I'd like to take this opportunity to express my utter disgust at the crowd of shoppers who mobbed the doors of a Wal*Mart in Long Island yesterday morning, broke through the doors, and trampled a 34-year old employee to death. There is NOTHING that can be found in Wal*Mart that is worth crushing a human being for--none of you were in desperate need of food or medicines that could only be had in that store and nowhere else on the planet. Believe it or not, your kids will survive if they don't get Guitar Hero for Christmas.

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death (The New York Times):
...Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, who is in charge of the investigation for the Nassau police, said the store lacked adequate security. He called the scene "utter chaos" and said the "crowd was out of control." As for those who had run over the victim, criminal charges were possible, the lieutenant said. "I’ve heard other people call this an accident, but it is not," he said. "Certainly it was a foreseeable act."...

I strongly urge the detective and the county DA to pursue criminal charges against these people. There is security video from the store, so there should be no problem identifying them and providing evidence of their guilt. Nobody "accidentally" breaks a door down and kills a man. The Damour family will have an empty seat at the dinner table for the rest of their lives because of a bunch of stupid assholes wanted to save a buck.

It's 2008 folks, you don't get to be cattle anymore. Whoever went to that Wal*Mart yesterday morning and forgot to bring their humanity? I hope you rot in prison.

Just taking a moment to wish a happy thanksgiving to my friends and anyone else who happens by.  I'll be visiting Mom today for a thanksgiving dinner.  I don't know how much I'll be able to eat though--exactly seven days ago I had the last of my teeth removed.  My mouth is still pretty sore and the new dentures, unfortunately, don't seem to fit well.  But I'll muddle through.

Sorry I haven't written much.  I just haven't had much to say.  Strangely, things in the news that have outraged me haven't given me the urge to write, mostly because it seems to be the same thing every time.  (Prop 8's passage for example.)

Here's a nice article in the New York Times about Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight who's predictions about the 2008 presidential and senate races were so amazingly accurate.  Hat tip to my friend Bruce who brought the article to my attention.

So today I found myself agreeing with someone online and went to type "hear hear" but then remembered seeing someone else type "here here" a couple days earlier.

I was pretty sure the correct phrase was "hear hear" as opposed to the other variants I'd seen ("here here", "hear here", "here hear") but I'd never actually looked it up. So I decided to check popular internet usage using Google:

1. "hear hear" = 1,740,000 hits
    
2. "here here" = 3,880,000 hits
    
3. "hear here" = 307,000 hits
    
4. "here hear" = 334,000 hits

Well dang. According to popular usage twice as many people say "here here" than say "hear hear". But is that correct? Wikipedia says no:

Hear hear (Wikipedia):
...Hear, hear is an expression used as a short repeated form of hear ye and hear him. It represents a listener's agreement with the point being made by a speaker.

It was originally an imperative for directing attention to speakers, and has since been used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as "the regular form of cheering in the House of Commons", with many purposes depending on the intonation of its user. It is often incorrectly spelled "here here", especially on websites...

A quick double check of OneLook Dictionary Search confirms this. Six dictionaries list "hear hear" and only one lists "here here" (and that one happens to be the wiki article above.)

Popular usage drives the movement of meaning, though, so at some point in the future "here here" may end up being the correct phrase if we don't do something about it.

So if you want to avoid yet another English colloquialism that will have your great grandchildren scratching their heads and saying "WTF?" (or whatever kids will be saying in those days) then type "hear hear" at every opportunity.

Go on, say it, you know you want to.

---

FINAL REPORT. Thanks everyone who sent these in!

My coworker Rich sent in the following report from Somerville, MA...   more »

My coworker Tim sent in the following report from Salem, NH...   more »

My coworker Wayne sent in the following report from Sudbury, MA...   more »

My friend Dave sent in the following report from Leominster, MA...   more »

My flickr friend Scot sent in the following report from West Bloomfield, MI...   more »

Okay a lot has happened since I last posted. First, the Associated Press has called North Carolina for Obama.

President-elect Obama adds victory in North Carolina to White House win (Associated Press):
...The Associated Press declared Obama the winner after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots. That survey found that there are not enough remaining ballots for Republican John McCain to close a 13,693-vote deficit...

CNN still hasn't called North Carolina as evidenced by their electoral map.

So according to the AP Obama's EV total is 364, and according to CNN it is 349.

Still no clear result from Missouri. Right now McCain has 1,442,673 votes to Obama's 1,436,814 votes giving McCain a razor thin lead of 5,859 votes. But apparently they are still processing provisional ballots there, so there is an outside chance that Obama may still carry the state (although the Kansas City Star clearly doesn't think so!)

Missouri loses its bragging rights by bucking its own trend (Kansas City Star):
...Unofficial results Wednesday showed John McCain with a 5,868-vote margin in the state — a lead that could narrow as final results are tallied and some 7,000 provisional ballots are examined.

Few observers, though, think the outcome will change. Expect Missouri’s 11 electoral votes go to the Republican amid a national landslide for Barack Obama...

Interestingly, the Omaha World Herald is saying Obama may have won another electoral vote from Nebraska's 2nd District. If Obama has the lead there, Nebraska will split its electoral votes, which would move one EV from the McCain column into the Obama column giving him 365 EV's:

Obama's odds of getting Nebraska electoral vote increase (Omaha World Herald):
...Obama won about 61 percent of the early votes counted before Tuesday's election. If that percentage holds with the early ballots left to count, Obama stands a strong chance of winning the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District.

Republicans did not concede defeat Thursday, but they acknowledged the long odds.

John McCain held a 569-vote lead over Obama in the 2nd District at the end of Tuesday...

In the senate races, 3 seats are still in play, but the race in Oregon has been decided with the seat going to the democrat Jeff Merkley according to The Oregonian. This gives the Democrats 57 seats in the Senate.

The Coleman vs Franken race in Minnesota is being recounted, and the current results shows a spread of only 236 votes. Talk about close! The Associated Press is quoting one expert saying the race is almost certainly going to be decided in court:

Litigation in waiting: Recount could be just the start in deciding Minn. Senate winner (Associated Press):
...After a recount, the candidates or any eligible voter can head to court to challenge how the election was conducted or the votes were tallied. The Minnesota law spelling out the contest raises the possibility of Senate involvement.

"I don't think there is any possibility it will be simply a recount," said Hamline University law professor Joseph Daly. "It is destined for the courthouse and ultimately it is destined for the United States Senate based on this law. There's too much at stake. There's too much vitriol."...

The Georgia senate race is still undecided. Saxby Chambliss has the lead, but under Georgia law he must achieve 50% + 1 votes or the election will immediately go to a runoff. As of yet he isn't there, and Georgia's Fulton County is still not finished counting absentee and provisional ballots according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The candidates have no choice but to start campaigning now on the chance that a runoff will be necessary:

Ballot-counting marathon stretches in Fulton (Atlanta Journal-Constitution):
...By early evening, officials had more than 100 ballots left to count, out of about 31,000 total absentee ballots. They could not estimate when the work would finish. Even when that’s done, workers must still count hundreds of provisional ballots...

...Democratic challenger Jim Martin and Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss have begun their campaigns, even though a runoff is not yet certain. The approximate 147,000 votes cast on voting machines during early voting in Fulton have been counted already, county officials said...

...Secretary of State Karen Handel has threatened to report the county’s election operation to the state Election Board for releasing workers before their work was done...

..."Fulton County should have had proper staffing and procedures in place," [Handel’s spokesman] said. "They knew how many ballots had been issued and should have known how many had been returned up until Election Day,” he said.

The Office of Inspector General will conduct a thorough investigation of Fulton County’s activities...

Counting continues in Alaska but at present incumbent Ted Stevens holds the lead by about 4,000 votes… despite being a convicted felon. Chatter on the net is saying Alaskans may have voted to keep the seat red. Even if Ted resigns or is tossed out of office, it would be up to the Governor (Sarah Palin) to appoint someone to the seat... and she may just decide to appoint herself:

Is Sarah Palin Nipping at Ted Stevens' Heels? (The Washington Post):
...Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this week that even if Stevens wins his race, he shouldn't expect to keep his job on Capitol Hill. "The reality is that a convicted felon is not going to be able to serve in the United States Senate," Reid said. "And as precedent shows us, Senator Stevens will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process."

And what might happen if his colleagues do kick Stevens out of the Senate, prompting a special election? Who might be in line to replace him? Hint: lipstick; $150,000 wardrobe. Yep, you betcha! Sarah Palin...

In other news, Harry Reid and Joe Lieberman had a meeting today. Some in the Democratic party have been calling for Lieberman to be expelled from the party for his vocal support of John McCain. It doesn't seem likely that will happen, but doubtless some action will be taken. CQ Politics has the story.

Lieberman’s Future Undecided After Meeting With Reid (CQ Politics):
...While I understand that Senator Lieberman has voted with Democrats a majority of the time, his comments and actions have raised serious concerns among many in our caucus, Reid said in a statement following the meeting.

"I expect there to be additional discussions in the days to come, and Senator Lieberman and I will speak to our caucus in two weeks to discuss further steps," he said...

---

Obama 349 McCain 163

Two states remain uncalled, Missouri (McCain leads by 1 point), and North Carolina (Obama leads by 1 point.)  Assuming those leads are maintained, the final count will be Obama 364 McCain 174.

The 4 uncalled senate races are still in play.  All of them are leaning republican.  The closest is in Minnesota where Coleman (R) leads Franken by a mere 694 votes.

Sheesh!  Time to get back to work.  Talk to you guys later today.  I'll keep checking the outstanding states and senate seats.

So my wife and I were talking about Obama's victory last night.  I was telling her how moving the speech he gave and Grant Park in Chicago was (watch the video: part one, part two).  She said to me "I'm glad he won, but  I hope he doesn't turn out to be just a smooth talker."

It's a worry I've heard before, from a number of people, some of whom I love dearly.  It's a worry I harbored myself during the primaries.

When she said that something occurred to me which had not before.  But it is the best answer I can offer for those who still harbor the fear that our President-elect might be all talk:

It's not really the president who can create transformative changes in our nation.  Nobody could singlehandedly do what needs to be done to get our nation out of the troubles it is in.  It will take the American public, we the people, to do those things.  And in order for people to abandon cynicism and dare to hope, in order for the people to do what needs to be done for this nation, somebody has to motivate us.

A smooth talker, or as I prefer to think of it, a motivational speaker, is exactly what we need.  Someone who will reach across the aisle, build coalitions, and motivate us all to make our nation better.  In the 60's a single man motivated our nation to send a man to the moon with technology that is positively archaic by today's standards.  It was a stupendously difficult task, but all we had to do was decide to do it.  The president can only lead, it is we the people, who will do.

Obama is such a man, as John F.Kennedy did he can motivate people like nobody else I've seen in my lifetime.  I think that with all the problems facing our nation, this is one of our greatest moments.  I will never forget this day.

During the night both CNN and NPR called Montana and Alaska for McCain.

CNN has him with 163 electoral votes and NPR has him with 162.  I assume the difference is due to states which split their EV's.  I know Nebraska and Maine both do this, and FiveThirtyEight is saying that Nebraska's second district is too close to call.

The big news this morning is that NPR has called Indiana for Obama, while CNN still says it is too close to call. With 99% of the precincts reporting, the vote there stands at 1,352,356 for Obama and 1,329,370 for McCain.  If this state really does end up in the blue column it will be fairly amazing--Indiana hasn't voted democratic since 1964.

CNN puts Barack at 338 EV's, and NPR puts him at 349 with Indiana's 11 EV's in his total.

Missouri hasn't been called by either news agency.  100% of the precincts are reporting and the votes are 1,435,724 for Obama and 1,442,577 for McCain.  That's a lead of just under 7,000 votes!  Late ballots are probably still trickling in.

North Carolina also hasn't been called by either CNN or NPR.  100% of the precincts are reporting and the votes are 2,101,986 for Obama and 2,089,826 for McCain.  That's a lead of approximately 12,000 votes.  At 15 EV's, NC is the biggest state of the states uncalled.

If both NC and IN are in the Obama column, that would put him at 364 EV's, which is in "landslide" country.

The popular vote has widened over night with Obama now leading 52% to McCain's 47%.

In the Senate races, amazingly, 4 seats are still undetermined!

In Alaska Ted Stevens (R) is leading Mark Begich by about 3,000 votes with 99% of the precincts reporting.  Convicted felon or not, it looks like Stevens may pull out a victory here.

In Oregon, Smith (R) is leading Merkley by 2 points with 74% of precincts reporting.

In a stunningly close race in Minnesota, Coleman (R) is leading Franken by a mere 762 votes! The Independent in that race, Barkley, took 15% of the vote.  100% of precincts are reporting.

In Georgia, Chambliss (R) is leading Martin by almost 140,000 votes (4 points), but at FiveThirtyEight.com they were saying that the turnout numbers are way too low, and are speculating the early votes might not be completely represented in the tally yet.

Congratulations President-elect Obama.

Five states remain uncalled: Alaska, Montana, Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina.  Barack leads Montana, Indiana, and North Carolina by small margins presently.

Senate seats stand at 57 Democratic 40 Republican and 4 in play.

Obama's victory speech was was moving and compelling as ever.  I really look forward to finally having a president I can respect, a man with a strength of intellect to match the strength of his conviction.  There are dark days ahead, but I can't think of anyone better to lead us through them.

At this time I am going to sign off and hit the hay.  I've been at this since before 6 AM yesterday morning and I am exhausted.  I need to get some sleep.

I'll update the tallies in the morning.

My sincere thanks to everyone who helped out with poll reports.  I'll be disabling the pollreport e-mail address.

Goodnight folks!

MOTL user Josh has voted and sent in the following report from Loveland, CO...   more »

John McCain has called Barack Obama and offered his concession and congratulations.  Shortly thereafter he delivered a very gracious concession speech to his supporters in Phoenix, AZ where he called on all Americans to back Barack Obama, the 44'th President of the United States of America.

State Tally:

Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, and Colorado have been called for Obama.  Arizona, Nebraska, and South Dakota have been called for McCain.

This makes the current vote tally Obama 338 McCain 155.

Obama continues to hold 3 points over McCain in the popular vote.

The following states are yet to be called: Alaska, Montana, Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina.

In the Senate races, there are still 4 seats up for grabs, Alaska, Oregon, Minnesota, and Georgia.  At present Democrats are projected to have 56 seats to the Republicans 40 seats.

Virginia, Washington, Oregon, and California all go to Barack, pushing him beyond 270 to 297 EV's.

McCain picks up Idaho taking him to 139 EV's.

Barack has a good lead in Colorado, and an edge in Florida.  If he picks up those states and Nevada, it's going to be a HUGE win for him.

He presently leads in the popular vote by 3 points as well.

States that remain uncalled:

North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, and Nevada.

What a day... I'm still reeling.  Trying not to cry... it's such an amazing thing to see how far we have come.

YES WE CAN!

CNN called Virginia for Obama and then mere moments later called the election for Barack Obama.

YES WE CAN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

54 are going to the Democrats, and 37 to the Republicans with 9 still in play.  FiveThirtyEight projected that the final Democratic total would be 56 or 57 seats.  Franken is currently leading in Minnesota and Udall is leading in Colorado, and if they win that would indeed be 56 for the Democrats.

With Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas going to McCain the EV's shape up as follows:

Obama 207 McCain 135

88% of Virginia is reporting, Obama leads by 1 point.

80% of North Carolina is reporting, the state is a 50/50 split (Obama leading by a mere 4,000 votes).

69% of Florida is reporting, Obama leads by 2 points.

If Obama actually wins VA, NC and FL this isn't just going to be a win, it's going to be a rout.

McCain leads in Indiana with 88% of precincts reporting.

With 83% of the precincts reporting, Obama has 1,335,563 votes and McCain has 1,322,147 votes.  Obama leads by 1%, or about 13,000 votes.

Obama is projected to win Iowa... SWEET!  Kansas and Utah go to McCain, no surprises there.

Obama 206 McCain 89

Nothing from CNN on that state.

Obama 199 McCain 78

Popular vote is very close 50% Obama, 49% McCain.

McCain still leading Obama in Indiana by 1%.  Very close there.

In Indiana there are 1,009,490 votes for McCain and 984,352 votes for Obama with 76% of precincts reporting.  It's a difference of about 25,000 votes.  CNN still hasn't called this state either way.

But they might as well.  They've run the numbers giving McCain states which pollsters think are likely to break for Obama and couldn't come up with a way to get McCain to 270.  I'm going to keep following this but so far it is looking good for Obama.

Virginia continues to track 50/50.

1,216,425 votes for McCain

1,208,013 votes for Obama

With 76% of the precincts reporting.

CNN now follows NPR and calls Ohio for Obama.

Obama 194 McCain 69

Still watching Virginia, amazingly it has closed to 50/50 there!  A dead heat with a difference of only 7000 votes and 72% of the precincts reporting.  Could Obama really flip this state?

This is good news!  McCain NEEDS Ohio to win this.

CNN is not calling the state at this time.

CNN is currently projecting 13 seats going to the Democrats, 9 to the Republicans and 13 still undecided.  This gives the Democrats 52 seats at present.

West Virginia is called for McCain, giving him 5 more EV.

Obama 174 McCain 69

McCain still leading Obama in Virginia by 1 point, 31% of the precincts still haven't reported results yet.

CNN has announced a BIG projection is coming up... are they going to call Florida for Obama?  Wait and see!!!

My flickr friend Holly has voted and sent in the following report from Lorain, OH...   more »

Obama 174 McCain 64

Virginia is now reporting 67% of its precincts and McCain's lead has shrunk to a point!!! Could Obama actually take this state?

My friend Sara has voted and sent in the following report from Wellfleet, MA...   more »

I for one will not miss John Sununu.

Alabama, Wyoming, North Dakota to McCain

Rhode Island, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York to Obama

Obama 174 McCain 49

Virginia now has 45% of precincts reporting, McCain leads by 8 points there.

ULev reader Benjamin has voted and sent in the following report from Milwaukee, WI...   more »

Elizabeth Dole is defeated!  Serves her right for choosing to attack Kay Hagan by calling her an atheist.  I mean Jesus... she's not an atheist but SO WHAT IF SHE WAS???

MOTL user "coasterdude" (Scott) has voted and sent in the following report from Downers Grove, IL...   more »

A ULev reader has voted and sent in the following report from Minneapolis, MN...   more »

With less than 1% of the precincts reporting, CNN and NPR have both called Pennsylvania for Obama.  That's 21 EV's into Obama's column.

CNN: 102 Obama 34 McCain

NPR: 103 Obama 34 McCain

Not sure where NPR is getting the extra EV from...

VA has 44% of precincts reporting, and McCain now leads the state by 9%.  That's a 2 point gain for Obama, but if the poll-based predictions are to be believed, Obama is going to pull 14 more points out of the remaining 56% of the precincts.  Color me less than convinced right now.

Obama 81 McCain 34

I am NOT liking what I am seeing out of Virginia.  This state was supposed to be strongly in the Obama column and with 38% of the vote in, McCain still has an 11 point lead there... that's way out of whack with FiveThirtyEight's prediction of a 5 point win for Obama there.

Obama 77 McCaine 34

Or did they stay home?  Looking at the early results from CNN.COM, the youth vote is coming in pretty low.  This is not encouraging at all.

CNN has got some great county-level analysis that they are sporadically showing, so I really recommend checking out that coverage if you can.

NH, IN, VA, and FL returns are coming in, too early to call though.

CNN reports VA: 44% Obama 55% McCain but it is way too early to call.

More polls to close at 7:30 PM: Ohio and North Carolina

KY: 10% of precincts reporting.  87661 Obama 97216 McCain

IN: 4% of precincts reporting. 63236 Obama 64418 McCain

Virginia is the one to watch.  Pay attention to it closely.

CNN is calling Vermont for Obama, and Kentucky for McCain.  No projections from CNN on GA, IN, SC, or VA yet.

WBUR makes the same calls.

The political wire is showing an incredibly close race in Indiana right now... Obama with 46706 votes, and McCain with 46120 votes!  But this is not complete returns and military ballots will surely flop that over to McCain.

No returns are yet available from GA, SC, or VA.

EDIT: Indiana totals still pouring in, currently 58670 Obama 58903 McCain.

My dear friend Maggie of terrific blog Pandora's Tea Room has posted a thoughtful article about trying to communicate with her students about how historic this election is. She comes to the conclusion that we have moved so far from the days of institutionalized repression that many of her students don't see the idea of an African-American President as a very big deal...

On campus this historic election day (Pandora's Tea Room):
…I'm amazed that these young people are growing up without understanding the possibility of social change that has been (nearly) realized in the last fifty years. In fact, one student started comparing us to his more enlightened friends in Germany, saying "we're horrible and we're never going to change," and that at least did allow me to make my point.

...In a way it's good they don't see how amazing this is, because it means that it feels completely natural and reasonable to them. I just want them to understand that we can keep improving…

BBC News has a good summary of the various problems (and dirty tricks) that have been reported across the USA in this election. That it doesn't seem to be systematic is reassuring but some of the stories are downright annoying…

Glitches and hoaxes as US votes (BBC News):
…CNN reported a number of hoax calls, e-mails and flyers had been distributed in various states, some designed to convince people that voting had been postponed.

At George Mason University in Virginia, someone apparently hacked into the e-mail system and generated a message telling students the vote had been postponed until Wednesday.…

My dear friend Patti has voted and sent in the following report from Stow, MA...   more »

MOTL member Sherwin has voted and sent in the following report from Chicago, IL...   more »

The Gilroy Dispatch has an interesting story about the high turnout of first time voters in Gilroy, California. Hopefully they are there for Obama, because the average Obama voter would probably be more likely to vote no on Proposition 8.

First-time voters flood the polls (The Gilroy Dispatch):
…Bret Earle, who voted no on Prop 8, also went against the school and library bonds because "we're in hard time now."

In a comical tone, he added that he voted against Prop 8 because gays "should very much be a part of the misery that is marriage."…

WBUR.ORG will be carrying live audio election coverage tonight. Local coverage at 7PM eastern, and national coverage at 8PM. I will be listening and I encourage you to as well! If you live in Massachusetts you can tune it in at 90.9 on your FM dial.

ULev reader Nathan has voted and sent in the following report from San Jose, CA...   more »

Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy has a penetrating and thoughtful article about proposition 48 in Colorado. This proposition would declare a fertilized human egg "a human", thus elevating nonpersons such as zygotes and blastocysts to full human status. This is an obvious ploy to outlaw abortion and embryonic stem cell research without challenging them directly. Read the article, and if you are a Colorado voter, please, come down on the side of reason, not religion:

When is a human human? (Bad Astronomy):
…There are other vital issues, like how granting civil rights to a collection of cells takes away many civil rights of women, and the huge increase in governmental involvement this would mean in people’s lives. These are important to be sure, but not the point I want to make here. Also, these are age-old arguments, and in fact I can see where intelligent people can come down on opposite sides of them.

The real point is, Prop 48 isn’t about science, and it’s not even about legal issues. It’s about religion. This proposition is obviously based solely on religious beliefs; there is little reason outside of that to even bring the argument up that a fertilized egg is entitled to rights as a human being. It is only the belief that the human soul enters the cell at that moment that this is an issue at all.

Proposition 48 is religion trying to create legislation, pure and simple.…

My MOTL friend Kyle has voted and sent in the following report from Moultonborough, NH...   more »

Okay, here's another laugh... you gotta see this... interviews with World of Warcraft players about who they are supporting in this election.

Election Duel! Obama V. McCain - Who Get's Pwned?

ULev reader Mary Jane has voted and sent in the following report from Long Island, NY...   more »

ULev reader Michael has voted and sent in the following report from Plymouth, MN...   more »

Yeah, I know it's a big day, a serious event. I've read some reports of people so choked up by their ability to cast a ballot for the first African American President they've been moved to tears.  And it's not unjustified either.  But times like this, a cheesy laugh can be highly appreciated... so here's some stupid YouTube videos making fun of Obama and McCain that should make you chuckle:

McFast and McFurious

Obama and McCain - Dance Off!

Hard to believe, but a comentator on CNN just announced that coming up, Joe the Plumber will be on to take your phone-in questions.

Given that it has been categorically demonstrated that Joe is basically full of crap and doesn't know what he is talking about, why the hell do people keep paying attention to this nut?

Zogby Polls has released a new poll targetting likely Hispanic voters. Categorically these voters are generally thought to favor Republicans--but Zogby's latest poll disagrees:

Univision/Reuters/Zogby Poll Of Likely Hispanic Voters (Zogby Polls):
…On the morning of Election Day, the presidential race for the White House has widened among Hispanic voters, with 78% of Latino likely voters supporting Democratic candidate Barack Obama and 13% supporting Republican John McCain in the new Univision/Reuters/Zogby International survey. Eight percent remain undecided…

CBS News has a nice article covering the major ballot measures being put voted on today in states around the nation.

Ballot Measures State-By-State (CBS News):
…Affirmative Action: Measure 424 is a constitutional amendment which would ban affirmative action, by prohibiting the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education or public contracting, although there would exceptions for certain federal programs.…

There appear to be two gay marriage bans (California and Florida), that should draw out the knuckledraggers, plus a ban on abortion in South Dakota, a proposal to expan stem cell research in Michigan, and a Washington state proprosal to legalize physician assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

My flickr friend "Marcfoto" has voted and sent in the following report from Taunton, MA...   more »

My dear friend Brian has voted and sent in the following report from Escondido, CA...   more »

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has made his final poll-based prediction: Obama 349 EV vs McCain 189 EV. Many have been impressed with Nate's brilliant calculations--if he is even close to correct he's going to be able to get a job at just about any political think tank he wants to. :-)

Today's Polls and Final Election Projection: Obama 349, McCain 189 (Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com):
…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...

...Thank you for placing your trust in FiveThirtyEight.com over the course of the past several months. We hope that you will join us both on the website and on HDNet tonight, where I'll be providing election coverage for Dan Rather's team. FiveThirtyEight intends to continue to apply our unique approach to politics after the election, and we hope to have several announcements about our future plans in the coming days and weeks.…

My good friend and former coworker Neal has voted and sent in the following report from Brookline, MA...   more »

ULev reader Jeremy has voted and sent in the following report from Baltimore, MD...   more »

Please call Election Protection at 1-866-OUR-VOTE if you witness or experience any sort of voting irregularities. I've been looking over their Real Stories & Data page and haven't seen anything to confirm the rumors of irregularities in Indiana.

Real Stories & Data (Election Protection):
…Throughout the election process, our volunteers - more than 10,000 strong - will be entering data and information into OurVote live (developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation), an interactive environment painting the most comprehensive picture of election irregularities from the perspective of the voter available anywhere. Unique in the excitement of this political season, Election Protection focuses on the voter - not on the political horse race - and provides guidance, information and help to any American, regardless of who that voter is casting a ballot for.…

Okay, I am *sure* I just heard a brief report on NPR about poll workers in Indiana challenging voters (but ONLY challenging democrats).  According to what I heard one poll worker had their credentials revoked and another one ran away when approached by elections officials.  I can't find anything to confirm this in the news.  Anybody else got any information on this?  I am seeing some chatter in comments on discussion forums but no hard links.

My best friend James has voted and sent in the following report from Somerset, MA...   more »

ULev reader Judah has voted and sent in the following report from Watertown, NY...   more »

Flickr user Napalm Filled Tires has voted and sent in the following report from York, PA...   more »

My good friend Paul has voted and sent in the following report from Woburn, MA...   more »

My friend and coworker Mark has voted and sent in the following report from New Ipswich, NH...   more »

My friend Hoyt has voted absentee and sent in the following report from Billerica, MA...   more »

My friend Bill (or "Bull" as those who love him call him) has voted and sent in the following report from Bristol, RI...   more »

My coworker Mark has voted and sent in the following report from Nashua, NH...   more »

MyFairElection.com is a website where you can rate your polling experience. The site features a Google-powered map showing how residents of each state are rating their polling experiences:

How are the polls doing so far? (MyFairElection.com):
…Journalists, community groups, public officials, and even individual citizens will use this map to locate problems with our election system and fix them on election day. So, help make our election fair and accessible to all Americans by rating your polling place.…

The Lee's Summit Tribune is carrying a story about a mock-election held by students of the R-7 School District in Missouri. The winner? Barack Obama!

Obama wins presidency through student election (Lee's Summit Tribune):
…The students elected Obama with 51.4 percent of the vote to John McCain's 46.9 percent. Students elected Jay Nixon as governor by a margin of 52.7 percent.…

My beloved sister, Donna, has voted and sent in the following report from South Easton, MA...   more »

My friend Jeff from MOTL sent in this report of his voting experience in Oregon. As you may or may not know, all ballots are cast by mail in Oregon...   more »

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire will be offering live election results across the country down to the county level starting in about six hours… you are definitely going to want to bookmark this one!

Live Election Results (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire):
…Political Wire will have live election results for the presidential race as well as all House and Senate races. These results come direct from the Associated Press and will populate a map, county-by-county in real time.…

My friend Brent Danley, writer of The Rhetoric blog, fellow atheist and photography enthusiast voted absentee in Saco, Maine awhile back. He wrote about his own voting experience on his blog along with some great pictures.

We Voted! (The Rhetoric):
…Voting absentee on our own terms was a much better way to go than waiting until Tuesday and standing in line with everybody else…

The photos are up!  Here's my polling station at about 7:15 AM this morning.  I vote in precinct 2A so I signin on the right side of the room.  Click the photo to see all photos I've taken or will take today.

My dear friend Pat has voted and sent in the following report from Dracut, MA...   more »

SurveyUSA, the poll most respected by Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com is showing Obama with a small lead in Florida and predicting that the lead will hold until the polls close.

Thanks Karl, in a perverse way I can thank you for your hand in putting such a dismal President in office that the Republicans took a solid beating in 2006 and stand to do so again.  Thanks buddy!

Karl Rove's predicted electoral map (PDF).

My good friend Bob has voted and sent in the following report from Stow, MA (includes interesting opinion on ballot questions)...   more »

My coworker, Richard, has voted and sent in the following report from Billerica, MA...   more »

My friend Bruce wrote this wonderful narrative on his experience voting in Bolton, MA this morning: I'm the only one up since there's no school today even though Bolton votes at the Town Hall, not the school...   more »

But I am following the news as it progresses... stay tuned for more updates!

Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has made his final predictions for how the Senate races will shape up today. He expects Democrats to end up with a majority of 57, but sadly not a supermajority of 60. (And of course, that 57 includes Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders--both Independents…)

FINAL Senate Projection, 11/4: 7-8 Democratic Pickups Likely (Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com):
…Although the Democrats remain in as strong a position in the aggregate as they have been all year, their odds of emerging with a 60-seat caucus now appear fairly long -- no better than about 15 percent.…

My friend and fellow numbers enthusiast, Garrett, sent a preemptive report last night for how he expects his voting experience in Lowell, MA to go (includes information about voter challenges)...   more »

My buddy from work, Tom, has voted and sent in the following report from North Andover, MA...   more »

My friend Eric has voted and sent in the following report from Mesquite, TX...   more »

My friend Paul has voted and sent in the following report from Lebanon, NH...   more »

A friend of mine from MOTL has voted and sent in the following report from New York, NY...   more »

The Los Angeles Times has a good editorial about Proposition 8 on the California ballot. For those of you who haven't been following the story, the CA Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in that state recently. As you might imagine this led to an immediate knuckledragger campaign to put together a proposition to ban same-sex marriage via the state's constitution.

The proponents of the ban have apparently resorted to scaring parents that voting no on the ban means that kids are going to be taught that gay marriage is okay (which is a bad thing, how?), but the ban has nothing to do with education, and everything to do with denying a basic human right to an American citizen.

A lesson about Prop. 8 (Los Angeles Times):
…With the defeat of this proposed ban on gay marriage, they say, schools would begin indoctrinating children ... This is emotional stuff for many parents. But the dry reality of California education law tells a different story. ... The law also gives schools the option of discussing gender, sexual orientation and family life, though that's not required as part of the more comprehensive program.

Most important, the law contains paragraph after paragraph guaranteeing parents the right to review the material being taught and to have their children excused from all or any part of it...

...The measure would do one thing: use the state Constitution as the device to take away an existing, fundamental right from a particular group of people, so that a loving adult in that group could not marry the person of his or her choice...…

I'll be following the status of Prop 8 closely today along with the presidential run. You can guess where I come down on this.

If you are a Massachusetts resident and you aren't sure where your voting location is, head over to the Massachusetts Election Division website and punch in your address.

Well my vote is in. I showed up at my polling station at 7:11 AM. I placed the 35'th vote in my district at St Joseph's Church Hall on Woodland Street. Our district is pretty small… like 600 or so voters. When my wife Patty voted at about 8:20 AM she was number 102. So turnout looks to be brisk in our little district.

I ended up voting YES on question 3 (ending racetrack betting on dog racing in Massachusetts) but it was not an easy choice. I voted NO on Q1 and YES on Q2. Q4 was a nonbinding question to encourage state government to promote green industry and reduce Massachusetts' carbon emissions. Of course I voted YES on that.

After voting I drove around Fitchburg for awhile snapping pictures of election-related things. I'll upload those ASAP.

Okay, I gotta kick off my bunny slippers and get out to my polling station. Polls open at seven here in sunny Fitchburg. After that I will probably tool around Fitchburg looking for election-related photographs, then it's back here to immerse myself in constant coverage for the day!

The votes are in and Obama wins… in the New Hampshire towns of Dixville Notch and Hart's Location. Traditionally these two towns vote at midnight on Election Eve, so as to be the first in the nation to get their votes in. Associated Press has the tally:

Obama wins in earliest vote in tiny Dixville, NH (Associated Press):
…Democrat Obama defeated Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch, where a loud whoop accompanied the announcement in Tuesday's first minutes. The town of Hart's Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul. Independent Ralph Nader was on both towns' ballots but got no votes.…

Too bad Ralph! Better luck in 2012! ;-)

I'm going to bed...

I'll commence my blogathon in the morning after I vote.  Looks like it's gonna be a big day!

Obama's grandmother passed away on Sunday from cancer.  Reuters has the story.

I know what it's like to lose someone you love, particularly when that person is one of the formative figures in your life.  I can't imagine how hard it must be for Obama to push on with this campaign in light of this news.

My condolences to him, his sister Maya, and their families.

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com is quoted in Newsweek talking about how Virginia will be an early sign of the election's outcome.  I agree.  It's a fairly red state, and if it swings blue it will be a good indicator that other fairly red states will also swing blue.  Polls will close in VA at 7PM tomorrow night.  Here's Nate:

...Virginia, for my money, is the most important state in this election. If John McCain loses it, his path to victory is exceptionally narrow—he would need to pull out an upset in Pennsylvania, while holding on to Florida and Ohio, and avoiding a sweep out West. Barack Obama has considerably more ways to win without Virginia, but a failure to close out the state would suggest at best a more circuitous route to victory. As Obama remains about five points ahead in most polls of Virginia, what we're really looking for is a quick call on anything before 8 PM that would indicate that the map has indeed changed from 2004, and not in McCain's favor...

Just sent this around my office today... only a couple of people got it (I added boldface here to make it easier to see):

Voting day is soon upon us, and I for
one am definitely looking forward
to it. I'll be out of the office for my
election day blogathon.

Boy, tomorrow is going to be
a big day isn't it? I can barely
restrain my enthusiasm for what I
am sure will be a very thrilling
conclusion to what has been a
killer campaign season.

Obviously, office policy forbids
blatant (or subliminal) promotion of
anyone's political views, be they
mine, yours, or whoever's. I just hope
all of us get out and vote tomorrow.

If you are a US citizen and planning to vote I could use your help. During each presidential election I run a blogathon and one thing I like to do is publish "polling station reports". Basically I have friends and acquaintances drop me an e-mail after they vote to tell me about their experience at the polls. I'm looking to do the same thing this year, and I'd love to get poll reports from any of my friends or readers who are interested in helping out.

Though my blog is very opinionated, the poll reports are not intended to be partisan--I'm not asking who you voted for or why. The sort of info I would be looking for is:

1. Where did you vote (City/State--even if you voted absentee):

2. What date and time of day:

3. What were the conditions like? (i.e. was it crowded or deserted, chaotic or organized, did you have to wait a long time, were the staff professional, were they nice or rude, what kind of location was being used for voting--i.e. gymnasium, school, post office, church, etc.)

4. If your station used voting machines, did they seem to be working or were they out of order? What sort of machines were they (hole-punch, optical scanner, touch-screen, etc.)?

5. Were you the subject of (or did you witness) a voter challenge? If so what was that like?

6. If you voted early or by absentee ballot, how did that work out?

7. Anything else you want to add.

This should basically boil down to a few lines in e-mail. Doesn't matter if you cover all of the points above--basic idea is to say where you voted and what it was like. I will likely edit/digest reports I receive for grammar and clarity before posting them to my blog.

If you are interested in helping out, please drop me an e-mail with your poll report after you vote on November 4. Poll reports should be sent to: pollreport@plastereddragon.com. That e-mail address will be disabled on November 5. All reports should be sent on November 4th (or earlier if you voted early/absentee)--the idea is to log things as they happen.

As a quick review, for those of you who are in Massachusetts:

Question 1: "A PROPOSED LAW TO ELIMINATE THE STATE INCOME TAX"

This proposed law would eliminate the state personal income tax for all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2009. The personal income tax applies to income received or gain realized by individuals and married couples, by estates of deceased persons, by certain trustees and other fiduciaries, by persons who are partners in and receive income from partnerships, by corporate trusts, and by persons who receive income as shareholders of “S corporations” as defined under federal tax law. The proposed law would not affect the tax due on income or gain realized in a tax year beginning before January 1, 2009. The proposed law states that if any of its parts were declared invalid, the other parts would stay in effect.

Question 2: "AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SENSIBLE STATE MARIJUANA POLICY"

This proposed law would replace the criminal penalties for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana with a new system of civil penalties, to be enforced by issuing citations, and would exclude information regarding this civil offense from the state's criminal record information system. Offenders age 18 or older would be subject to forfeiture of the marijuana plus a civil penalty of $100. Offenders under the age of 18 would be subject to the same forfeiture and, if they complete a drug awareness program within one year of the offense, the same $100 penalty.

Question 3: "AN INITIATIVE FOR AN ACT TO PROTECT GREYHOUNDS"
This proposed law would prohibit any dog racing or racing meeting in Massachusetts where any form of betting or wagering on the speed or ability of dogs occurs. The State Racing Commission would be prohibited from accepting or approving any application or request for racing dates for dog racing. Any person violating the proposed law could be required to pay a civil penalty of not less than $20,000 to the Commission. The penalty would be used for the Commission’s administrative purposes, subject to appropriation by the state Legislature. All existing parts of the chapter of the state’s General Laws concerning dog and horse racing meetings would be interpreted as if they did not refer to dogs.

On Question #2 I will probably vote YES.  IMHO marijuana is a minor drug, and possession of it shouldn't be treated the same as possession of hard drugs.  That type of prosecution costs the state a lot of money.

I am torn on Question #3.  Right now I am leaning toward yes because I don't want gambling in my state and I am concerned about the ethical treatment of animals.  But I don't like the idea of putting hundreds of racetrack employees out of work.  I'm not sure which way I am going to vote on Q3, although right now a YES vote seems more likely to me.

Question #1? Yeah I'll be voting a big fat NO on that. I can't see how anybody who is seriously concerned about throwing people out of work could consider voting yes on Q1. If you think 1,000 racetrack workers being out of their jobs is a tragedy, think a moment about the approximately 163,000 people employed by the MA state government that Q1 intends to essentially halve the funding for. An additional seventy to eighty thousand unemployed (and collecting unemployment) doesn't sound like a great way to begin the next fiscal cycle. To say nothing of the loss of essential services.

Q1 is for libertarians and those who would gladly accept a short term gain, no matter how dire the long term loss. Basically those unknowingly itching to take Tytler's* first step toward the fall of their own civilization:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

(*) Apparently there is some disagreement whether that quote was made by Alexander Tytler or some other scholar.

Prudent tax policy is desirable, and grotesque waste is not, but to decry every single farthing needed to fund the services that benefit us all, a.k.a. the "common wealth", is to usher in the demise of democracy and the rise of anarchy. This is why I say libertarianism = insanity. I will never be able to get behind it. Humans do not have to choose to be selfish--yes we are animals, but we are sentient animals, and we can choose to recognize a greater good. We can choose to progress beyond our baser instincts--it only takes courage.

Well, we knew it was coming.  The Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania has seen fit to launch a last minute Reverend Wright ad to try and scare white people away from Barack Obama.  Once again the naked desperation of the Republican party is evident and the depths to which they will sink boundless.

I'm going to boil this down to quick bullet points:

• Reverend Wright preached at the Trinity United Church of Christ for 36 years and yet all we seem to see in the attack ads is the same few seconds of a couple sermons.  While I'm sure he was full of fire and energy as a preacher, I'm also quite sure it wasn't 36 years of nothing but these few excerpted seconds.
   
• Barack Obama has stated that he was not at the Church when these few seconds of vitriolic sermonizing took place.
   
• Barack Obama has condemned the statements made by Wright, and has subsequently left the church.
   
• Most importantly, Barack Obama is not Reverend Wright -- it's a little ridiculous how Obama is consistently attacked by the Republicans for things other people did or said.

There is more to Barack Obama than who his pastor was, and there is more to Reverend Wright than a few seconds of criticizing the USA.  As far as I am concerned Barack addressed this issue admirably in his speech A More Perfect Union where he discussed how there is fear and distrust on both sides of the racial divide--a divide we need to reach across if we want to progress as a nation.

...The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American...

Joe Biden, known for stumbling over his own words, aptly summed up my feelings on this particular issue of division while speaking at an event in Tallahassee, FL on Sunday:

...We've got to reach out, we've got to end this. Somebody's got to be big enough to stand up and end this...

As far as I'm concerned, Barack Obama has shown he's big enough to stand up and end this.  And this is why we hear about Reverend Wright, but not Pastor Hagee.  It's why we hear about Bill Ayres, but not the Keating Five.

The Obama campaign has been largely a positive one, and I think it is a prelude to a positive presidency--something we sorely need in these times.