Here are some random notes from the Download 2006 Blogger meet up:

• Wiggy said that Voigt lost despite the fact all the does is go around the state and hand out money.  The irony of that statement is incredible given that one of the things that Republicans like Wiggy keeps hitting on is the budget and taxes.  Shouldn't a person whose job it is to spend money have a harder time justifying why they should be elected?
• Jenna made a good point that candidates can win, no matter what the party is, despite a "waves" of change that exist.  Let's not forget that even though this election is being touted as a major change over, only 6% of the House of Representatives changed hands.  So let's also not hear anything about how the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act protects incumbents.  If only 6% of the House can change in a year with this much unhappiness in how things are going, then you know that incumbents are safe.
• Nationally, the economy was mentioned as the #3 issue for voters behind #1, corruption, and #2 Iraq.  The fact that Democrats won from the voters perspective despite an incredibly strong economy with incredibly low unemployment and a high stock market is surprising, and needs to be analyzed more.
• There was a lot of talk about how the local television news is absolutely useless when it comes to covering campaigns or talking about real issues.  One comment made was that because the Daily Show airs in a competing time slot, that this effects who watches local television news.  I wonder... is there room in the local television market for a Daily Show type show about local politics?
• A lot of people talked about how quirky Tom Reynolds is, and that's why he lost that election.  Only people who are heavily involved in politics knew about this because nobody knows who Tom Reynolds is.  Jim Sullivan simply pounded the pavement a lot more, and got his name out.
• The liberal bloggers brought up Katrina as an issue several times in the national election.  Did anyone hear a single ad talking about Katrina in this election?

Now I'm off to Chicago for the evening.  See ya'll later.