What time will John McCain concede?

What will the final electoral vote count be?

What will the voter turnout be?

Tie breaker:

What will the Popular vote be?

Up to 5 winners will get a TalkLeft 4th Amendment Tote. My prediction yesterday: Obama either wins 383 to 155 or 356 to 182

Exit polls tell us what we already knew: the economy was the most important issue in this election. Iraq, terrorism and health care were roughly tied for a distant second.

Sarah Palin was judged unqualified by 60 percent of voters.

Democrats who voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary went heavily for Barack Obama (84%), although 15 percent of them told exit pollsters that they voted for John McCain.

A small majority of voters reject the philosophical underpinning of political conservatism: that government is the problem, not the solution.

ABC News has called Pennsylvania for Obama. Added: CNN has also.

McCain can't win without Pennsylvania. He pinned all his hopes on it. I think it's over. The Obama campaign is saying it's too early to say Obama has won, but I think it's going to be a landslide.

An early Senate race worth watching is Kentucky, where Democrat Bruce Lunsford is trying to knock off Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. It's a tough road, but hopefully Lunsford can pull it off.

Warner wins Virginia Senate. In North Carolina Senate is looking good for Dem Kay Hagen. Georgia will go Chambliss but he may not make it to 50%. Martin may get a runoff.

In Florida House races, Republican incumbent Keller going down in FL-8. FL-25, the Joe Garcia race, will go down to the wire.

Shaheen wins New Hampshire Senate seat.

Hagen wins North Carolina Senate race.

Fox calls Georgia for Chambliss.

Udalls about to take Senate seats in NM and Colorado.

Update 7:45pm: You can search the ABC exit polls here. CNN's are up for each state. Just go to their presidential page and click on the state you are interested in.

Update 6:45pm: 72% of white evangelicals voted for McCain. Bush got 78% of them, a six point drop for McCain. McCain is winning them in every state, with Mississippi at the top, Minnesota at the bottom.

Update: 6:30pm: Higher income voters (earning more than $100k) went for Obama nationally 52% to 47%. In Ohio, these voters preferred McCain but in Colorado, they preferred Obama. Translation: the tax issue isn't working nationally for McCain. [More below....]

Statistics-driven sports fans might take some comfort in this:

In 16 of the 17 presidential elections since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1937, the incumbent party has kept the White House if the team won its last home game before the election while the out-of-power party has taken over if the Redskins lost. (The only exception came four years ago, when the Redskins lost to the Green Bay Packers but President Bush won reelection.)

The Packers did their part for good governance four years ago, even if the predictive streak ended. Last night the Pittsburgh Steelers did their best to assure an Obama victory by shutting down the Redskins in a 23-6 victory. Let's hope the streak resumes today.

Voters must know where to turn to if their right to vote is being hampered or outright denied on Tuesday or if they need any assistance:

• For immediate assistance, call the nonpartisan 866-OUR-VOTE hotline

• To report problems to Election Protection’s state teams through Twitter, use these guidelines.

These resources track breaking news as it happens on Election Day:

• OurVoteLive.org – A live map and full database of all the reports received through the hotline
• OurVoteLive Blog Breaking news and analysis on the state of the vote
• 866OurVote Twitter account – Breaking news and reports as they happen

I just saw Sarah Palin interviewed at her polling place. She wouldn't say who she voted for. She said, no matter what happens, she'll "always be Sarah from Alaska."

Please, go vote, so Sarah stays in Alaska and the only time we have to mention her is in connection with a post-mortem analysis of McCain's reckless, selfish failed Hail Mary Pass.

I muted her when she started talking about the Personnel Board Report. Unlike the Legislature, the Personnel Board is an agency of the state's executive branch and its officials can be fired by Palin. Even those appointed by her predecessor. Of course they came out for her on Election Eve, they want to keep their jobs, as TChris wrote here. The Legislative Report found she abused the power of her office. How convenient for her to gloss over that.

Bye, Sarah.

Update:

The same weather pattern was responsible for unusually balmy conditions for voters throughout the Midwest, from Detroit and Minneapolis to Des Moines and St. Louis. Some voters said the favorable weather made the crowds friendlier and the long waits more bearable.

original post:

In Madison, Wisconsin, it is an unseasonably summery day, with sunny skies and a predicted high temperature of 72. Whether this is a happy artifact of global warming or divine intervention, the weather will make it easy to stand in line at the polls if that's what it takes to cast an Obama vote.

Will "Center Right" America choose Socialism? According to John McCain and the polls, they will.

Final polls:

Dkos/R2000 - Obama 51, McCain 46
ABC/WaPo - Obama 53. McCain 44
NBC/WSJ - Obama 51, McCain 43
CBS - Obama 51, McCain 42
Fox - Obama 50, McCain 43
Gallup - Obama 55, McCain 44
IBD/TIPP - Obama 52, McCain 44
CNN - Obama 53, McCain 46
Ipsos/McClatchey, Obama 53, McCain 46
Hotline - Obama 50, McCain 45
Pew, Obama 52, McCain 46
Battleground, Obama 52, McCain 46

My prediction remains the same - Obama 52.5, McCain 46.5.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Hours before the polls open, Sarah Palin hopes to silence questions about her health and ethics. In a two page letter released yesterday, Palin's doctor proclaims her physically fit to do whatever it is that a Vice President Palin would do (shudder). Andrew Sullivan thinks the late disclosure represents "a giant finger to the press."

Palin's ethical fitness is a stickier question. A report conveniently released yesterday by Alaska's Personnel Board found that Sarah Palin violated no ethics rules when she fired the state police commissioner.

The New York Times reports that CBS and Slate may call the election before the polls close around the country. I hope they do.

I think it will be an early night and the outcome will be known as soon as Ohio, PA, Florida, Indiana and Virginia are projected. CBS says:

"We can’t be in this position of hiding our heads in the sand when the story is obvious.”

Similarly, the editor of the Web site Slate, David Plotz, said in an e-mail message that “if Obama is winning heavily,” he could see calling the race “sometime between 8 and 9.”

“Our readers are not stupid, and we shouldn’t engage in a weird Kabuki drama that pretends McCain could win California and thus the presidency,” Mr. Plotz wrote. “We will call it when a sensible person — not a TV news anchor who has to engage in a silly pretense about West Coast voters — would call it.”

Why drag it out? Let's begin the celebration early.