ie:missional teaching. glocalizing. living. serving. repenting. incarnating. loving. repeating.

10:40 pm

It’s almost a done deal. Going to bed.

10:05 pm

TX GOP senator retains his seat, Dem in Montana also in IA. GOP replacement senator, Roger Wicker of MS wins the election and keeps the Dems from gaining a filibuster proof majority, if things stand.

Shot goes to Hume with Bill Kristol in the background with his nose stuck eight inches deep in some paperwork. Looks funny.

McCain campaign says, “There doesn’t appear to be any path” to victory. Losing NM and IA seems to have been the icing on the cake. They don’t believe that any republican could have survived the “credit tsunami.” If you towed the party line, then I agree whole heartedly, but if you bucked the party line, the candidate would have stood a chance.

10:00 pm

Got an email, purportedly from a Christian leader asking me to pray for one candidate, but not the other one. I guess we only pray for the ones we like, not like God commands, “all those in authority.”

Looks like Obama is closing in states where McCain was leading and maintaining in the states where he was already leading. Mecklinburg County (Charlotte), NC is going to Obama bigger than it went for Kerry in ’04.

EVs- Obama 207, McCain 129 (Fox calls McCain for TX, though neither candidate made a single trip there).

Obama- IA

McCain- UT

9:48

Fox panel reiterates that this is a “protest election.” Not voting for or against Obama, but voting against Bush and identifying McCain with him.

Listening to the exit polls, it sounds like, “McCain would be a better president, that’s why we’re voting for Obama.” This is a weird country.

9:35

A few thoughts on the electoral college that strange animal by which we elect the president. According to Wikipedia:

Some nations with complex regional electorates elect a head of state by means of an electoral college rather than a direct popular election. The United States is the only current example of an indirectly elected executive president, with an electoral college made up of electors representing the 50 states and one federal district. Each state has a number of electors equal to its total Congressional representation (in both houses), with the non-state District of Columbia receiving three electors and other non-state territories having no electors. The electors generally cast their votes for the winner of the popular vote in their respective states, but are not required by law to do so.

I really don’t have a problem with it and, frankly, it may not be as fairly proportioned as it could be if it is to be based on actual population. It does seem that the electoral college should be more representative of the popular vote, though that strange animal “winning the electoral college while losing the popular vote” is so rare as to be an endangered species.

A Fox reporter just said, “John McCain has made 2,000 visits to Pennsylvania in the past few months.” Busy guy!

9:25 pm

If the numbers stand, McCain is in trouble. It didn’t help him that he brought Dick Cheney out on the campaign trail this week. How utterly stupid.

Senate seats are Dems up 4.

9:20 pm

A friend of mine is happy that Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer is now Former.

Hume is enamored with the touch giant screen thing. Karl Rove things thinks that McCain has to win everything and still cannot win, unless he turns a state from the last election. Fox has called OH for Obama.

National vote total is Obama up about 70,000 or so on Politico.

9:13 pm

Fox dropped 17 votes from the Obama column without comment yet; now at 163.

9:02 pm

Dems pick up 1 in the House.

EVs- Obama 180, McCain 81 (as called by Fox)

Obama- WI, NM, MN, NY, RI, MI

McCain- ND, KY, WY

Lots of yucking it up over some mistake. Brit Hume still looks like a hound dog, but I like him.

8:58 pm

WPE- Within Precinct Error. When there is a differential, Fox hesitates to make a call. In VA, Obama is 10.8% higher in exit polls than in actual votes. This means that Obama supporters are willing to participate in the exit polls more often than McCain supporters leading to skewed results.

Popular vote is 50-50.

County by county voting in Indiana shows a few more counties going Democratic this time than in the last two elections.

Lots of talk today about Obama governing from the center, much like Clinton did. The reality is that Clinton had to deal with Republican houses of congress–Obama will not. Is American a center-right country or a center-left country? We shall see.

Obama leads early in Ohio, McCain in North Dakota and Texas.

8:50 pm

EVs- Obama 103, McCain 69

FL loses a house Republican seat and keeps a seat.

Some reports of voter fraud, but few documented. Things in most places seem to be going smoothly.

8:38

NBC called GA for McCain just now. Their map looks awful.

8:26

Obama just picked up 1 EV?? What is that, Guam?!

“Well, Pa…” Reporter on Fox looks like Opie Taylor.

Still early reports have Obama blowing out NC, but still trailing in VA and IN. Dems pick up 3 senate seats. Fox wants to call PA for Obama without any precincts actually being counted, but refusing to do so. Perhaps they are learning a little. Apparently there was as much as an eleven point discrepancy between the exit polls and the actual numbers in some places.

NH loses a Republican–Sununu loses to Jeanne Shaheen. Smith, anyone? Sununu apparently fought against Bush on many counts, but loses anyway. Net pickup of 3 seats. Dems need 6 of 7 remaining.

8:20 pm

Fox reporting Mitch McConnell, who ran on a “pro-earmark” platform has been re-elected in Kentucky. 200 year old Elizabeth Dole is projected to lose her NC senate seat in a landslide. Another example of Republicans not getting it when they attacked Kay Hagan for supporting atheism, she the Presbyterian Sunday School teacher. Smaaaaart.

Obama picks up another 4 EVs (NH apparently). Democrats pick up 2 senate seats, but have to win all the rest (I think) to reach 60. For the first time in 50 years, Republicans will have lost double digit seats in the House in consecutive elections. Hume makes an interesting point: Democrats have control of both houses of congress, congress has a sorry approval rating and yet Americans are sending more Democrats to congress. Dislike of Bush anyone?

Buffalo leads Miami 14-3. Ooops, that’s ESPN. They are red and blue however.

8:05 pm

Brit Hume just called their studio “the strategery room.” Timothy says, “He’s been watching SNL.”

“I just have to right on the screen. Look, I can make a circle. I can make a slash.” Geez.

Maine still at 2 votes to one. Apparently there is a blizzard of epic proportions keeping people from the polls there. Or a hail storm. Or they don’t know how to count. Fox now calls it for Obama; might as well.

EVs just went Obama 77 to McCain 39.

MA, MD, IL, DC, CO, ME, NJ, DE- Obama

OK- McCain (CNN adds TN for McCain)
And Tulsa is voting on just how to spend their local option sales tax money.

Joe Biden wins seventh term in DE while running for VP with Obama. Biden now passes necessary threshold to stay in office for up to five years after he dies.

Time for a short break.

7:55 pm

Fox has a guy in West Palm who looks like Kato Kaelin. That guy never goes away.

Barack Obama has a monster outdoor “victory party” planned for Grant Park in Chicago. Perfect weather and huge crowd.

Fox has called South Carolina for McCain, while trailing in the popular vote.

Obama up 54% in the popular vote nationally. Fox analyst favors Marlo Thomas.

Bob Barr has a few votes in Dade County FL, where Obama is reporting at 60%.

Some analyst thinks we need to have the polls open for an entire weekend, AFTER we’ve had more than a month to early vote. I really don’t get that. I voted 2 1/2 weeks ago and didn’t wait. Because of early voting, the wait today has lessened dramatically in many areas. My daughter and son-in-law in PA walked in and voted with no wait (after work).

These guys are having waaaaay to much fun with these touch screen TVs. I imagine John Madden, “Boom, Obama needs Gary, Indiana. Look, McCain needs West Virginia….that guy, that guy has mud on his ballot.”

7:45 pm

Random thought: At about 2:30 today, more than 900 people had voted at New Bethany, a local voting precinct. More than 2,100 had early voted from the same precinct. In our county, around 40% of voters cast an early ballot.

cnn.com still has virtually all states too close to call and precious few precincts reporting. McCain’s lead in VA seems to be increasing, while Obama’s in FL seems to be increasing.

Late deciders seem to be breaking to McCain. “White people with little education” (why don’t they just say “rednecks”) also seem to be breaking to McCain. Are those one and the same?

A Fox News reporter just said, “In two thousand oh four…” Interesting phrasing.

7:35 pm

The Republicans ran a guy for governor in West Virginia who looks like Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith. He lost; should have used his light saber.

Obama just took the lead in the popular vote for the first time tonight. McCain up 13-3 in EVs.

7:29 pm

Apparently it took Barack Obama 15 minutes to vote. Beth says it was because he was looking for the “Present” button.

My wife is fixated on that Murtha character from PA. She is calling his a lot of names right now. Four in the last minute. I don’t think she likes him.

McCain up in Indiana with 12% counted. They are saying it is the northwest corner that will turn it to Obama.

7:25 pm

It really is something that Georgia is too close to call. Georgia has not gone for a democratic presidential candidate since Carter, our favored hometown son. For there to be anything close only goes to show how much President Bush has damaged, not rallied, the republican base. If McCain loses Georgia, it will be a foreboding sign indeed.

7:18 pm

There is a holographic reporter on CNN: “Help me Wolf Blitzer. You’re my only hope!” No lie.

7:16 pm

So apparently, Maine only has three residents. And Obama won 2 votes to 1.

My daughter woke up this morning wondering who won the election.

7:12 pm

Until I get tired or fall asleep.

Politico is calling two senate races with no votes reporting. Good call guys.

Currently McCain leads 8-3 in EVs. We’ll see how long that lasts.

The family is watching Fox because it is what is on. They think that the former gov Mark Warner has won. They mention the fact that he is a millionaire as if that means anything.

Georgia senate race: Zaxby Chambliss is probably going to lose because he supported the big bailout and because there is a Libertarian (incorrectly identified as an “Independent” by Fox) who is going to siphon some of his votes. However, this is a runoff situation if no one garners at least 50% plus one vote [thanks, Charlie].