Presidential Results Live Thread

Barack Obama has been elected the 44th president of the United States. At 11 p.m. on the dot, as West Coast polls closed, the major news networks called the election for the Democratic senator. Obama won California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, giving him 324 electoral votes to John McCain's 120.

12:25 a.m., Obama had 338 electoral votes to McCain's 156. Signing off for the night...America will wake up to a new day...

12 midnight: Obama takes the stage in Grant Park, saying for anyone out there who ever doubted change like this could happen in the United States, or ever doubted what someone in America can do - that someone like him could be elected president: "Tonight is your answer."

"We have never been just a collection of individuals, or a collection of red states or blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America," Obama said, praising McCain for her service and his campaign, saying "we are better off" for the selfless sacrifice McCain has made for his country, and vowed to work with McCain when he takes up office in the White House.

11:18 p.m.: McCain gives his concession speech and quells the boos from the crowds as he tells supporters he already called Obama to congratulate him. "His success alone commands my respect," McCain says. "Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and this country." He promises to do all he can to help Obama get the country back on track. He said his campaign often "seemed to be the most challenge campaign of modern time." He doesn't know what he could have done differently to win.

11:01 p.m.: Obama is the next president of the United States! CNN, NBC and FOX have called the Democratic senator from Illinois the the winner. Grant Park in Chicago - and the country - goes wild.

11 p.m.: Virginia goes to Obama, CNN projects. MSNBC says it's too close to call.

10:46: Will.i.am - the Black Eyed Pea who wrote the insanely viral and successful "Yes We Can" video in support of Obama - appears on CNN via hologram. He feels like he's in Star Wars, but he's not. He's in Chicago. It's so weird. We're getting antsy - haven't heard any results in awhile and we're getting sleepy...Pat Buchanan on MSNBC says about McCain: "I think the [financial] market killed him."

240 countries are watching this moment...

10:42: CNN now shows off its virtual "balance of power" Capitol Building where blue and red seats float magically above...Al Franken is leading Norm Coleman in the Minnesota Senate race. I'm going to be ill...Obama has 207 electoral votes, while McCain has 135.

10:22: CNN is reporting that two McCain advisers say they see "no path to victory" given the results so far... Mississippi's 6 electoral votes go to McCain. Click here to see the congressional results as they happen, from Dave.

10 p.m.: CNN calls Iowa for Obama (7 votes), and Utah and Kansas for McCain (5 and 6 electoral votes, respectively). Anderson Cooper asks: "So when we get to 270, what do we do?" Wolf Blitzer: "We report it." NBC calls Iowa for Obama. Arkansas goes to McCain (6 votes).

Twitters from Grant Park in Chicago:

"The roar goes up in Grant Park. They know." *chills*

"Obama rally. That bright light is all the hope."

"Obama - 207; Johnny has 135. Grant Park looks like Woodstock right now, only with news affiliates stationed."

"Grant Park looks to be simply amazing! It's like the Cubs did win the World Series!"

"Grant Park breaking out kegs and bongs. >150 countries in press tent! ABC project IA for Obama! UT for McCain."

My question: How did they get the kegs through the security checkpoints?

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9:50: McCain has 49% of the popular vote, while Obama has 50% of it with a difference of only about 314,000 votes. That doesn't count the West Coast. The electoral vote is 78 for McCain, 199 for Obama. The forces that be out there are a "perfect storm" favoring Obama, says one CNN commentator.

By the way, about that financial crisis, we're in ... today was the biggest Election Day rally ever for the Dow, which rose 3.28%. Broader market indexes were also up more than 3%. Investors bought up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.

9:34 CNN and NBC call Obama the winner of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes. That's only 16% of the precincts reporting but there's a difference of about 200,000 votes between the two ... My friend at a Think Blue party in Tribeca, NYC, said the crowd went wild with the Ohio news...

No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio [unless you count Abe Lincoln, apparently]... Obama's within 75 electoral votes of becoming the first black president in U.S. history. McCain's campaign staff just got a big ole buzz kill...he needs a miracle but it's not over. Everybody needs to vote, vote, vote...

9:30 p.m. West Virginia goes to McCain, as does its 5 electoral votes. Singer Hank Williams is playing some country at McCain headquarters in Phoenix...With 70% of precincts reporting in Virginia, 50% are for McCain, 49% for Obama (cheers go up in the room here since Obama is so close). In North Carolina, Obama is only ahead by 80,000 votes while tallying continues. In Florida, McCain is only ahead by about 170,000 votes so far. And in Ohio, Obama is ahead by just over 200,000 votes with only 15% of the precincts reporting.

9:13 p.m. Georgia goes to McCain (15 votes), CNN says. FOX News calls North Dakota, Wyoming and Kansas for McCain, as well. FOX calls New Mexico, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin for Obama. As a backup plan in case this whole White House thing goes awry, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., Obama's running mate, has been declared the winner of a seventh Senate term.

9 p.m. CNN projects McCain the winner of Alabama and its 9 electoral votes. No surprise. 159 electoral votes now being decided as a slew of states close their polls... McCain's home state of Arizona is too close to call? Ouch, that hurts...Arkansas goes to McCain.

8:52 p.m.: We're wondering how old James Carville is. Consensus among people here is that he needs to gain weight; he looks like Skeletor. Wikipedia says he's 64.

8:40 p.m.: CNN also calls Pennsylvania for Obama. This means that unless another blue state turns red, McCain now must win every remaining battleground state to beat Obama.

NBC polls indicate that Obama is performing strongly in two crucial states - Indiana and Virginia. Neither state has voted for a Democrat for president since 1964.

In Indiana:
- Obama received 55% of the votes cast by women, according to exit poll interviews, while he was tied with McCain among men.
-63% of Indiana voters between ages 18-24 voted for Obama. McCain was winning with the over-65 voters, with 59%.

In Virginia:
-Obama won the votes of 52% of men and 56% of women
-Obama was winning more than three-fifths of younger voters
-Among white voters, McCain was winning 58%, while Obama was winning 92% of black voters


8:30. Obama wins New Hampshire and its 4 votes - by a lot, CNN says.

A sample of 10,000 voters conducted by AP shows:

-Almost 6 in 10 women were backing Obama, and men leaned his way by a narrow margin.
-Just over half of whites supported McCain, giving him a slim advantage in a group that President Bush carried overwhelmingly in 2004.
-The economy was by far the top issue - 6 in 10 voters thought so. None of the other top issues - energy, Iraq, terrorism and health care - was picked by more than 1 in 10 voters.

Darn the sling box and this technology.

8:20: Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod said Obama is home with his family watching the election results. I wonder if Obama has been able to resist the urge to smoke ... Axelrod is asked by CNN's Wolf Blitzer what's giving him heartburn right now. "I can't exactly figure out what should be giving me heartburn," he says.

8 p.m.: More polls have closed. CNN has called Massachusetts, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, Maryland, Vermont and D.C. for Obama, while McCain has won Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky. So far, Obama has 34 electoral votes, while McCain has 77. Obama is winning the popular vote. MSNBC has also called Pennsylvania and its 21 votes for Obama.

I'm at a friend's party down the hall from my apartment and one party-goer just told me he has never been into politics at all until this year. Tonight is like the "grand finale" for him. My response to that: "I've been watching this for 10 hours a day, for more than a year. I can't wait until tonight's over!" My husband's been trying to rig a slingbox up for me that let's me watch more than 1 TV channel on my computer while the rest of the party watches another so I can be part of the festivities and not holed up in my apartment on such an exciting night ... it's proving to be a technical challenge, but we will persevere...

7:53 p.m.: Networks projecting McCain the winner of West Virginia, South Carolina. This is how strongly people feel about voting in this election: A 92-year-old Texas woman needing a feeding tube who can't walk on her own was so determined to vote, that she arrived at her polling place on a gurney in an ambulance, where an election judge and support worker climbed aboard with an electronic voting machine and let her cast her ballot. No joke.

7:30: With 130,000 ballots counted in Florida (less than 1% of the precincts, mind you), McCain has 54% while Obama has 46%. In Virginia, it's 53%-46% for McCain. In Chicago's Grant Park, where Obama will be giving a speech later tonight (he's hoping it will be a victory speech), people are literally running through the security gates to get a prime spot.

7:15: Obama has 50% to McCain's 49% of the 200,000 votes that have been counted in Indiana, still with just a small percentage of precincts reporting. In Virginia, McCain has 54% to Obama's 45% of the vote, but still way too early to call, according to CNN. CNN actually "beamed" one of their correspondents in from Chicago to the election studios via hologram - it's very Star Trekky

7 p.m. ET: So far, based on polls that closed at 7 p.m. ET, McCain is projected the winner of Kentucky and its 8 electoral votes (Obama's been a tough sell to those darn "Appalachian whites"), while Obama will win Vermont and its 3 electoral votes. No surprises in either of those states.

Indiana - a crucial battleground state - is too close to call, with only 9 percent of its precincts reporting. Georgia - where Obama would like to make some gains - is too early to call, as is Virginia and South Carolina.


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