Who says election season is over?

I bet you thought that after November 4 we would be done with this whole "democratic process" thing for a while. But you would be wrong. Three senate races still have yet to be decided, and it's going to be awhile before we know who will be representing Alaska, Georgia and Minnesota in the senate.

First, in the Land of Hockey Moms, convicted felon Ted Stevens holds a narrow lead over his challenger, Democrat Mark Begich. There are still a bunch of absentee ballots left to count, so Begich isn't yet conceding. Even if Stevens does hold on to win, he might be unable to serve his term, as he is facing pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to step aside, which means the governor of Alaska would have to appoint the kid who knocked up her daughter to be Senator.

Down in JAWJA, Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss is headed for an old fashioned runoff against his Democratic rival Jim Martin, since nobody got 50% of the vote. The runoff will be held December 2nd, and the month leading up to it could feature appearances from John McCain, Sarah Palin and/or Barack Obama. Remember those people?

And in Minnesota, Republican incumbent Norm Coleman holds a 238 vote lead over Democrat and star of the short-lived but critically acclaimed Lateline Al Franken. By state law (which also forbids the opening of liquor stores on Sunday, because the laws were all written by a crazy Lutheran oligarchy) there must be a recount, which might not start until the middle of this month at the earliest. We will never know who won and the seat will be given to Kent Hrbek, maybe, because he is so down home and folksy.

Since all three seats in question are held by Republicans, these races are especially critical. If democrats win all of them, it will give them 58 members in the Senate. Add in the independent socialist guy from Vermont who caucuses with them and Joe Lieberman, who is still technically kind of a Democrat and they have 60, the magic number required to block fillibusters. Winning all three is a longshot, as in each of these races the Republican candidates have the lead.

But on the bright side, it gives me something to blog about in my free time.