Election Day: Hot News, Emerging Trends, Juicy Rumors
November 04, 2008News & Politics
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:
***
Tim Robbins' voting problems
from the Huffington Post:
12:34 pm
Politically active actor Tim Robbins almost didn't get to vote in New York.
TMZ reports Robbins was turned away at his polling place.
GOOGLE'S Top 100 Election Day searches
From the Google blog:
12:31 pm PST
No fewer than 87 of the top 100 fastest-rising terms relate to the election right now. Of these, 10 relate to searches for state information, including [florida sample ballot], [ohio ballot issues 2008] and [where to vote in texas].
***
Joe the Plumber is short on cash and unemployed
12:05 pm PST
from Fox News:
Joe the Plumber is short on cash and unemployed ... "I got no financial offers. I am broke," Joe Wurzelbacher said Monday, explaining that he's got a few ideas on how to spread the wealth to himself and others following bogus reports of a professional management deal and potential country music career.
***
Rove predicts Obama win
from AlterNet's Steven Rosenfeld
The man behind the election of George W. Bush is predicting a bog Obama win.
According to his website, it will be an Obama blowout. Here's what the man referred to as 'Bush's brain' said:
***
MSNBC continually airs graphic featuring inaccurate poll closing times for multiple states
from Media Matters
MSNBC continually aired graphics that purported to show "POLL CLOSING[]" times for each state. But in states that cross over time zones, the times listed in the graphics reflected the western-most time zone in the state, in which polls close an hour later than the rest of the state. Thus, people watching MSNBC in the eastern portion of some states could be left with the impression that local polls would be open for an hour after they actually close.
Obama is the new Reagan?
from Political Wire Jeffrey Hart, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, suggests there are many similarities between his former boss and Sen. Barack Obama.
"The first time most people became aware of Obama was when he made that great speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. We knew then we would hear from him again. He might prove to be the next great orator in American politics after Ronald Reagan. In a parallel way, most Americans became aware of Reagan when he made what came to be known as The Speech in 1964, supporting Barry Goldwater."
***
Nate Silver's final presidential race projection
from Nate Silver's much vaunted 538.com
Today's Polls and Final Election Projection: Obama 349, McCain 189
It's Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, Election Day in America. The last polls have straggled in, and show little sign of mercy for John McCain. Barack Obama appears poised for a decisive electoral victory.
Our model projects that Obama will win all states won by John Kerry in 2004, in addition to Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, Florida and North Carolina, while narrowly losing Missouri and Indiana. These states total 353 electoral votes. Our official projection, which looks at these outcomes probabilistically -- for instance, assigns North Carolina's 15 electoral votes to Obama 59 percent of the time -- comes up with an incrementally more conservative projection of 348.6 electoral votes.
***
$180 Million Spent by 527 Groups
from TPM:
A new study finds that more than $180M will have been spent by '527' groups this campaign on, among other things, ads like the ones pictured from the SEIU and the American Issues Project.
***
From last night's talk shows:
"Today Barack Obama campaigned in Florida and Virginia. And McCain campaigned in two states: panic and desperation." -- David Letterman, CBS'"Late Show."
"Actually, there is a good chance that we could go to bed tomorrow night and not know who's running the country. Just like it's been for the last eight years." -- Jay Leno, NBC's "Tonight Show."
"Right now it's a toss up between Barack and Obama." -- Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
"This is my first election, not sure what supposed do on Election Eve. Are there traditions? So you hang your `chads' over the fireplace? Leave stuff out for your favorite candidate? Maybe a sandwich for Obama. That is a thin man . McCain, leave him some food, nice warm mug of creamed corn Tasty. And you don't need to chew." -- Craig Ferguson, CBS'"Late Late Show."
"Who are the real winners in this election? Don't ask me. Ask Joe the Plumber's agent." -- Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
"Congratulations to everybody who ran the New York City Marathon yesterday. Good to have you here. And a special congratulations to this year's winner, Joe the Runner." -- Letterman.
"The Republican Party has asked President Bush to stay out of sight until after the election. Apparently Bush has agreed to this strategy and is appearing weekly on the NBC series, `Kath and Kim.'" -- Conan O'Brien on NBC's "Late Night."
"I don't want to say that the Obamas are overly confident, but they've already agreed to let Oprah use their house in Chicago as a place to keep her dogs." -- Kimmel.
"According to recent news reports, Bill Clinton has now become an adviser to Barack Obama. Bill Clinton is giving advice to Barack Obama. Do you know who is really upset about this? Michelle Obama." -- Leno.
"My guest, Andrew Sullivan, says conservatives should support Obama. Well, McCain's campaign managers certainly have done their part." -- Colbert.
"Did you get any of those annoying robo calls? You know, those phone call recorded messages from the candidates. I got them all weekend. I even got one from Ralph Nader's campaign. Turns out it wasn't recorded. It was Ralph calling personally from a pay phone." -- Leno.
"Sarah Palin is going to celebrate the end of the campaign. She charged one last $1500 blouse to the campaign. So, got that out of the way." -- Letterman.
"This weekend at a John McCain rally, Arnold Schwarzenegger said that Barack Obama needs to exercise more because his legs are too skinny. Then he said: `Now behold, the awesome physical specimen that is John McCain!'" -- O'Brien.
***
Yes We Can
No song could be more appropriate for today, than the wonderful Pointer Sisters Yes We Can ! Here are two versions:
From Soul Train in 1973
From acommenter: 'This song is absolutely timesless! The words are still true today."
And here's a spiffed up, dressed up, version with drummer Gaylord Birch.
As one commenter wrote: this is EASY among one of the best live performances ever!! that drum break solo was dope "
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:
Asked about his confidence in winning a state that has not backed a Democrat for president since 1964, Obama said he thinks he can change that pattern.Major Garrett on Fox News just reported that the reason for the stop was actually that Barack was down 5 in their overnight internal tracking polls.
"I think we can win Indiana, otherwise I wouldn't be in Indiana," he said, according to a pool report of the visit.
***
Tim Robbins' voting problems
from the Huffington Post:
12:34 pm
Politically active actor Tim Robbins almost didn't get to vote in New York.
TMZ reports Robbins was turned away at his polling place.
There was some kind of ruckus and the cops were called.***
Apparently Robbins has been voting at that polling place for more than a decade, but today his name wasn't on the register. They told Robbins he had to fill out a provisional ballot but he didn't want to do it. An argument erupted between Robbins and the poll worker. Robbins allegedly got loud and the poll worker said he was calling the cops.
Robbins accused the poll worker of trying to intimidate him so he wouldn't vote.
Robbins went downtown to the City Board of Elections to get proof he was good to vote.
GOOGLE'S Top 100 Election Day searches
From the Google blog:
12:31 pm PST
No fewer than 87 of the top 100 fastest-rising terms relate to the election right now. Of these, 10 relate to searches for state information, including [florida sample ballot], [ohio ballot issues 2008] and [where to vote in texas].
***
Joe the Plumber is short on cash and unemployed
12:05 pm PST
from Fox News:
Joe the Plumber is short on cash and unemployed ... "I got no financial offers. I am broke," Joe Wurzelbacher said Monday, explaining that he's got a few ideas on how to spread the wealth to himself and others following bogus reports of a professional management deal and potential country music career.
***
Rove predicts Obama win
from AlterNet's Steven Rosenfeld
The man behind the election of George W. Bush is predicting a bog Obama win.
According to his website, it will be an Obama blowout. Here's what the man referred to as 'Bush's brain' said:
The final Rove & Co. electoral map of the 2008 election cycle points to a 338-200 Barack Obama electoral vote victory over John McCain tomorrow, the largest electoral margin since 1996. All remaining toss-up states have been allocated to the candidate leading in them, with Florida (27 EV) going to Obama, and Indiana (11 EV), Missouri (11 EV), North Carolina (15 EV), and North Dakota (3 EV) going to McCain. The two candidates are in a dead heat in Missouri and North Carolina, but they go to McCain because the most recent polls conducted over this past weekend show him narrowly ahead. Florida, too, could end up in McCain's column since he's benefited from recent movement in the state.Here's Rove's map.
***
MSNBC continually airs graphic featuring inaccurate poll closing times for multiple states
from Media Matters
MSNBC continually aired graphics that purported to show "POLL CLOSING[]" times for each state. But in states that cross over time zones, the times listed in the graphics reflected the western-most time zone in the state, in which polls close an hour later than the rest of the state. Thus, people watching MSNBC in the eastern portion of some states could be left with the impression that local polls would be open for an hour after they actually close.
Obama is the new Reagan?
from Political Wire Jeffrey Hart, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, suggests there are many similarities between his former boss and Sen. Barack Obama.
"The first time most people became aware of Obama was when he made that great speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. We knew then we would hear from him again. He might prove to be the next great orator in American politics after Ronald Reagan. In a parallel way, most Americans became aware of Reagan when he made what came to be known as The Speech in 1964, supporting Barry Goldwater."
***
Nate Silver's final presidential race projection
from Nate Silver's much vaunted 538.com
Today's Polls and Final Election Projection: Obama 349, McCain 189
It's Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, Election Day in America. The last polls have straggled in, and show little sign of mercy for John McCain. Barack Obama appears poised for a decisive electoral victory.
Our model projects that Obama will win all states won by John Kerry in 2004, in addition to Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada, Florida and North Carolina, while narrowly losing Missouri and Indiana. These states total 353 electoral votes. Our official projection, which looks at these outcomes probabilistically -- for instance, assigns North Carolina's 15 electoral votes to Obama 59 percent of the time -- comes up with an incrementally more conservative projection of 348.6 electoral votes.
***
$180 Million Spent by 527 Groups
from TPM:
A new study finds that more than $180M will have been spent by '527' groups this campaign on, among other things, ads like the ones pictured from the SEIU and the American Issues Project.
***
From last night's talk shows:
"Today Barack Obama campaigned in Florida and Virginia. And McCain campaigned in two states: panic and desperation." -- David Letterman, CBS'"Late Show."
"Actually, there is a good chance that we could go to bed tomorrow night and not know who's running the country. Just like it's been for the last eight years." -- Jay Leno, NBC's "Tonight Show."
"Right now it's a toss up between Barack and Obama." -- Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"
"This is my first election, not sure what supposed do on Election Eve. Are there traditions? So you hang your `chads' over the fireplace? Leave stuff out for your favorite candidate? Maybe a sandwich for Obama. That is a thin man . McCain, leave him some food, nice warm mug of creamed corn Tasty. And you don't need to chew." -- Craig Ferguson, CBS'"Late Late Show."
"Who are the real winners in this election? Don't ask me. Ask Joe the Plumber's agent." -- Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."
"Congratulations to everybody who ran the New York City Marathon yesterday. Good to have you here. And a special congratulations to this year's winner, Joe the Runner." -- Letterman.
"The Republican Party has asked President Bush to stay out of sight until after the election. Apparently Bush has agreed to this strategy and is appearing weekly on the NBC series, `Kath and Kim.'" -- Conan O'Brien on NBC's "Late Night."
"I don't want to say that the Obamas are overly confident, but they've already agreed to let Oprah use their house in Chicago as a place to keep her dogs." -- Kimmel.
"According to recent news reports, Bill Clinton has now become an adviser to Barack Obama. Bill Clinton is giving advice to Barack Obama. Do you know who is really upset about this? Michelle Obama." -- Leno.
"My guest, Andrew Sullivan, says conservatives should support Obama. Well, McCain's campaign managers certainly have done their part." -- Colbert.
"Did you get any of those annoying robo calls? You know, those phone call recorded messages from the candidates. I got them all weekend. I even got one from Ralph Nader's campaign. Turns out it wasn't recorded. It was Ralph calling personally from a pay phone." -- Leno.
"Sarah Palin is going to celebrate the end of the campaign. She charged one last $1500 blouse to the campaign. So, got that out of the way." -- Letterman.
"This weekend at a John McCain rally, Arnold Schwarzenegger said that Barack Obama needs to exercise more because his legs are too skinny. Then he said: `Now behold, the awesome physical specimen that is John McCain!'" -- O'Brien.
***
Yes We Can
No song could be more appropriate for today, than the wonderful Pointer Sisters Yes We Can ! Here are two versions:
From Soul Train in 1973
From acommenter: 'This song is absolutely timesless! The words are still true today."
And here's a spiffed up, dressed up, version with drummer Gaylord Birch.
As one commenter wrote: this is EASY among one of the best live performances ever!! that drum break solo was dope "
