11PM November 4, 2008 NBC News projects that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States.
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After a long two years, we are about to see the verdict of the American people.
I voted this morning at my local polling station in Loudoun County. The line was long but the voters were determined. If Barack Obama takes Virginia, Loudoun County will have much to do with it.
I took my daughter with me. I wanted to share with her what I believe will be the most consequential vote I will ever cast in my lifetime.
In the afternoon, after an urgent call for umbrellas went out from the Obama campaign, I dropped one off at the Obama office near my place of work. The Obama office was buzzing with volunteers, and it seemed like every street corner in Arlington had a Obama volunteer on their way to get out the vote. Northern Virginia is Obama country – perhaps enough so to flip Virginia to the Democrats for the first time since 1964.
There is a palpable excitement here in Northern Virginia. In 30 minutes, the polls close in Virginia. We will soon know if Virginia will propel Barack Obama to the White House.
Live blogging below:
7:03pm No surprises. Kentucky called for McCain. Vermont called for Obama. Virginia too early to call at poll closing.
7:05pm NBC news is projecting Mark Warner is the new Senator from the state of Virginia 🙂 Indiana is too close to call – a very bad sign for McCain (Bush won this state by 20 points in 2004). Still waiting for Virginia returns.
7:16pm Early county by county returns from Indiana are looking very good for Barack Obama. Obama is performing well in surprising parts of the state. A long way to go – we will see.
7:26pm In early numbers from deep red counties in Virginia, Obama is doing as well as Jim Webb did in 2006.
7:30pm Polls close. North Carolina is too close to call – a very good sign for Barack Obama. Ohio is too early to call.
7:36pm MSNBC lets slip that Obama is ahead in Ohio even though it is too early to call.
7:45pm Obama doing much better than Webb in Culpeper. This is a sign of how much the demographic push outward from Northern Virginia has helped Democrats. This bodes well for Northern Virginia counties which have not reported in yet.
7:54pm Virginia numbers coming in very slowly. No Northern Virginia counties have begun reporting. In early numbers, Obama is leading in Henrico County. I do not believe McCain can win Virginia without winning in Henrico. McCain is also barely winning Chesterfield County with nearly 50% reporting. McCain needs a much bigger margin in Chesterfield if he is to carry Virginia.
8:00pm Pennsylvania called for Obama as soon as polls close! See, you guys were sweating for no reason 🙂 Time to breathe a huge collective sigh of relief!
8:15pm With nearly all of Chesterfield and Culpeper reporting, Obama has outperformed Jim Webb in these critical red counties for McCain. Now it is all up to Northern Virginia and the Tidewater cities to bring it home for Obama. So far, I like what I see out of Virginia.
8:25pm Arlington County starting to report. 2% of precincts in so far. Nothing yet from Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William in Northern Virginia.
8:29pm Correction, Fairfax is reporting, not Arlington. I must be tired 🙂 So far, Fairfax, with only 2% reporting, is 58% to 41% Obama.
8:33pm Big news out of North Carolina. Kay Hagan is the projected winner over Liddy Dole in the NC senate race. I guess Dole’s disgusting attack ad didn’t quite work out for her.
8:37pm MSNBC changes Virginia from "too early to call" to "too close to call".
8:39pm Northern Virginia starting to come in. Obama up in Loudoun and Prince William in early numbers. Unsurprisingly up strong in Arlington and Fairfax.
8:57pm Obama is closing fast. Currently its 50% McCain and 48% Obama with a small portion of Northern Virginia beginning to report. Obama is cleaning up big in Richmond city. Amazingly, Obama is leading strongly in Henrico County.
8:59pm New Mexico and Colorado coming up in a minute. Bite your nails! 🙂
9:00pm This one is for my boss. Wisconsin is projected for Obama.
9:04pm Arizona is too close to call! That can’t be. New Mexico and Colorado too early to call.
9:14pm Chuck Todd says Virginia is closer than they expected. I see Obama leading Loudoun and Prince William. Fairfax is coming in at 57%, but with only 15% reporting. Obama is outperforming how Webb did in Tidewater cities. It will be tight but Obama is narrowing the gap as the returns come in. Obama is now only behind 25,000 votes. I really like his chances.
9:25pm This election is over. Ohio goes to Obama. Now, Virginia, don’t embarrass me 🙂
9:29pm The vote difference between McCain and Obama is now only about 5000 votes, with Obama gaining fast. There are atleast 37,000 more votes for Obama in Fairfax county. I like our chances in Virginia. Obama is cleaning up in key Tidewater cities. He is outperforming Webb.
9:33pm Think about this for a second. Obama is only 5,000 votes away from flipping Virginia with only 26% of Fairfax County reporting. Now, that is amazing.
9:34pm Landslide watch: New Mexico called for Barack Obama, the next president of the United States. This is shaping up to be a remarkable evening for America and the world.
9:41pm Rats! Mitch McConnell will hold on to his senate seat in Kentucky. Let’s hope we see Chambliss gone in Georgia.
9:44pm Obama is less than 3000 votes behind in Virginia with still only 26% of Fairfax county reporting. I am so proud of Loudoun County – Obama is starting to pull away. Webb turned Loudoun blue, and Obama is turning it bluer.
9:49pm I just went and hugged my daughter good night and told her that Barack Obama will be our next President. Her response was "Woohoo!".
10:02pm With polls closing, Iowa has just been called for Obama. He is well on his way to making it official.
10:05pm Nevada too early to call, with Obama leading. And, Fairfax County only reporting 35% and Obama takes the lead in Virginia. With Obama’s leads in Loudoun and Prince William, his solid performance in Virginia Beach, and a ton of Obama votes still to come from Fairfax, Virginia is blue and I am loving it.
10:21pm There are atleast 32,000 more Obama votes to come out of Fairfax County in Virginia. I don’t see anything else in the state that gets McCain to close that gap. North Carolina and Florida look very good for Obama. In Indiana, I think Obama has just enough votes to close the gap – but it will be a nail biter either way.
10:30pm The big story in Virginia are the numbers coming out of Loudoun County, Prince William County and Henrico County (around Richmond). The demographics in Virginia look very good for Democrats. The registration numbers in Northern Virginia this cycle were staggering. The top 3 counties in Virginia for registration growth were from Northern Virginia – Loudoun and Prince William among them. Having lived here off and on for 3 decades, I have seen the growth push outward from the Washington Beltway. What we here see on the ground in the outer counties is backed up by the registration numbers and the voting patterns.
10:57pm Robbie and Rumi point out in the comments that Fox News has called Virginia for Obama. What took them so long. But, we already knew this at this blog 🙂
11:00pm I do not really know what to write at this moment. America did good tonight. Change has come.
11:10pm NBC News calls Virginia for Barack Obama. Virginia, yes we can!
11:16pm NBC News projects Colorado for Barack Obama.
11:18pm NBC News projects Florida for Barack Obama.
11:24pm John McCain is delivering his concession speech. He is trying hard to put out the fires of hatred that his campaign and his running mate have deliberately stoked. It pains me that someone like John McCain took his campaign to such nasty depths.
11:27pm Indiana has been called for Barack Obama by NBC News.
11:30pm Oops. I must be tired. Indiana has not yet been called.
12:00am President-elect Barack Obama is on stage now at Grant Park in Chicago. What a truly amazing moment.
12:18am Yes We Can.
12:35pm Missouri has narrowed. There may just be enough left in the cities to pull Obama into a win by a hair. Indiana and North Carolina look very good for Obama also. Montana will probably not happen for Obama.
2:10am NBC News calls Indiana for Barack Obama. Missouri is now within 554 votes. Obama has plenty of votes in Jackson County to surpass John McCain by about 1500 votes or so. It looks now like Missouri will go to Obama in a squeaker (with probably a recount).
2:19am Two other counties outstanding in Missouri that I missed. It will be even tighter it seems.
2:22am North Carolina shows 100% reporting with Obama leading by 12,000 votes. The networks have not called it yet. Its not clear to me why no call has been made.
2:35am Jackson County has come in and Obama is 398 votes short. Two counties remain. Missouri is insanely close.
8:20am North Carolina is done and in Obama’s column, but still waiting for provisional ballots. McCain holds a slim lead in Missouri after all counties finished their reporting, but provisional ballot still need to be counted. Missouri may still flip to Obama with a margin this thin. We may still see 375 electoral votes for Obama, but 364 at the least
