From 52 To 48 With Love

You may remember Sorry Everybody, the site that went viral with photos of sad-faced Americans posting messages of apology to the world for Dubya's reelection in 2004. Today we have the similarly conceived From 52 To 48 With Love, in which young people on both sides on this year's election (mostly) express messages of unity and offer olive branches to the other side.

It's A New World Order

Damn funny shit from the reliable folks at 23/6.

Obama Baby Boom

There's already been a boomlet of kids being named Barack, Michelle, and Obama.

The U.S. election has triggered a new generation of mini Barack Obamas with parents in Kenya and the United States naming their newborns after the new president-elect. At the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital in Kisumu, western Kenya, Barack's ancestral homeland, several mothers were naming their babies after the U.S.'s first African-American president. The mothers told Reuters Television that they wanted their babies to grow up to have the same successful traits as Obama. I would like that by the time he is in his 40s he becomes the president of this country," said Nancy Otieno proudly of her newborn son Barack Obama. Another new mother, Millicent Akoth, named her new daughter Michelle Obama after the soon-to-be first lady. South Florida couple Patrick and Sasha Hall were reported on Wednesday to be among the first since the election to bestow the name Obama on their child, Obama Hall, according to the Miami Herald.

Other are wondering if we'll see another baby boom exactly nine months after Tuesday night's wild celebrations. Barack Obama himself may have been conceived on the night of JFK's election.

Icing On The Cake

North Carolina has finally been called for Obama.

President-elect Obama has won North Carolina, a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat in more than a generation. The Associated Press declared Obama the winner Thursday after canvassing counties in North Carolina to determine the number of outstanding provisional ballots. That survey found that there are not enough remaining ballots for Republican John McCain to close a 13,693-vote deficit. North Carolina's 15 electoral votes brings Obama's total to 364 -- nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House. Missouri is the only state that remains too close to call. Obama's win in North Carolina was the first for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976.

Nice to have some good (if only symbolic) news today, especially from my home state.

(Tipped by fellow Tarheel/JMG reader Brawley)

Obama Celebration In Union Square

Eric Leven sends us his video of the spontaneous Obama celebration in NYC's Union Square just moments after the election was called. I love how somebody is up in the Discount Shoe Warehouse flipping their sign on and off.

Times Are Hard At The Times

I know the newspaper world is hurting and that the NY Times is facing a bunch of layoffs, but selling yesterday's paper for $15 seems a bit much.

27% Of Gays Went For McCain

Unbelievably, exit polls indicate that 27% of the gay vote went to John McCain. The Log Cabin Republicans are celebrating: "That is up from 20% four years ago. That equals 1.3 million votes - the most any Republican candidate for President has received."

(Via - Towleroad)

Condi Rice On Obama's Victory

Condi's verklempt reaction to the election makes you wonder who she voted for.

Kenya Declares National Holiday

In Kenya:

Obama's Kenyan relatives erupted in celebration as the election results came in early Wednesday morning, and they proceeded to march through the streets singing "We are going to the White House!" [See the celebration above.] Agence France-Presse reports that Kenya has declared a national holiday in honor of Obama's election: "This is a momentous day not only in the history of the United States of America, but also for us in Kenya,'' President Mwai Kibaki said in a statement, according to AFP. ``The victory of Senator Obama is our own victory because of his roots here in Kenya. As a country, we are full of pride for his success.''

The woman in red is Obama's step-grandmother.

History

Headlines

(Via - Gawker)

Nate Silver, The Geeky God Of Polls

With all the often wildly-conflicting polls, the one site I kept drifting back to was stats geek Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight. History will be very kind to Silver's predictive prowess. His final call of 349 electoral votes for Obama is dead-on for the current results, although Obama's total may increase slightly as the couple of still deadlocked states are finally decided.

Acceptance / Concession

As moving as Barack Obama's acceptance speech was, I was almost equally as touched by John McCain's classy and gracious concession.

Barack Obama, Our 44th President

Election Results Open Thread

Post your reactions to the results as they are announced. It's going to be a long night.

UPDATE: Let's try out that big honkin' "live" electoral map at the top of the blog and see how it works.

Tim Robbins Couldn't Vote, Scattered Reporting Of Similar Glitches

Progressive activist and actor Tim Robbins got turned away from his polling place today and he rightfully blew a gasket.

There was some kind of ruckus and the cops were called. Apparently Robbins has been voting at that polling place for more than a decade, but today his name wasn't on the register. They told Robbins he had to fill out a provisional ballot but he didn't want to do it. An argument erupted between Robbins and the poll worker. Robbins allegedly got loud and the poll worker said he was calling the cops. Robbins accused the poll worker of trying to intimidate him so he wouldn't vote. Robbins went downtown to the City Board of Elections to get proof he was good to vote. Robbings: "This is what you have to do to vote... I had to go down to see a judge... My name was not on the roll, and I'm not the only one. According to workers, 30 people in 5 hours had been taking off the rolls. You can do the math on that. 6 per hour, per district across America..."

CNN is reporting similar situations across the nation....broken machines, names disappearing from registers, etc. However, so far the problems don't appear to be widespread. Cross your fingers on THAT.

Palin Won't Say Who She Voted For

Via Swamp Politics:

Citing her right to privacy, Gov. Sarah Palin refused to say who she voted for after emerging from her polling place in Wasilla, Alaska. That's right, she wouldn't say she voted for her own presidential ticket. We assume she did, but she stood on principle and wouldn't say. She did say the secret ballot is one of the "cool" things about the U.S. Agreed.

Hang on a minute. Was that a press conference?

Rachel Maddow: Long Lines Are The New Poll Tax, Poor Can't Afford To Wait

Rachel Maddow says that long lines at polling places are a de facto poll tax - a very effective way to block out people who cannot afford to miss several hours of work.

Morning View - District 17/UES

I was in line when the polling place across from my building opened at 6AM and it still took me just under two hours. Right now the line is stretching entirely around the block and is almost meeting itself at the front door of the polling station. But things are moving relatively briskly and everybody's spirits seem high. One typically Upper East Side scenario - the young women in front of me, a live-in nanny from Peru, was actually holding a place in line for her employer, whom she called to come downstairs once we got close to the door.

Polling Place Open Thread

Tell us about your voting experience. How long was your wait? Did you witness anybody giving up on the line? How was the mood of your fellow voters? Did the voting machine work properly? Are you confident your vote was recorded properly?