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Well, here we go, the big day (dum dum dum).
{This post will be updated throughout the day. Thanks for visiting :}
[07:40] Checking the Electoral Vote Tracker, they have it 353-117. Everyone agrees Obama is going to win, and the debate seems to be whether it will be a squeaker or a landslide. 353-117 would be [ouch!] a landslide of epic proportions. We'll see.
[08:40] Everywhere you turn, everyone says Vote! I say, Don't Vote! If you don't know who you're voting for, or why you're voting, then we don't need your vote; please don't dilute the votes of informed voters. Heretical, I know. Then again, I am in favor of multiple voting, too, so I'm hopelessly on the fringe :)
 [09:55] The Obamas vote. I wonder who they voted for? Here's a poll wrap from RealClearPolitics. The result is real clear; every poll has Obama winning, looks like the average is around +8. So be it. A record number of voters are expected, which could slow tallying of results, which could delay announcement of the winner. Yuk.
[10:01] Oh by the way, 11 states are electing governors, and there are big races in the Senate and also in the House. The big question seems to be whether the Democrats will muster a "filibuster proof" majority.
{Crap, work is interferring with blogging :}
[11:55] Halley Suitt makes an interesting point: "As a woman, the prospect of voting for the first female president this year was very exciting. I'm sorry that is not a choice I have this election, but I love Obama and I'm thrilled to vote for him. Still, as I watch record numbers of African-Americans and other people of color vote for Obama, I realize as a white person, I can never know how important this is for them, what it will feel like, what emotions it will give rise to." All of us either voted for a woman VP or a [half-] black President. That's pretty cool.
[11:57] Glenn Reynolds: Whoever wins, chill a bit. Oh-kay. He also reminds us "Basically, nothing the TV talking-heads say before the polls close means anything. Remember the bogus Kerry-victory exit poll reports from 2004?" Indeed.
 [11:58] Inhabitat wants you to vote for the environment! Sure, but I didn't see it on the ballot.
[11:59] Pajamas Media has an ongoing roundup... check it out.
[12:00] The McCain campaign thinks it will be a long night, followed by a McCain win. We'll see. Most pundits think it will be a short night, followed by an Obama win. But they've been wrong before :)
{Work interferes again}
[1:15] I must tell you, I'm getting comfortable with the idea of an Obama win. I don't agree with his ideas - at all - but perhaps if everyone thinks he's great, he really will be great. Presidents set the tone and spirit much more than make policy. We need positivism right now!
[1:17] The world hopes for a less arrogant America. Good luck with that :) [ via LGF ]
[1:19] Win or lose, a historic day for us all. Boy, ain't that the truth. A lot of my colleagues are wearing "I voted" stickers (I'm in my office in Vista today). My sense is that we all feel we are part of something historic. Change.
[1:20] Tim Bray, a Canadian, offers his thanks: "I must open with heartfelt thanks to all of you for the passion and drama and rhetoric and personality you’ve offered each other and the world, in the political-theatre context, for the last couple of years." So be it. I hope Tim is wrong about Obama winning - as he says, "he swings left", and I do not - but the thanks is appreciated.
[1:24] Might be a bit late, but Popular Science has the sci-tech guide to the election. Voting machines, R&D, Power, weird photoshopping, the space race, and a science debate, it's all here...
[1:25] Roger Kimball wonders What Happens Next? I guess we're all wondering that... the impact of the election on the national mood, the economy, and the global credit crisis will be interesting. Stay tuned :)
[1:26] This would be too bad; Jim Lindgren thinks: "What we are unlikely to see over the next four years is progress on serious defects in the press and the electoral process that this election revealed. It is ironic that in 2008 we probably have two of the most honest and decent men running for president that we have had in a long time, and yet this has easily been the most corrupt election in my lifetime." The behavior of the press in particular has been horrible.
 [1:35] TheMcCains vote. What must they be thinking, eh? Are they optimistic, pessimistic, fatalistic? Probably just really glad it's over!
{Another work-related gap - wow, is it over yet? No.}
[5:11]CNN projects Obama wins New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut; McCain takes South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee. [ via alert ]
[5:30] Glenn Reynolds with some early speculation / exit poll results. Nothing concrete as yet...
[5:31] Megan McCardle: "Whether or not you are for Obama, the candidate, I think you have to admit that there is one pretty exciting thing happening today: we will never again live in an America where a black man can't be elected president." That seems true, although if Obama loses, everyone will say it was because he's black. I happen to be in the small minority of people who think it helped him to be black; if he wins, it won't be the reason he won, but it has certainly given him attention he wouldn't have had otherwise. Not to mention, a lot of people have cut him a lot of slack.
[5:35] As usual, Stephen Green is drunkblogging the election. Not sure Vodka is required yet, but it can't hurt!
[5:40] Fox calls Virginia for McCain. So be it.
 [5:40] TechCrunch calls out the CNN Magic Wall and Holograms. I'm sure they're hoping it will help Obama, and maybe it will. I can so remember four years ago how sad they were when Bush defeated Kerry.
[5:41] Irony free zone: Obama thanks 'gracious' press. And well he might!
[5:47] CNN projects that Barack Obama wins Pennsylvania. [ via alert ] That's big.
[5:52] Instapundit: "At the moment, McCain is ahead in the popular vote while way behind in electoral votes. I doubt that will last, but in light of 2000 it's funny."
[6:13] CNN projects McCain wins North Dakota and Wyoming, Obama wins New York, Michigan and Minnesota. [ via alert ] So be it, all expected, I think.
[6:25] Slate: Why Starbucks can't use free coffee to help get out the vote. So be it, anyone who has to be bribed with coffee or anything else to vote, should not vote.
[6:39] CNN projects Barack Obama the winner of battleground state of Ohio. [ via alert ] The biggest news of the day so far, this is pretty important. Together with Pennsylvania, that's starting to look definitive for Obama.
[6:44] Blogs.com has a survey of a bunch of blog posts about the election: long lines, exit polls. It is sure evident to me that Obama has a huge edge in support among bloggers. Whew, am I in the minority, or what?
[6:59] Instapundit: "McCain carries Texas and Utah but that's no surprise. Obama carries Iowa. At this point, the only real question is really how big Obama will win; only a miracle will save McCain."
[7:49] Jonah Goldberg in National Review: "Look, I expect to be one of the most severe critics of the Obama administration and the Democrats generally in the years ahead (though I sincerely hope I won't find that necessary). But Obama ran a brilliant race and he should be congratulated for it." I would agree with that.
[7:56] CNN: Election set to shatter turnout records. "Americans hit the polls Tuesday in numbers that officials across the country believed would shatter election turnout records. Although more than 24.4 million people had already cast early or absentee ballots by Monday, the continued high volume of voters had people across the United States braving long lines."
[8:00] Instapudit: "Fox just called the election for Obama. Congratulations, It's a historic moment." Indeed it is. Wow.
[8:08] CNN projects that Sen. Barack Obama has won election as the next president of the United States. [ via alert] WOW. There you have it, congratulations to Barack Obama, he did it. We have a [half-] black young inexperienced liberal President. Good luck to him and may all my horrible premonitions about him be wrong!
[8:10] LGF: "Barack Hussein Obama is the next President of the United States, and we extend our sincere congratulations. Country first." Absolutely. Time to move past the divisions and fix the problems, which are several and serious.
[8:19] Instapundit: John McCain concedes. "The crowd boos Obama, but he silences them. 'His success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. . . . This is a historic election. . . . Let there be no reason now for any citizen to fail to cherish their citizenship in this, the greatest nation on earth.' The crowd cheers." This speech was one of the best of his campaign. McCain is a lot more likeable than he often showed, and that hurt him. (In this respect [alone] he reminds me a bit of Al Gore, who was a lot more personable that he appeared when he campaigned in 2000.)
[8:31] John McCain congratulates Barack Obama on his "historic" election as president of "the greatest nation on Earth." [ via alert]
 [8:32] TechCrunch: Obama wins in total rout. And they have the map to prove it, shown at right...
[9:06] President Bush congratulates Obama on "awesome night". You'd have to say Bush had a lot to do with Obama's victory :)
[9:19] Barack Obama, in victory speech, tells supporters that his election as president shows that "change has come to America." [ via alert ]
[10:05] From Slate: The day John McCain lost the election. "For Bill Clinton in 1992, it was the economy, stupid. For John McCain in 2008, it was the stupid economy. Exit polls showed that 62 percent of the electorate said the economy was the most important issue." Absolutely true. And isn't that weird, because six months ago you would have said the situation in Iraq was McCain's achilles heel, and the economy a strength. The full irony is that McCain was one of the earliest and most vociferous critics of FNMA / FDMC, and totally saw this coming, yet when it did, he was blamed for it.
And so it ends... another election. I will probably blog more about this in the coming hours, days, and weeks, and all the other issues besides, but for now I'll sign off.
{Cheers and thanks for your attention!}
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