Big day today, and I will be on the road for most of it. I will try to check in from the airport.
At any rate, listen to the man. Chill out. Do what you are supposed to do. Go vote. Go help get people to the polls. Man the phones.
And no matter the outcome, I don’t think there was anything the Obama campaign could have done better.
I will see you all later on.
PS- Sidney Jackson, American hero.
*** Update ***
Two quick points to keep in mind. First, the exit polling today will be wrong. Well, let me rephrase. It will reflect who is voting today, to some degree, but not reflect the totality of the race, what with early voting. I am sure they have thought of ways to deal with that, but I have little faith in it.
Regardless of what you hear, if you live on the west coast, vote. A large victory and clear mandate makes this election cleaner, and there are important propositions that need your support. Show up anyway and vote, no matter what you hear. It is your duty, and besides, I simply do not understand how anyone would not want to be able to say, forty years from now, that they voted in this election.
boonagain
Can I be a ‘himbo’ for Dr Helen?
{—– I’m referring to that ad!
(Those pajamas ads must go)
Elroy's Lunch
Done and back at home. Polls opened at 6:00 AM. The longest line I’ve seen since I’ve been voting here (24 years). 1 hour and 5 minutes total.
The high turnout is undoubtedly good news for McCain.
Incertus
I know it sounds sappy and all, but it really does come down to us now. We have to be the ones to pull this thing over the finish line. But that’s what Obama has been saying all along–Yes we can. It’s a group effort, and we better get used to it, because we’ve got a lot of work yet to do.
zzyzx
People were in line in Philly before polls even opened. It’s going to be historic guys. Yes we can!
Atanarjuat
"I got this…"
…bag of ACORNs.
But seriously:
Good luck to your candidate, lefties. Despite all my teasing and good-natured ribbing of you people on BJ, I’m confident that the democratic process will work and by much later tonight, the projected winner of the Presidential election will be announced to the satisfaction of everyone who is loyal to America, and those ideals that inspire the world.
Country First (and always).
Napoleon
I can’t take it anymore. God I wish I could just transport to 12 hours from now.
And I hope Ohio doesn’t embarrass itself.
And props to Sidney Jackson.
Just Some Fuckhead
Just got back from voting. Showed up at 6am when the polls opened, there was already a line around the building. Waited just under an hour and a half to vote. I’m not normally a morning voter but others in line reliably informed me this was anamoly turnout.
My precinct is way way more Republican than Democratic so I imagine there’s a scenario whereby there were scads of Republicans maniacally energized to vote against the black guy, or the secret Muslim or the terrorist sympathizer or for Bible Spice or McPOW or whatever but I can’t help but think it’s unlikely that this sort of unprecedented, once-in-a-century turnout is intended to maintain the status quo.
Wini
Manning the voter protection hotline in beautiful St Paul, MN!
boonagain
It just makes me proud that so many here are actually out doing tasks in support of our candidate.
I think this is really a sea change.
Steve
It took me 45 minutes to vote at my precinct in the Baltimore suburbs, and I got in line at 7 AM, when the polls opened. People coming later were waiting much longer, but I didn’t see anyone getting frustrated and leaving.
It was my first time voting here, but people in line told me that this was an unusual amount of people.
This is GOOD NEWS! For MCCAIN!
Dennis - SGMM
I would be happy to be able to say anything forty years from now. My age would be a bit over one-hundred.
dr. bloor
Sidney got that exactly right. Memo to liberals and, (pleeeeasse) MSM: Everytime one of these empty degenerates cooks up a nonscandal or voices faux outrage over the next eight years, the proper response is to point, laugh and move on. You will never get tired of watching their heads explode.
NonyNony
It’s kind of weird – this is the first election day where I’m not actually standing in line to cast a ballot. Early voting is awesome, and I don’t think I’ll ever do it any other way again, but it does make this Election Day a little different.
Nononononononono. Keep em. I hope that John gets some revenue from those ads. And the amusement value of having an ad here with the quote "Michelle Malking is a National Treasure" is just too good to lose.
(I’m not so keen on that Hugh Hewitt ad, though – who in the ad department hated him so much that they picked that deer-in-headlights shot of him for the ad. It’s like "Zombie Hewitt" – creepy.)
gbear
@Wini:
Well Wini, I’m about to head out to vote here and I hope I don’t have to call you. It IS as absolutely beautiful day here today. 70 in November? Who’da thunk it. We’ll probably have real snow by Thanksgiving tho.
Here’s one last story that pretty well sums up the republican campaign this year:
Paid GOP workers in WI were told to say that they were volunteers. They had to sign a paper saying they wouldn’t talk to the press about it, but decided to go public when the GOP stiffed them for their wages. FAIL.
And, also.
Laura W
@Dennis – SGMM:
You could always reincarnate as your wife’s car.
My Husband the Hyrbrid?
(Sorry. Not fully caffinated yet.)
dmsilev
The exit-polling people have apparently been doing large-scale telephone polls over the last couple of weeks to track down a sampling of the early voters. No idea how well that will work, but they are trying.
-dms
Josh Hueco
@gbear:
The GOP stiffed them so they could give the money to the homeless guy with the Obama tie. Free market, bitches!
Perry Como
2.5 hour line here. I’ve never waited longer than 5 minutes to vote at this precinct before. Maybe it’s all the PUMAs in my gentrifying neighborhood.
Josh Hueco
OT…I don’t have a TV and it’s frustrating not being able to stream live MSNBC online.
Dennis - SGMM
@Laura W:
Not too sure about that one. My wife of thirty years is a wonderful, intelligent woman. She just has this habit of parking by sound. Crunch! "I’m parked."
Original Lee
I live 3 blocks from a polling place (not mine, unfortunately – mine is over a mile away and across a 4-lane highway). Today I had trouble getting out of my driveway because cars were parked all up and down my street on both sides. The line at the nearby polling place wrapped the building, AFAICS. As I drove past my polling place, I could see that the parking lot was full, and the line wrapped the building almost twice. I’m taking off early to vote this afternoon, so hopefully I won’t have to park too far away.
BTW, what are the odds that the networks will call Florida too early again? CNN was saying the polls close at 7PM, but IIRC the panhandle part of the state is in a different time zone. Is there any way to whack the MSM over the head with the clue club before the polls start closing?
Mildly maddening note: my rabidly GOP coworker, who shares a cubicle wall with me, just got done saying that tomorrow we will not be living in a democracy anymore.
Cyrus
@gbear:
That’s nuts. I mean, we’re partisan and all, but has the McCain campaign done anything right at all, once in the past six months?
NonyNony
Speaking of polls and networks calling things – I was reminded this morning by the folks on the radio that absentee and early votes in Ohio are counted LAST in the tallies. So when you’re watching the trained monkeys on the teevee talk about polling in Ohio – especially in our urban and suburban areas around Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, etc. – if the numbers look bad hold on for a while because we’ve had huge numbers of early voting going on here in the urban areas and it’s a good bet that people were not standing in line for 6-7 hours at a stretch in Columbus Ohio to vote for John McCain (slightly higher chance that they might have for Sarah Palin, but not much).
The flipside of that is that if the numbers look good for Obama in Ohio early on, they’ll probably only get better as the night goes on.
(I plan on doing something that I haven’t done for an election since the first one I watched in 1984 – I’m not watching. I’m turning off the teevee and doing something else tonight and I’ll find out what happens tomorrow morning.)
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
I voted early, on Saturday, but drove by my polling place on the way to work (7:45, when the polls open at 7:00). The line was about the same as when I voted in 2004, though I voted mid-day then.
I don’t expect Florida to give me any reason to be proud, Kos’s giddiness notwithstanding. I don’t know how early voting ballots are counted here. We use optical scan, and they’re recorded at the time they’re inserted into the reader, so I suspect it’s a running tally, which will be read at the same time as the precinct machines. Absentees will probably be counted after 7:00PM, if they haven’t already been shredded by our fascist supervisor of elections.
Nicole
One hour wait for me and my husband at our polling place- and from the looks of the three other ones we passed on our way to get coffee later, we were at the shortest line! Poll workers did a great job with the crowd, and also loudly announced each first-time voter so we could clap and cheer for them.
And my husband didn’t complain ONCE about standing in line for so long, which is history-making on its own.
Vlad
I voted (for the big O, of course).
Largest lines I’ve ever seen at my polling place. Largest lines the election ladies here had ever seen, too.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
I have plans to do my part today, but, I’d rather not throw out what I’m doing on this board and boast about it.
Only TZ knows what I’m planning to do, it’s a partnership thing, he helped. ;)
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
Mel, I’m hoping the Bonita Springs/Naples rich vote is pummeled today. ;)
Punchy
Already 2 hours to vote and getting longer exponentially in KC metro area. Just insane turnout. My company had to release an email telling employees not to worry about missing 3-4 hours of work if they’re in line to vote. Calmed a lot of fears.
Bob In Pacifica
It’s still dark out here on on the Left Coast. It rained hard over the weekend and yesterday but last night the sky was clear and there’s no rain for the rest of the week.
I’ll head on down to the polls after the commute, when it should be slower.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMVIII
According to CNN, the only place it’s currently raining is over Pat Robertson’s God City.
Punchy
Here’s my theory — News networks are going to be completely flummoxed by the historic lines of peeps this year. IOW, they wont want to call a state when the polls close if there’s 2 million people still in line (and thus get to vote)
I fully expect in some places, that line length will be so massive that voting will continue near midnite, therefore kneecapping the pundits who want to call this.
Obama not declared winnah until 4:32 am CST, I’m guessing.
Grumpy Code Monkey
This is why we voted weekend before last. I remember the lines from the primary at our precinct and knew the general would be at least an order of magnitude worse.
Did my bit to throw the bastards out. No illusions about Texas going for Obama or throwing out Cornyn, but the rest of the races should be interesting.
xyzzy
I live in Washington state, and despite the facts that (1) the national media seems to think that there is no early voting here, and (2) WA is a foregone conclusion for Obama, I voted over a week ago when my mail-in ballot arrived. For Obama, of course.
I feel sorry for you poor folks down in King county who are going to actually have to stand in the rain as you wait to cast your ballot!
burnspbesq
Raining here in OC, but not especially hard. Will probably depress turnout. Spouse left 25 minutes ago to go vote (our polling place is a block away). Polls opening right now. Will be interesting to see when she gets back. I’m planning to bail from work at 3 to come home and vote.
jcricket
I live in KC, and voted by mail, as will the vast majority of KC residents (it was like 60% last time and will probably be 75% this time). It’s not mandatory, but everyone likes it anyway. I also read that in-person early voting (down in Renton at the election center) had long lines this year. So I think the polls are going to be sparsely (historically) attended.
That said, it’s gonna take a while for KC to submit formal results on any close races because we have these crappy old counting machines. The feds were slow in certifying the new ones KC bought so we have to rely on the 16 year old ones. Still accurate, just tempermental (think old laser printer v. spiffy new multifunction).
Wolfdaughter
Out here in Tucson, ca. 8:30 am MST. I’m just about to head down to Raul Grijalva’s headquarters, also one of the headquarters for Obama/Biden. I’m going to help ferry people to the polls. I signed up for this last Wednesday, on a HUGE list, yes, all volunteers, and received one reminding call on Saturday. Got my car all cleaned up and gassed in prep.
I think McCain will still take his home state, :(, but by a squeaker. However, I don’t see us Obama freaks’ votes being wasted. We have to win decisively in the popular vote, even though electoral votes are what "counts" (2000, year of infamy). A decisive win in both categories spikes much of the wingers’ talking points, not that they won’t continue shitting them out.
Obama/Biden 08/12!!!!!!
jcricket
It won’t spike the wingers from figuring out some way to spin the results so that they’re not "historic" and not a "mandate". And in another year the press would go along. But like the results from the debates, any reasonable level of decisiveness will end up reported (if we keep pushing) for what it is.
That’s why you are right – every vote counts. Every blue state we turn hyper-blue, every red state we flip, every swing state we win, every turnout or margin record we shatter, every 20-point deficit we even nearly erase, every shutout (NM is poised to go from 2-3 D/R in the house to 5-0!!) – everything counts.
Everything gives the press (who loves little stories) some other angle on which to report that Obama and the Democrats have done something unprecedented and deserve their mantle.
And it’s that much more of an uphill battle for our two biggest opposition groups to compete for air time: Screaming wingnuts (traitor! Hussein! Weak! Losing the war!) and concern trolling (Americans really voted for bipartisanship, Democrats will pay a price, etc.).
Brachiator
Here in California, there are a number of ballot propositions that should bring out voters, no matter what East Coast projections say. And from casual conversations with my fellow commuters, a lot of people of all parties are planning on voting, recognizing the singular nature of this election.
I voted by mail, so I can sit back and enjoy the show. Fingers crossed for an Obama victory.
For everyone else, to quote the Joker from "The Dark Knight,"
And… here… we… go!
Original Lee
Coworkers are trickling in. Three clocked in with 50-60 minutes of waiting (normal for 2, abnormally long for 1), one just wandered in after 2.5 hours of waiting, and a third has not yet come in. I am leaving in 2 hours in the hopes that I won’t have to wait too long.
Terri
As I was filling in the bubble beside Obama’s name today, my eyes welled up with tears. At the same time, I was sending a silent, but forceful " fuck you" to all the wingnuts I have to listen to and deal with on a daily basis living here in Floritard.
Who knows, maybe it was just hormonal.
Comrade Darkness
I’m feeling überoptimistic this fine morning and so I’m predicting that by 10:05pm EST the news coverage (fearing to call it outright) will be making statements along the lines of "this is looking to be a difficult deficit for mccain to overcome, if not impossible".
You could ask your co-worker to define democracy. Bet the answer is incoherent. To which you can helpfully point out, well, if you don’t know what it is, how will you know you’ve lost it?
Nah, on second thought, go for mockery by leapfrogging his/her idiocy. Just make sure your comments are extreme enough this idiot doesn’t believe them (and that Bush/Cheney aren’t already guilty of them *sigh*).
Jeff
It’s actually raining in San Diego, which evidently now has more Democrats than Republicans for the first time in 24 years, and it took a little less than an hour to vote.
Tom Ames
I LOVE that LGF link. The comments are on the order of "well, we’ll show Columbia by… by… by boycotting them and going elsewhere for our higher education needs!"
Good luck with that line of attack, nutters. Someone has to WANT your business before you can boycott them. (While you’re at it, why don’t you boycott the Nobel committee for not giving Michelle Malkin the Peace Prize?)
jvill
Sidney Jackson interviewed me for entrance to Columbia Business School (MBA ’10).
I’m sending my man a fruitbasket.
So proud.
Brachiator
@Original Lee:
The correct response is, "We may not be living in a democracy now. The restoration begins today."
Screamin' Demon
Thirty-seven of 39 counties here in Washington vote by mail, and all of Oregon does. It’s raining like hell here in Pasco, but it doesn’t matter. We’re done, for the most part. Nothing to do now but wait.
Bubblegum Tate
I just voted for Obama and against CA prop 8. I think those are the two most important votes I have ever cast.
Full of win: Sidney Jackson