, got just 9 percent of the independent vote. Independents made up 28 percent of the voters in New Jersey race.

Updated 10:42 pm ET

(CNN) – Independents appear to be playing an important role in the country’s two off-year gubernatorial races and in both states, and they are voting Republican.

In Virginia, where 30 percent of voters identify themselves as independent, 65 percent cast their ballots for CNN’s projected winner, Republican Bob McDonnell. That’s according to early CNN Exit Poll data. Democrat Creigh Deeds earned the votes of 34 percent of independents.

In New Jersey, the projected winner, Republican Chris Christie, took 60 percent of the independent vote while incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, got only 30 percent. The candidate running as an official Independent, Chris Daggett, got just 9 percent of the independent vote. Independents made up 28 percent of the voters in New Jersey race.

Updated 10:42pm ET

Bob McDonnell is leading Creigh Deeds in Virginia’s gubernatorial race (Photo credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) — Republican Bob McDonnell is leading Democrat Creigh Deeds in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, according to CNN exit polls.

   As the composition of today’s election for Governor of New Jersey begins to become clear,   an exit poll has shown some good news  and some bad news.

When Chris Christie voters were asked whether they voted for Christie or against Corzine, 42% of them answered that they voted against Christie.

This echoes my own sentiment. This election is less about Christie or what he stands for and more about our dislike of Jon Corzine and what he has done the state.

In my own final decision, I allowed myself to believe that my vote was deciding vote.   With the outcome of the election hypothetical, up to me, I asked myself who do I know I will feel better about if tomorrow I found out that they will governing us for the next four years?

Knowing that a vote for Corzine is a ticket on the Hindenburg and seeing as how Chris Daggett will apparently do nothing but shuffling around the disaster that Corzine created, I decided to vote for Chris Christie. I was only comfortable in my decision because of a leap of faith. Christie has done nothing to make me feel confident in him. To the contrary, I have many doubts about him.

However, given the alternatives, I felt my best choice was to go with Christie, hoping that he will use the principles of the Republican Party, that he represents, to guide him through his policy decisions and governance of our state.

I can only hope that my faith is not betrayed. And based on the 42% of people who only supported Christie because they oppose Corzine, apparently I am not alone in that sentiment.

Is New Jersey about to get a visit from the recount fairy? Apparently both parties are bracing for this, with the National Review’s @jimgeraghty tweeting early exits nobody should take seriously: Corzine 47, Christie 47, Daggett barely registering. Polls close at 8 PM.

Palin argues against the president's health care proposals in a new Op-Ed.

(CNN) — Six in 10 New Jersey voters said Tuesday that President Obama had no effect on their vote in this off-year gubernatorial election, according to early CNN Exit Poll data.

Obama visited New Jersey this week to campaign for embattled Gov. Jon Corzine, who is locked in a tough re-election contest with Republican Chris Christie. When asked if Obama had an effect on their vote, 60 percent responded he was not a factor, 20 percent said their vote was meant to express opposition to him, and 19 percent said it was to support him.

More complete data will be released later in the evening. Polls close in New Jersey at 8 p.m. ET.

Exit poll: Obama not a big factor in Virginia.

(CNN) — There’s been plenty of talk by political pundits that Virginia’s gubernatorial contest was a referendum on President Barack Obama, but voters don’t agree, according to data from CNN exit polls of people voting Tuesday in that state’s gubernatorial contest.

Fifty-five percent of Virgina voters polled say that Obama was not a factor in how they voted, with 24 percent suggesting that their vote was meant to express opposition to the president, and 18 percent indicating that their vote was meant to express support for Obama.

“What you are seeing is that the president’s coattails didn’t have a lot of durability from last year to this. He certainly pulled in Democrats last year when he was on top of the ticket,” says CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. “When he is not on top of the ticket, I think then it reverts to the person who actually is there and who they are voting on, so this is certainly a lesson for Democrats as to just how far the president’s powers of persuasion can go. Whether or not he can translate that magic on to a different ticket, and I would say that’s sort of not looking as though it does.”

Exit poll: Economy concerns New Jersey voters most.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The economy was the most important issue on the minds of New Jersey voters Tuesday, early CNN Exit Poll data showed.

Nearly a third of the voters heading to the polls in this off-year election pitting Democratic Gov. John Corzine against Republican Chris Christie, 31 percent, said the economy was the most important issue, while 26 percent said property taxes, 20 percent indicated corruption and 18 percent identified health care.

Soaring property taxes and a high profile corruption sting that snared state and local officials have been important issues in this year’s election.

More complete data will be released later in the evening. Polls close in New Jersey at 8 p.m. ET.

(CNN) — The economy and jobs are the number on issue on the minds of voters in Virginia, according to data from CNN exit polls Tuesday.

Forty-six percent of Virginian voting Tuesday, as Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds faced off for the governor’s mansion, say that the economy and jobs are the most important issue to their vote. One in four indicate that health care reform is their most pressing issue, 14 percent said taxes were upmost on their minds, and 8 percent suggest that transportation woes were most pressing.

“The economy as the number one issue probably bodes well for the Republicans in Virginia,” says CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Those questioned in exit polls were asked their opinions after they voted, as they departed polling stations.

    While most of the contests in the 2009 elections are local , the most focus and attention is on statewide elections, a special election and the nation’s largest city.

POLITICS 24/7 is not taking much of a gamble by projecting two term, incumbent Mayor Mike Bloomberg the winner in New York City as he gets reelected to a third term in a city that has a two term limit.

Bloomberg claimed that in times of crisis, a mayor should be allowed to continue to provide their steady hand of leadership, if the people so choose. “Mayor Mike” explained that the economy is so bad, that it qualifies the times we are in as a “crisis”. With some backslapping, deal making and favors called in, the New York City council granted a waiver of sorts which broke the City’s term limit statutes and voila, after the September primaries, Bloomberg officially got on the ballot with the Republican and Independent lines.

Weeks later, after spending a record breaking merely $90 million dollars of his own personal fortune, by the end of the day, Bloomberg will have purchased a third term as Mayor.

Interestingly, his Democrat opponent, outgoing City Comptroller William Thompson, is ending his campaign on a high note. Spending only $8 million on his campaign, the underdog seems to have been gaining some traction in these closing days of the election. Apparently many voters have decided that Mike B’s skirting of term limits was really a disingenuous maneuver and, late inthe game, many undecided voters have broken for Thompson. This Thompson surge still will not make him competitive as the votes are tabulated but it should end up with him losing by a lot less than early polls suggested. Contrary to early predictions established through several polling firms, Thompson will cut his once 15 to 20% deficit by more than half and is now likely to lose by only as much 8 to 10%.

Staying in New York but heading north of the city, we find ourselves in the 23^rd Congressional where a special election for Congress is being held.

After weeks of controversy, the Republican nominee, liberal Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava suspended her campaign after it imploded because of a lack of Republican support.  North Country New Yorkers in the 23^rd CD started bolting from Scozzafava and supporting her Republican opponent Doug Hoffman.  Hoffman is running on the Cnservative Party Line.

After Scozzafava’s extreme liberal views created a split among voters and prominent national Republicans, polling showed Scozzafava in third place behind Democrat Bill Owens and Conservative Doug Hofman. She subsequently determined that her campaign war chest was too skimpy to overcome the opposition to her candidacy so she dropped out and endorsed Democrat nominee Bill Owens.

In this race, Politics 24/7 is going cross its fingers and project Doug Hoffman the winner.

This district has been in Republican hands since the Civil War and it remains predominantly Republican today. In 2008 while Republicans were out of favor nationally, under the best conditions for Democrats, the 23^rd CD gave John McCain 52% of their vote and only 47% to President Obama. This is most certainly a Republican district and it is not easily turned blue in the best of times for Democrats.     With President Obama’s approval ratings  well below 50% in this district, and the Democrat governor of New York, David Paterson, maintaining some of the lowest approval ratings of any Democrat in state history, these are not the best of times. So the atmosphere is not good for liberals. Especially in the 23^rd.

This leads  Politics 24/7  to conclude that although this race will be close and probably closer than ever before, conservative Doug Hoffman will this race by at least 3%.

Leaving New York we head south to Virginia.

Creigh Deeds Campaign Mailer

This is a no brainer. Republican Bob McDonnell will win by at least 8%. I feel his final vote count will not be quite as large as some of the mid and high teens that some polls have shown. But make no doubt about it, Democrat Creigh Deeds will be defeated by embarrassing proportions.

The story is quite different in what is probably the most intriguing  race in the nantion———New Jersey.

By any standard, Incumbent Democrat Governor Jon Corzine has killed the state and destroyed the spirit and will of New Jersey’s citizens. Jobs have fled the state and residents are bolting from New Jersey faster than Russians fleeing Chernobyl. He has been a horrible Governor and he is an even worse candidate.

By all accounts this race was Republican Chris Christie’s to win. All through the summer Christie led Corzine by double digits. But then something happened. Christie started talking. The more he spoke, the more people realized that he had nothing to say. So his numbers gradually slipped. This slip in the polls simultaneously took place while Jon Corzine called in the messiah to rescue his own depressed reelection bid.

With three trips to New Jersey for Governor Corzine, President Obama attended rallies in the regions of the state with the highest concentration of African-American voters. The hope has been to pull out the same historic number of African-American that voted for Obama in 2009 and make sure they come out now to pull the lever for Corzine. Corzine has morphed himself into President Obama and conveyed the impression that he was Barack Obama’s running mate.

Given Chris Christie’s uninspiring candidacy, the strategy could work. However, the undeniably horrendous job that Corzine has done has turned off so many voters that there numbers can not be neutralized by a heavier than normal black. It is also worth mentioning that blacks will not turn out for Corzine in the same numbers  that they did for President Obama. 

 At this point in  the afternoon, that assesment is coming to fruition.  Voter turnout in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark is low.  Much lower than anticipated.  If a havey black vote was going to materialize anywhere, it would do so in Newark, which has the highest concentration of African American voters than anywhere else in the state.  If this trend continues and turnout in Newark dips below 50%, Corzine is out.

Add to this the much touted candidacy of independent Chris Daggett.

Daggett was surfacing as a strong spoiler but his numbers dropped from highs near 20% to where he is now with as much as 8% or as little as 4%. In these closing days, concerned that they might be throwing their vote and allow Jon Corzine to walk right up the middle, they have been changing their minds. Based upon who they are breaking for, POLITICS 24/7 is willing to go out on a limb with Christie.

Now Christie is a pretty heavy guy to be stuck on a limb with, so to do so we have to be pretty confident.

But we aren’t.

Still, given the current environment, we go with Republican Christie over liberal incumbent Jon Corzine.

Polls show that right now voters are going to thevoting booth, angry, and they are not happy with incumbents as a whopping majority of Americans believe the nation is on the wrong track.  Ironically, they want change. I guess the change President Obama won with in ‘08 is not getting very far in ‘09.   None of these factors favor incumbent Governor Corzine. This is why those voters who have changed their minds about supporting Daggett, are breaking for Christie and not Corzine.

As we close out the election, despite himself, the momentum is behind Chris Christie and for that reason POLITICS 24/7 believes that Republican Chris Christie will be elected Governor of New Jersey by as much as 3 or 4%. That could be high but a gut sense arrived at through a feel for all the factors at play, leads me to err on the side of Christie. If he does not win, it will be a long night with a lot of careful counting because if Corzine can pull off a win here, it will be measured by hundreds or thousands, not percentages.

Corzine Campaign Billboard

The election of 2009 will go down as a memorable one. It will also indeed be a test of President Obama’s clout. After campaigning heavily for Jon Corzine as well as Creigh Deeds, the President’s reputation most certainly is a factor here. Jon Corzine has spent his entire campaign trying to make it a referendum on Obama. Billboeards,  literature and speeches all featured President Obama. Corzine needed to talk about anything but his record and so he tried to convince voters that a vote for him was actually a vote for the President.

Even Creigh Deeds made this a referendum on the President.  His own campaign literature excluded images of himself for that of President Obama’s image instead.

So this sure will be a test for the President and it looks like it’s a test he will fail.

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has prohibited dissemination of results of opinion and exit polls for the October 13 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

Η νίκη του ΠΑΣΟΚ, όπως διαγράφεται με βάση τα exit polls, συνιστά μια τρανή απόδειξη ότι η απόσταση από τον θρίαμβο στην καταστροφή (και το αντίστροφο) είναι πολύ μικρή. Πριν ακριβώς 13 μήνες, η ΝΔ κυριαρχούσε απολύτως στο πολιτικό στερέωμα και ο Γ.Παπανδρέου εξακολουθούσε να δίνει αγώνα επιβίωσης, εν πολλοίς. Πριν από 24 μήνες, ο Κ.Καραμανλής κέρδιζε τη δεύτερη θητεία του, με περίπου 4 ποσοστιαίες μονάδες διαφορά από το ΠΑΣΟΚ, λίγες μόλις μέρες μετά το πύρινο ολοκαύτωμα της Ηλείας και της Αχαίας. Και σήμερα βρίσκεται να χάνει με 5,5 μονάδες διαφορά. Αρκούσαν, δηλαδή, 24 μήνες για να καλύψει το ΠΑΣΟΚ μια διαφορά 9,5 μονάδων! Τέτοια μεταστροφή, σε τόσο μικρό χρονικό διάστημα, θα πρέπει να γίνει ανακοίνωση σε συνέδριο…

Data from exit polls in Germany was widely distributed via the online service Twitter Sunday, breaking a confidentiality law and upsetting electoral officials.

The data was embargoed until 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) Sunday when polls closed, but began coursing hours earlier through Twitter, a web service that broadcasts very short personal messages. The originator of the initial message was anonymous.

Survey companies compute the most likely poll outcome about four hours before voting booths close, based on interviews with voters who have just cast their ballots.

The surveys are commissioned by television channels, which say that hundreds of people working on news desks can see it before it is flashed on television screens.

Politicians have often demanded access to the data too, so they can reflect on the results before commenting.

The pre-released data described vote shares in state legislative elections in Saarland, Saxony and Thuringia.

Germany bans early release of exit polls for fear that it might persuade people to change their minds about how to vote, or spur canvassers to summon voters late in the day.

Ralf Burmester, a lawyer, said election officers could fine offenders up to 50,000 euros ($72,000), since elections might not be deemed fair and free if the data leaked before time.

Roderich Egeler, federal election commissioner, warned recently that a leak of exit data could even torpedo the September 27 federal election this year.

Originally published at Oshare Curry. You can comment here or there.

Japan awaits land­mark poll result Turnout was slightly lower than in 2005, offi­cials said Polls have closed in Japan in a gen­eral elec­tion that looks set to end more than 50 years of almost unbro­ken rule by the Lib­eral Demo­c­ra­tic Party (LDP). Japan­ese media are expected to announce exit polls shortly. Opin­ion polls pre­dict a sub­stan­tial vic­tory for the Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan, which has promised to boost social secu­rity and help work­ers. Japan is suf­fer­ing record unem­ploy­ment and its econ­omy is strug­gling to emerge from a bruis­ing reces­sion. At 1800 (0900 GMT), two hours before polls were due to close, 48.4% of peo­ple had voted on Sun­day, the inter­nal affairs min­istry said — down from 50% in 2005 when elec­tions saw the charis­matic Junichiro Koizumi’s LDP elected with a sig­nif­i­cant major­ity. Vot­ing con­di­tions were not ideal, with typhoon-triggered rain­fall fell heav­ily around Tokyo and a gov­ern­ment warn­ing that a swine flu epi­demic was under way. Change now? The con­ser­v­a­tive LDP, cur­rently led by Prime Min­is­ter Taro Aso, has gov­erned Japan for all but 11 months since 1955. AT THE SCENE Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo Well vot­ing in this polling sta­tion set up at the Kyobashi Tsuk­iji Ele­men­tary School has been pretty brisk all day. Turnout is expected to be high — the rea­son is the sig­nif­i­cance of this poll for Japan. If, as the opin­ion polls sug­gest, the oppo­si­tion Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan wins, it will only the sec­ond time in more than half a cen­tury that the gov­ern­ing Lib­eral Demo­c­ra­tic party has lost an elec­tion to the more pow­er­ful lower house of par­lia­ment. The Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan say they want to change the direc­tion of this coun­try — to shift it to the left. They want to offer more social secu­rity. But sev­eral media polls pre­dict that the Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan (DPJ) will win more than 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of par­lia­ment, revers­ing the elec­tion result of 2005. Ana­lysts say vot­ers blame the LDP for the cur­rent eco­nomic malaise — and are angry enough to opt for change. “I think we need a change now,” 68-year-old Tokyo pen­sioner Toshi­hiro Naka­mura was quoted as say­ing by AFP news agency. “It’s too long for a sin­gle party to dom­i­nate national pol­i­tics. Haruko Kurakata, who said she had voted for an oppo­si­tion can­di­date, crit­i­cised the fre­quent changes in Japan’s lead­er­ship since Mr Koizumi stepped down in 2006. “It’s non­sense to see four prime min­is­ters in four years with­out ask­ing for the people’s opin­ion,” he said. ‘Fed up’ As cam­paign­ing drew to a close, DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama said that vot­ers were about to change his­tory. Japan elec­tion: Vot­ers’ views Pro­file: Yukio Hatoyama Pro­file: Taro Aso “This is an elec­tion to choose whether vot­ers can muster the courage to do away with the old pol­i­tics,” he told crowds in Sakai in the west of Japan on Sat­ur­day. The cen­trist DPJ says it will shift the focus of gov­ern­ment from sup­port­ing cor­po­ra­tions to help­ing con­sumers and work­ers — chal­leng­ing the sta­tus quo that has existed since the end of World War II. It has promised to cut waste within the bureau­cracy and use the funds to increase wel­fare spend­ing. But Mr Aso ques­tioned whether the DPJ had enough expe­ri­ence to gov­ern. “Can you trust these peo­ple? It’s a prob­lem if you feel uneasy whether they can really run this coun­try,” he told a rally out­side Tokyo. The DPJ already con­trols Japan’s upper house with the sup­port of smaller par­ties includ­ing the Social Democ­rats. Japan­ese peo­ple cast their votes in his­toric elec­tions It won con­trol of the house in July 2007, amid vot­ers’ anger at a series of scan­dals and the loss of mil­lions of pen­sion pay­ment records. Cor­re­spon­dents say vot­ers’ desire for change after so many years under the LDP could be a cru­cial fac­tor. Tokyo Uni­ver­sity polit­i­cal sci­ence pro­fes­sor Takashi Mikuriya told Japan­ese media that the elec­tion “is more about emo­tions than poli­cies”. “Most vot­ers are mak­ing the deci­sion not about poli­cies but about whether they are fed up with the rul­ing party,” he said.

“Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo Well vot­ing in this polling sta­tion set up at the Kyobashi Tsuk­iji Ele­men­tary School has been pretty brisk all day. Turnout is expected to be high — the rea­son is the sig­nif­i­cance of this poll for Japan. If, as the opin­ion polls sug­gest, the oppo­si­tion Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan wins, it will only the sec­ond time in more than half a cen­tury that the gov­ern­ing Lib­eral Demo­c­ra­tic party has lost an elec­tion to the more pow­er­ful lower house of par­lia­ment. The Demo­c­ra­tic Party of Japan say they want to change the direc­tion of this coun­try — to shift it to the left. They want to offer more social security. ”

More at BBC NEWS 

Apolo­gies, some of the text may be out of con­text.. for bet­ter read­ing PLEASE GO TO BBC NEWS (>.> that’s where i got my info/text from any­ways? lol)

(CNN) — What was on the minds of New Jersey voters as they voted for governor Tuesday?

More than a third of voters — 39 percent — said the quality they were looking for most in a candidate was the ability to bring change, and most of them said they had voted for the Republican Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, who CNN projects won the race. That’s according to early CNN Exit Poll data.

32 percent of voters said the economy and jobs was the most important issue. Most of these voters said they voted for Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine. Property taxes were the most important issue for 26 percent of voters. They voted in large part for Christie.

Updated 10:38pm ET

  So far, in Republican strongholds like Monmouth and Ocean County, Chris Christie is over performing!

Christine Todd Whitman was the last Republican to win statewide office in New Jersey and she did so, in part, due to racking up large pluralities in Monmouth and Ocean. Chris Christie is winning those counties by 30 and 50 thousand more than Christine Todd Whitman did in her two gubernatorial elections. On the other side of the coin, Corzine is underperforming in many Democrat strongholds.

Based on existing trends during day, POLITICS 24/7 projected Chris Christie the winner early this afternoon. It is safe to say WE WERE RIGHT!

However we may be wrong about how much Christie wins by.

It could be by more than the 3% we predicted!!

So far between a clean sweep of all three statewide offices in Virginia, including the office of Governor, it looks as though, in this first test of President Obama’s clout, he has fallen flat. Jon Corzine morphed himself into the President and campaigned as though he was President Obama’s running mate . The President himself has visited New Jersey 3 times and campaigned for Corzine in many heavily African-America strongholds. Yet this still failed to bring out the numbers that the President and Governor Corzine needed.

On another note, Independent Chris Daggett has hurt Corzine more than Christie. It has been established that most of the voters who supported Daggett, would have been Corzine voters if Dagget was not in the race. Although Chris Daggett’s vote total is miniscule, if this race is close his 6 or so percent could be a lethal blow to Corzine’s reelection effort.

The collective results of all the races around the country have yet to be fully felt. It won’t be until late tonight that we know who picked up seats in state legislatures and who lost seats in state legislatures. It is unlikely that there were any great switches in New Jersey, but Virginia is a different story. Bob McDonnell had coattails. But clearly, so far the results are a setback for Democrats. They have lost statehouses and momentum as they now begin to gear up for next year’s crucial midterm elections.

Sadly, Chris Christie will not win tonight because people believe in him or like him. 42% of those who voted for him stated that their vote was not really for Christie. It was against Corzine. So Christie doesn’t start off with an electorate enthusiastic about him.

Current results look like this:

79% of precincts reporting: Christie, Chris GOP 921,809 49%  Corzine, Jon (i) Dem 834,349 45% Daggett, Christopher Ind 101,378 5% Kaplan, Kenneth Ind 3,403 0% Steele, Gary Ind 2,518 0% Cullen, Jason Ind 2,085 0%  Petris, Kostas Ind 2,046 0% Meiswinkle, David Ind 1,928 0% Pason, Gregory Ind 1,471 0% Stein, Gary Ind 1,234 0% Leinsdorf, Joshua Ind 813 0% Lindsay, Alvin Ind 531 0%

Exit polls: Voters divided on President Obama's performance.

(CNN) — Tuesday’s two races for governor offer a snapshot on how Americans feel President Obama is handling his job.

Virginia voters are essentially split, according to early CNN Exit Poll data, with 50 percent of voters saying they do not approve of the way President Obama is doing his job. 94 percent of those respondents voted for Republican Bob McDonnell, CNN’s projected winner. 49 percent of Virginia voters approve of Pres. Obama’s performance and the majority of them (80 percent) voted for Democrat Creigh Deeds. President Obama won the state last year, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won Virginia since 1964.

In New Jersey, 58 percent of voters approve of the president’s performance. Incumbent Jon Corzine, a Democrat, captured three-quarters of those voters. 41 percent disapprove and 88 percent of those voted for Republican Chris Christie. Independent candidate Chris Daggett captured a small percentage of voters on both sides of the divide.

(CNN) – On Tuesday, 61 percent of men voted for Republican Bob McDonnell, CNN’s projected winner in the race for governor of Virginia. Democrat Creigh Deeds got just 38 percent of the male vote, according to early CNN Exit Poll data. McDonnell also had an edge among women with 53 percent telling pollsters they voted for the Republican.

Deeds, who comes from rural Bath County, captured 56 percent of the urban vote… while McDonnell took 55 percent of the suburban vote and 69 percent of the rural vote.

(CNN) — As voters went to the polls in Virginia Tuesday to elect a new governor, the economy was on their mind.

83 percent said they are very or somewhat worried about economic conditions, according to early CNN Exit Poll data. Those who are most worried voted overwhelmingly for Republican Bob McDonnell, who CNN projects won the race. Another 11 percent said they are not too worried about the economy. Democrat Creigh Deeds captured most of that vote. Just three percent said they’re not worried at all about the economy.

Almost half of the respondents said the economy and jobs was the most important issue. A quarter said health care was the most pressing issue.

More complete data will be released later in the evening.