MSNBC is reporting that Rahm Emanuel has been offered the White House Chief of Staff job and is currently “agonizing” over the decision.
According to First Read, that’s how long it’s been since Iowa governor Tom Vilsack kicked off the 2008 campaign season when he filed paperwork to start his presidential bid on November 9, 2006, just days after the Democrats won control of Congress.
For those of you who are math junkies, that is the equivalent of five days shy of a full two years; 17,424 hours; 1,045,440 minutes; and 62,726,400 seconds.
According to the Associated Press, here are the times (EST) polls close tonight, and the number of electoral votes each state is worth.
7:00
Georgia (15)
Indiana (11)
Kentucky (8)
South Carolina (8)
Vermont (3)
Virginia (13)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 58
7:30
Ohio (20)
North Carolina (15)
West Virginia (5)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 40
8:00
Alabama (9)
Connecticut (7)
Delaware (3)
Florida (27)
Illinois (21)
Maine (4)
Maryland (10)
Massachusetts (12)
Mississippi (6)
Missouri (11)
New Hampshire (4)
New Jersey (15)
Oklahoma (7)
Pennsylvania (21)
Tennessee (11)
Washington DC (3)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 171
8:30
Arkansas (6)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 6
9:00
Arizona (10)
Colorado (9)
Kansas (6)
Louisiana (9)
Michigan (17)
Minnesota (10)
Nebraska (5)
New Mexico (5)
New York (31)
North Dakota (3)
Rhode Island (4)
South Dakota (3)
Texas (34)
Wisconsin (10)
Wyoming (3)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 159
10:00
Iowa (7)
Montana (3)
Nevada (5)
Utah (5)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 20
11:00
California (55)
Hawaii (4)
Idaho (4)
Oregon (7)
Washington (11)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 81
1:00
Alaska (3)
TOTAL ELECTORAL VOTES: 3
From the towns of Dixville Notch and Hart’s Location, New Hampshire (with a combined population of 115), traditionally the first towns to vote on Election Day when the polls open at midnight.
Dixville Notch
McCain – 6
Obama – 15
Nader – 0
Hart’s Location
McCain – 10
Obama – 17
Nader – 0
Paul – 2
Thus begins today’s great exercise in democracy.
Update: According to Josh Marshall, this is the second time a Democratic candidate has won Dixville Notch since the midnight voting tradition began in 1948. The first was Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Not a good outlook for McCain. Never in a million years did I think my projections would be more conservative than Karl Rove’s.
These should keep you busy watching the returns come in tomorrow.
Five Thirty Eight
CNN Political Ticker
Daily Kos
Huffington Post
Marc Ambinder
Politico
Talking Points Memo
The Caucus
The Page
I and many of my friends and colleagues in the press been watching this campaign for two years and it all comes down to tomorrow. Amazing how it all went by so fast. Take some time to relax, get some rest, and savor the moment. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.
“In a globalized world, America’s president can shape lives worldwide. He is our president, too.”
– Constanze Stelzenmüller, director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund
Earlier, I posted a link to Politico’s list of the biggest gaffes of the campaign, while adding my own to the list. TIME Magazine has put together a much more thorough version of that list, which is well worth reading.
I had forgotten so many of these gaffes, and how they dominated the campaign cycle at one point or another. My revised list of big gaffes, based on political fallout or humor:
John McCain’s “Fundamentals of our economy” comment
Hillary Clinton ducking sniper fire in Bosnia
Phil Gramm’s “Nation of whiners” comment
Barack Obama’s 57 states comment
Mark Penn’s Colombian deal
Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric
Barack Obama’s “Bitter” comment
Sarah Palin’s wardrobe
Joe Biden’s international test
Sarah Palin’s prank call
Mitt Romney: “Who Let the Dogs Out”
Barack Obama’s “spread the wealth” comment
Politico compiles the best of the 2008 cycle. They focused on the two presidential nominees, but I would expand the list to include some of the other characters we’ve seen in the 2008 race.
ONE-LINERS
Joe Biden hits Rudy Giuliani: “A noun, a verb and 9/11”
Sarah Palin on the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull.
Bob Casey at the DNC: “That’s not a maverick, that’s a sidekick.”
Mike Huckabee: “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.”
John McCain on following Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell.
GAFFES
Sarah Palin’s entire interview with Katie Couric
Hillary Clinton invoking the assassination of Bobby Kennedy during the primaries
Barack Obama’s “bitter” comments at a fundraiser
Carly Fiorina saying John McCain and Sarah Palin couldn’t run Hewlett Packard
John McCain: “Bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran”
Icepicks and Nukes