Blogging the Vote, Part II

Continued from here.

10:40 pm: Susan Estrich is on Fox News again. She's convinced John Kerry is going to take Ohio. I think she's drunk. I also think she stole Hillary's pearls.

10:46 pm: Bill Kristol is raising the specter of an electoral vote tie: 269-269. If you thought that the mess in 2000 caused divisions, wait 'til you see what a tie does. Maybe Katherine Mangu-Ward isn't as crazy as I thought.

11:06 pm: In Wisconsin, 51% of precincts reporting. Kerry 50%, Bush 49%.

Mood: Unstable. I've just opened a container of Cool Whip, and I may just eat it all.

11:09 pm: There hasn't been any movement on the Fox News electoral tally in almost an hour, and I'm bored. Meanwhile, over on CBS, they've actually called Florida for Bush. (98% of precincts reporting. Bush 52%, Kerry 48%) MSNBC leaves Florida up for grabs.

11:21 pm: Fox News is finally calling Florida for Bush. A quick bit of channel surfing comes up with these tallies:

CBS: Bush 242, Kerry 207
ABC: Bush 237, Kerry 195
NBC: Bush 210, Kerry 206
CNN: Bush 234, Kerry 188
Fox: Bush 237, Kerry 206

Mood: Slightly more positive . . . but not entirely.

11:25 pm: Fox News calls Colorado for President Bush. If Bush gets Ohio and Alaska, that makes 269. (Unless my count is off.)

11:36 pm: Fox News puts New Hampshire in the "Blue State" category. This is the first switch from the 2000 election results. Until now, every state that was "Red" in 2000 has been "Red" this year as well. New Hampshire is safe from Osama bin Laden.

Bush - 246 electoral votes
Kerry - 211 electoral votes

Mood: Nervous.

11:41 pm: Fox News projects a Bush win in Ohio with 83% of precincts reporting. Bush 51%, Kerry 48%.

Bush - 266 electoral votes
Kerry - 211 electoral votes

Mood: Cautiously optimistic. (Isn't this where I came in?)

12:01 am: The polls in Alaska just closed, and Bush is far ahead with 44% of precincts reporting. Fox puts Alaska's 3 electoral votes in the President's column.

Bush - 269 electoral votes
Kerry - 211 electoral votes

If Kerry wins all the rest, it's a tie. But I don't think that'll happen.

They're cheering loudly at the Bush/Cheney HQ in Washington; they're glum at the Kerry/Edwards HQ. But the Kerry/Edwards campaign isn't giving up. They're promising to find the needed votes in Ohio. Ohio will be this year's Florida. Look for lawsuits and recounts.

I'm beat. I wish I could stay up until we get some more solid figures from the upper midwest, but that may take hours yet. So off to sleep I go, still uncertain.

Mood: Cautiously optimistic.

Here's hoping the morning brings really good news!


Predictions: Kerry won't concede the election for at least a week. When he finally does, he won't be able to mask his bitterness.

Teresa will take the opportunity to make one more patently offensive statement.

Elizabeth Edwards may likely say something worse.

John Edwards will say very little, but no one will notice anyway.