Britain Heads to the Polls
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on May 6th, 2010 4:43 am by HL
Britain Heads to the Polls
Polls in Britain opened “after a volatile and closely contested four-week campaign, with signs pointing to an outcome that could produce the most fragile government in a generation,” the Washington Post reports.
“Observers fear that the emergence of a divided Parliament in Britain could undermine attempts to slash the country’s huge budget deficit and perhaps spark a Greece-like debt crisis. Overdrawn Spain and Portugal already face similar crises of confidence.”
Reuters notes “the six latest newspaper polls put the Conservatives between six and nine percentage points ahead of Labor, making them the largest party, but denying them outright control.”
Hanabusa Will Not Drop Out
Colleen Hanabusa (D) said that she would not drop out of the special election for Congress, the Honolulu Advertiser reports.
Said Hanabusa: “I’m in this race until the end, and I’m in this race to win.”
National Democrats are concerned that Hanabusa and Ed Case (D) will split the Democratic vote and hand Charles Djou (R) the victory in President Obama’s hometown district.
Counting the Open Seats
Rep. David Obey’s (D-WI) surprise retirement means the Democrats will now have to defend 17 open seats in this year’s midterm elections. And, as Charlie Cook notes, 13 of these seats are very competitive.
By contrast, the Republicans have 20 open seats to defend but the vast majority are solidly Republican districts.
