Chambliss Wins in Ga; Dems Won't Get 60 Seats

Senator apologizes for comment posted from his office

(NEWSER) - Sen. Saxby Chambliss issued a formal apology yesterday for the anti-gay comments posted to a website by a member of his staff ... who savvily did so while at work in the senator's office. "I am sorry for the hurt this incident has caused," Chambliss said in a written statement. "Such comments are simply unacceptable and not befitting those who work in the US Senate, and I will not tolerate them from my staff." However, his office would not say who actually posted the slur, notes the Journal-Constitution . More»

Northeast, Midwest would lose seats if today's census was used

(NEWSER) - The South is gaining population and power at the expense of the Northeast and Midwest, according to Census Bureau estimates released yesterday. If House seats were distributed based on the estimates, which are believed to be a strong predictor of the 2010 census results, Texas would be the big winner, gaining three seats, with Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each adding one. More»

Cleland describes how he survived grenades and Republican attack ads

(NEWSER) - Max Cleland may be a living symbol of dedication to country—the former Georgia senator lost both legs and an arm to a grenade in Vietnam—but that didn't stop Karl Rove's political machine from ending his political career with attacks on his patriotism. "There are plenty of reasons to go after me, but my military service is not one of them," Cleland tells NPR while discussing his new memoir, Heart of a Patriot. More»

(NEWSER) - The Obama administration appears to have attempted to water down the whistleblower protection law the president himself championed on the campaign trail. In an e-mail obtained by the Washington Times, a lawyer in the White House counsel's office sent a new draft of the bill to the Senate. That draft strengthened protections for some whistleblowers but weakened them for FBI employees and national security workers. More»

(NEWSER) - The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in favor of Democrat Al Franken in the Senate election battle there, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The court decided that Republican Norm Coleman’s challenge of a lower court’s ruling did not merit reconsideration, the Pioneer Press adds. Though Coleman may bring the dispute to a federal court—or even the Supreme Court—that is not necessarily a barrier to Franken being seated. More»