Election Day: Hot News, Emerging Trends, Juicy Rumors

AlterNet. Posted November 4, 2008.

Also don't miss out on our coverage of the Presidential race, voting snafus across the country, crazy conservative reactions and Election Day: The Senate, House and Ballot Measures.

Bye bye Liddy Dole

from Daily Kos:

4:43 PM PST

MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell reports a senior GOP strategist is conceding defeat in the Dole-Hagan race, which means that for the first time in fifty years, a Dole or a Bush won't be in public office. The strategist also says the McCain campaign's projection that the electorate would mirror that of 2004 is totally off, saying that heavy African-American turnout is an "Obama Tsunami."

Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff?

4:37 PM PST

from Roll Call:

Senior Democrats on and off Capitol Hill were becoming increasingly convinced late Tuesday that Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) is preparing to quit his post as the fourth-ranking House Democrat to accept a job as White House chief of staff in an Obama administration.

***

Elections expert: Beware of turnout reports

from Political Wire:

2:33 pm PST

Curtis Gans: "Because turnout can only accurately be ascertained by getting actual tabulated vote numbers and because to make any real sense of the numbers, one needs to wait until at least 90 percent of the vote has been cast in an individual state, any judgment on this year's turnout probably won't be available until late in the evening -- probably around midnight before one can make an educated stab at how much turnout might have increased."

Early exit poll #'s

from Jonathan Singer at MyDD.com

2:13 PM PST

Pulled from CNN and Fox News... Early, Early Exit Numbers

Top issues for voters:

The Economy: 62 percent

Iraq: 10 percent

Terrorism: 9 percent

Healthcare: 9 percent

Amazingly, more than a quarter of voters -- 27 percent -- indicated that they had been contacted by the Obama campaign.

Prepared: Just 38 percent believe Sarah Palin is prepared to be President, significantly less than the 67 percent saying Joe Biden is prepared.

Taxes: Voters expect to see their taxes raised; 49 percent foresee their taxes will be raised no matter who is elected, 61 percent see their taxes going up under McCain, 70 percent see their taxes going up under Obama.

A more progressive America: A full 51 percent of voters say they believe government should be doing more to fix the country's problems, while just 43 percent say the country should be doing less.

Fear: 30 percent of voters are scared of the prospect of a McCain victory, while 23 percent are scared of the prospect of an Obama victory.

***

McCain's Mom: Let these bastards get in. I don't give a damn anymore."

from the Daily Beast:

2:10 PM PST

A grueling and bitter campaign has taken its toll on family morale, John McCain's aunt, Rowena Willis, told The Daily Beast today in an exclusive interview.

According to the 96 year-old Willis, her twin sister, Roberta McCain, the candidate's mother, has become resigned to her son's electoral fate.

"She really doesn't care," Willis said of her 96-year old twin sister, who has campaigned for her son and recorded TV ads with him. "'Let these bastards get in,' she says, 'I don't give a damn anymore."

***

Stocks move higher as Americans vote

From the NYT:

12:58 pm PST

Wall Street was poised Tuesday to have its largest Election Day rally in 24 years as millions of American voters went to the polls.

At about 3:50 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up 3.2 percent, or about 305 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 3.9 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 3 percent.

***

Obama presses for Indiana -- internal polls show him down

from Todd Beeton at MyDD:

12:49 pm PST

This morning, Barack Obama made a quick stop in Indiana while he was close by to vote. At the event, Barack sounded a confident note:

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