Ten Things to Watch (Besides the Presidential Battle) This Election Day

A historic two-year presidential campaign that has captured the attention of the entire world will wrap up today, and all eyes are understandably fixed on the outcome.

But there's a lot more to keep an eye on as results start rolling in. New groups of voters are expected to turn out in large numbers; the composition of the House and Senate is going to become more Democratic and crucially important measures will be decided by voters in a number of states.

Here, in no particular order, are the 10 things other than the contest between John McCain and Barack Obama that we'll be following closely.

1. The Democrats Are Vying for 60 Senate Seats, but Will Georgia's Race Be Decided This Month?

If Barack Obama wins the White House today, his ability to fulfill the promise of change that has been at the heart of his campaign will to be tempered by composition of the Senate. Most handicappers project that the Dems will add six or seven seats to their current tally of 51 (including two independents who caucus with them). But the Democrats might sweep a number of Republicans out of even reliably conservative states.

Among the most interesting "red state" Senate races is that between incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin. Chambliss is up by an average of around 3 points in the final polls, but what makes the race so fascinating is that under Georgia law, a candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote to take office. That makes Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, who took 2 percent of the vote in his 2004 senate race, a potential spoiler for Chambliss, who has topped the 50 percent mark in only one poll since the end of September. If neither Chambliss nor Martin gets a majority, then they'll square off in a runoff vote to determine the winner in early December. It's a likely outcome; if it occurs, the second vote will represent an intense national battle between the two major parties.

2. Will Netroots Candidates Storm Washington?

After the 2006 midterm elections swept in a Democratic majority in Congress, the corporate media focused almost obsessively on a group of conservative Dems who had won seats in conservative-leaning districts. The message was that the new majority had its "blue dogs" -- its conservative wing -- to thank for the victory, and that it would have to move to the Right in order to govern.

That's why the electoral fortunes of this year's crop of "netroots" candidates -- progressive Democrats, all -- will be important to watch. If the next Congress is to pass a desperately needed progressive agenda, it's going to require not just more Democrats, but better Democrats.

Perhaps the most closely watched race for the online progressive community is that pitting Democrat Darcy Burner against GOP incumbent Dave Reichert in Washington's 8th district. Burner, best known for her leadership role in the Responsible Plan to end the occupation of Iraq (PDF), is a hero within the progressive blogosphere.

We'll be watching that race, as well as those of candidates like Eric Massa in New York's 29th, Dan Seals in Illinois' 10th, Dan Maffei in New York's 25th and other progressive Dems.

3. Massachusetts' Reactionary Tax Proposal

In Massachusetts, anti-tax activists have gotten an initiative on the ballot that would go a long way toward fulfilling the conservative dream of shrinking government down to a size where it could be drowned in a bathtub.

The Coalition for Our Communities -- which opposes the measure -- has the scoop…

The income tax question on the ballot this fall is a reckless proposal that will have severe and immediate consequences for all of us. This binding referendum will take more than $12 billion -- nearly 40 percent -- out of the state budget, driving up local property taxes and leading to drastic cuts in services. Our communities will suffer sweeping education cuts, steep reductions in public safety personnel and further deterioration of roads and bridges. Times are hard enough. Let's not make them worse.