11:00pm: Obama. Has. Won.
10:10pm: It's now mathematically impossible for John McCain to win this election. The west coast will push Obama over the top at 11:00pm when their polls close.
9:35pm: CNN has called Ohio for Obama. This thing's over. Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.
9:20pm: Several red states have been called: Georgia (15), Arkansas (6), Kansas, (6), Oklahoma (7) and West Virginia (5).
9:00pm: It's the 9pm blitz! Obama: Rhode Island (4), Michigan (17), Wisconsin (10), Minnesota (10), New York (31). McCain: Wyoming (3), North Dakota (3).
8:55pm: Alabama (9) goes to McCain.
8:50pm: Kay Hagen has defeated Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Another huge pickup for the Dems in the Senate race.
8:40pm: CNN has called Pennsylvania (21) for Obama. This is a huge win for the Blues. This win makes McCains road to 270 considerably more difficult.
8:30pm: New Hampshire (4) for Obama. CNN is navigating the most complicated voter categorization setup I've ever seen.
8:20pm: Several Senate seats have been called, but no pickups beyond Virginia. The Senate numbers are up to 45/29.
8:05pm: MSNBC has called Pennsylvania (21) for Obama. CNN just announced that they don't have enough information to call PA yet.
8:00pm: The big 8pm projection blitz! Obama: Massachusetts (12), Illinois (21), Connecticut (7), New Jersey (15), Maine (4), Delaware (3), Maryland (10), DC (3). McCain: Oklahoma (7), Tennessee (11).
Running tally: Obama: 77 McCain 34
7:55pm: 15 states and the District close in five minutes. Every time Campbell Brown speaks, she warns us not to pay any attention to what she's saying cuz it's too early. 2000 and 2004 scared the &#%$ out of the news networks.
7:50pm: FOX and CBS have called West Virginia (5) for McCain, MSNBC is calling South Carolina (8) for McCain. The national popular vote favors Obama 54% to 46% with just under 4 Million votes reported.
7:45pm: Pictures from Grant Park in Chicago are amazing. Obama is holding a rally there tonight where he will either accept the concession of John McCain, or concede himself in the event of an upset. The numbers are expected to top 1,000,000 people there tonight. There are tens of thousands of there already.
7:30pm: North Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio are now closed. None have been projected. Indiana's numbers are coming in, and the county-by-county map is fascinating. In 2004, John Kerry carried just four counties in the state - Monroe, Marion, Lake and LaPorte. The map tonight has Obama leading in 11 counties already and the numbers are very tight - shifting back and forth between the candidates as the numbers roll in. It should be noted that Lake County, IN, which is suburban Chicago, has not yet reported. Lake County is expected to go strong for Obama.
Governor Mitch Daniels (R) of Indiana has been called as the winner in the governor's race there. Mark Warner (D) has also been called as the winner in the Virginia senate race which marks the first pickup for the Dems in the Senate.
7:15pm: CNN just "beamed" Jessica Yellin in from Chicago and stood her image there in New York like something out of Star Trek. Wolf Blitzer will hereon be referred to as "Captain Wolf".
7:00pm: CNN has called Vermont (3) for Obama and Kentucky (8) for McCain. Polls have also closed in Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, the portion of Florida in the eastern time zone, and the rest of Indiana.
6:30pm: Good evening from Times headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan! We've been following the developments throughout the day and the big story everywhere is turnout. All across the country the lines have been long, but the voters appear generally good-spirited while they wait upwards of four or five hours in some places to cast their ballots.
The polls have closed in parts of Indiana and Kentucky. The areas of both states that are in the central time zone of those two states close at 7:00pm. Some numbers have rolled in from both Indiana and Kentucky at the time of this writing. With approximately 1% of precincts reporting, Obama holds a tight lead in Indiana and trails McCain in Kentucky. These numbers mean essentially nothing, however, especially in Indiana where suburban Chicago counties fall in the Central Time zone.
We've been watching CNN's high-definition coverage. Thankfully there's no EKG reading on the bottom of the screen telling me what 30 lunkheads in the Midwest think about the election results. They do, however, have about 65 pundits all crammed together with laptops at several different round tables.
James Carville is one of the most comical men I've ever seen.
1 comment:
If Obama can pick up Florida, they should be able to officially call the race. With what he has now, simply having FL, NM, and CA would give him the guarantee. I think they're leary about calling it until the west coast precincts close, though.
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