Tim Blair

There is nothing I've seen on the various coverages that suggests that Kerry is making up ground.

Its a bit early but things look like they are maintaining the status quo.

Fox just called Louisiana for Bush. Looking good for the good guys so far. Bush 165 Kerry 112

Vague? Nope. Midwest is coming in. Bush territory.

Check out how Clark Co., Ohio is voting:
http://election.sos.state.oh.us/results/RaceDetail.aspx?race=PP

Looks like they're going for Bush! :D

Hey "Guardian!" F**k you!

At the nadir today, online betting exchange Betfair had Kerry at $1.24.

He's now $2.26.

Bush is going to take OH and FL. I'm pretty much calling the election for Bush right now.

I agree with ChrisV. Bush has it wrapped up if Florida and Ohio hold solid. Missouri (where I'm from) was looking close but now is about 53-46 Bush. Michigan is in the Bush camp right now. It could be a fairly significant win for Bush, easing over the 300 EV total.

FL & OH look good for Bush
NH looks good for Kerry
MN, WI, & MI are showing early leads to Bush

Tim,

No worries, Mate! We've done our part. The Coalition will be maintained and Fallujah will mourn tomorrow.

Landslide coming. Kerry cannot come back from here.

British/European channels still spinning furiously for Kerry (at almost 3 am - and I'm sober and cold).

boy PA wasn't even close - that was a waste of money

Media is very cautious about Florida. 73% in, Bush on 52%, but its still undecided?

Guess they don't want to do a "2000" again.

The horserace blog (republican supporter)has some interesting running commentary on voting in comparable counties in Florida & Ohio mostly favorable to Bush.

http://jaycost.blogspot.com/

Washington DC - 90% for Kerry

Hah!

Bush isn't doing too badly in Michigan. Isn't that Michael Moore's homestate? Way to pull a Gore, Michael.

The British/Euro channels keep saying it's too close to call, too early to say anything. Well, it may turn out very close in the end. But there's just nothing at all about the fact that Bush is looking very good at the moment. Just lots of forgetable waffle from guests. The guy who presents the state-by-state numbers also keeps emphasising that it's very close.

The internet is completely kicking TV's ass on this.

I'm starting to feel cautiously optimistic.

Scott Campbell: It's 3 AM and you're both sober and cold? Ditch the sober part and you'll forget about the cold. Two birds, one stone.

"The internet is completely kicking TV's ass on this."

Why yes, yes it is.

I'm not going to say landslide quite yet, because it would be premature to say landslide at this point, when there is no firm evidence of a landslide.

Landslide
Landslide
Landslide

Bah! We all know it will be a plastic election victory!

Worried. Clear looks like of box stuffing in dem pcts.

One more thing - the Beeb and other channels keep saying over and over that it's 2000 all over again.

Why do they talk such crap? Well, apart from the fact that they're full of it, most of the analysts seem to spend their whole time talking rather than looking at the more detailed results that are coming in.

Evilpundit,

You're 'cautiously optimistic.' Why the caution? How the hell is Kerry going to get back from here?

The guy who presents the state-by-state numbers also keeps emphasising that it's very close.

Weird. The figures I see, indicates its less of a close race than 2000

Kerry seems to be doing worse than Gore...at the moment.

I'm revising down my earlier estimate of the Bush electoral college landslide:

Bush: 3.75 Gazillion
Kerry: -12

If Michael Moore can deliver Michigan for Bush then it would be the sweetest one of all!!

Good to see John Edwards following in the tradition of Al Gore from 2000 and losing his home state of North Carolina also. Maybe there was a big lesbian turnout this time?

Edwards is gonna sue someone.

Just don't know, I'm still slightly pessimistic. But no surprises thus far. It'll all depend on OH and FL, and it's hard to tell what precincts have reported (red vs. blue). My wife is telling me that the DNC is behind these "exit polls", but who knows.

But on the brighter side, I just heard Barack Obama's wife introduce him as "my baby's daddy", which is a first in politics I think.

CL, I love this comment from your site

Meanwhile LGF commenter karmic_inquisitor suggests an interesting theory: "If Bush was "selected not elected" in 2000, then 2004 would be the first election he 'won,' right? Well then, he must be eligible to be re-elected in 2008 since he is limited to being 'elected' to two terms.

Classic! That's what happens to people who don't think through conspiracy theories to their logical conclusion...

It was funny... a few months ago I predicted it wouldn't be that close a race, then about a week ago I started saying it was gonna be really close... now we see it's *probably* going to be a pretty decent Bush win. But, the Left Looney Coast hasn't reported in yet and we know how they're going to go.

I notice Ohio hasn't been called even though 30% of the vote's in. (Several counties, including the county of my old hometown, haven't sent in any results yet. Based on what I recall from living there, they'll have to send in their results by carrier pigeon or snail or something.)

Saw several heated discussions and one almost-fistfight on mass transit... usual topic was Bush and how he's rigged the elections. (Again. *grin*) The "proles" here in SF/CA are gonna be uber-irate if Kerry loses.

Geez. Yahoo says 79% of the precincts are reported in Florida with 52% of the vote for Bush and they still won't call it.

Pennsylvania is not lost. Hold your horses. Approximately 4 million votes need to be counted and only a third are in. Please note that those counties counted first are Gore/Kerry counties. Bush overwhelmingly wins suburban vote in Pittsburgh are counties and will win the central T. I will wait quite a while before calling this state. Butler County is going more strongly for Bush than in 2000!

BBC finally talk to an American reporter on the ground who says Florida 2004 is going nothing like 2000. Oops! The BBC didn't want to hear that.

What's happening now is priceless - some English BBC suited twit is going around a bowling alley in Ohio asking people who they voted for and making a complete fool of himself.

BTW it's Peter Snow doing the state-by-state analysis. If Bush leads a state then he says it's too early to tell.

Easy people. Lets see how the Senate is coming in. Bunning got past but Martinez in Florida is heading to the courts and Specter is in a real fight. Ditto Coors.

Hmm, Ohio so far...Bush 50.66%, Kerry 46.54%, Cobb (Greens) 2.31%. Not quite close enough right now, and I hope Bush keeps this lead, but can you imagine the Democrats' reaction if the Greens kill them in Ohio even without Nader at the top of their ticket?

42nd SSD, poll workers in Ohio average 73 years old. Give 'em a break, they move slow.

the west coast is yet to come in but I'm with Eric Blair (aka Orwell), they should call Florida for Bush as well as Ohio - I'm much happier than I was 2 hours ago!

DM

Brown Hornet, I'm a really pessimistic sorta guy. So 'cautious optimism' is about as good as it gets, until all the votes are in and a landslide is confirmed.

By the way, it just occurred to me that if we could harness the energy of left-wing heads exploding, we might have enough power to last the rest of the decade.

Bush now has slight lead in New Hampshire.

Quentin George says:

Washington DC - 90% for Kerry

Doesn't it remind you of Canberra?

JPB

I'm watching the coverage at c-span
Bush is currently winning New Hampshire by about 270 votes... thats closer than Florida '00

On the whole the result is looking mighty promising WOOT!!!

You are going to be waiting for awhile for Ohio...a number of counties still have 5 hour queues waiting to vote, after the polls closed. (Once you are in the queue before the cutoff time, you can vote.)

It's gonna be a long night...

must...keep...drinking...c'mon...george

I am doing my damnedest to get NH in the Bush column, but I can only go back and get in line to vote again so many times an hour....

Doesn't it remind you of Canberra?

Sure does. I happen to live in the People's Republic of the Australian Capital Territory. This is where "swinging" means you don't know whether to mark ALP on the Reps sheet first, or the Senate sheet first.

Landslide! Look out below!

Hmm:

Massachusetts 2000: Gore 59.80%, Bush 32.50%, Nader 6.42%

Massachusetts 2004 (74% reported): Kerry 62%, Bush 37%.

John F'ing Kerry hasn't even managed to keep the Gore/Nader voters in his home state, it sure looks like.

Can they call Florida yet?

87% of polls are in, and Bush is up 52-47.

I'll party my fu...Errr, celebrate when even the MSM figures Ohio and Florida are in Bush's bag...There's still a hanging chad bone or two flailing a disenfranchised wrist against the drawstring.

Oooooouuup...There goes Arkansas!

Those three red cherries in the Senate cocktail taste pretty damn sweet though.

Can they call Florida yet?

No, because the big counties (Dade, Palm Beach) haven't reported yet, and they are heavily Democratic.

Well, Quentin, you can always do the radical thing and vote 1 = Green and give the ALP your second preference.

That'd teach them bastards not to take your vote for granted! :-)

JPB

On channel 9 (Austraila), Hugh Rimmington has said a few times that Kerry is "still in it" and it's "not over just yet". To me, that sounds as if they believe that Bush will probably go on to win, but Kerry still does have some hope yet. So I guess Bush's chances are improving...

It's been good coverage so far. Very fair and even-handed.

ITV also saying that it's all incredibly close. Why don't they save money on staff costs and use robots to repeat the same information over and over again?

(Oh sorry, they already do).

Bill Neely, 'International Editor', is now giving Kerry a blow-job, in a profile that sounds like it was written by... Kerry. (One negative comment - Kerry seemed dull).

America, F--- YEAH!

earlier on i was debating whether or not to open the champers, not wanting to jinx anything... now that things are starting to look much more optimistic i've opened it.

i have been so anxious these past few days, sort of like before a big exam or a first date, but 100000 times more so.

The silent majority is at work...

I'll leave you with an Orwell quote which is very fitting (as all of his quotes are!):

"So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot." - George Orwell

It's looking good for the Bushmeister General.

Imagine if you took a bag of cats and threw it into a jet engine. That's the noise I expect the global 'liberal' 'intelligencia' to make when Bush wins.

It'll be like Alderbran getting blown up in Star Wars "A million voices crying out then silenced!" Only not silenced, in fact continuing to yammer on incessently and irritatingly for four more years.

Fuck you, Mike Moore! Ha ha!

Why do you Americans colour your right-wing party commie red on the electoral maps?

Gawdelpus I can see the demograph Barack Obama is pitching at and it's vomit-inducing: Gen X tools who think they invented parenthood. One of the males from his crowd up on the noisy stage with a small baby. Do they have to cart their sprogs around to prove they've got balls?

i think the people of michigan would be the last to be fooled by michael moore. to start with, he's always saying how he's a regular joe, a working class guy from flint - when in fact, he's from davidson, which is a much wealthier suburb.

in abe lincoln's words, you can fool some of the people all the time, you can fool all of the people for some time, but you can't fool all of the people all the time!

I've wondered that myself, and also why the Republicans are known as the GOP but the Democrats are just Dems or DNC

and why the US votes on Melbourne Cup Day.

GOP stands for Grand Old Party, and I don't remember where that came from.

Up until 2000, I believe, the Republican states were colored blue and the Dems were Red. Don't know why that changed.

BBC now conceding that if Bush wins Ohio, it'll be all over. (This is mainly because of an American studio guest who actually has a clue how the whole thing works and is keeping a close eye on the numbers coming in).

Quentin: Because Commie red is better than UN blue.

And DNC stands for Democrat National Committee, which is part of the Democrat party.

I still can't figure out why other countries don't celebrate July 4th like we do. Not even our friends the Brits.

Strange.

Mr. Bingley-- hope you found an acceptable coalition beverage. I seem to have settled for oceans of cheap Italian Greejio.

The Republican Party started in the 1850's, formed from a split in the Democratic party, whose members, primarily abolitionists, felt the Democrats were no longer representing their interests. They decided to call themselves Republicans because they felt their ideals were very similar to Jefferson's Democratic-Republican party. After the Civil War, the upstart Republicans were perceived as the party that won the war. Now firmly entrenched in the federal government, they were ironically dubbed the "Gallant Old Party," which soon became the "Grand Old Party," which was soon shortened to the familiar acronym "GOP."

Actually its the first Tuesday after the first monday in November, so it can be anywhere from the 2nd to the 7th (I think)
John Ray has a post up at dissectleft about why

if you look here, you'll see that actually those bigger counties have mostly reported in in florida.

Fox News just called the NC Senate seat for Burr over the Clintonista!!!!!!!

CNN.com has just given PA to Kerry.

I guess the gap was a bit too large for Bush to close, even though someone here has said the more Republican-leaning areas were yet to report.

Quentin, we're taking the color red back. Kind of like gay activists taking back the term "queer" and so on. [/SARCASM?]

Quentin: Commies don't 'own' red.
;^)

Clark County Ohio
Bush, George W. Republican 14,760 54.39%
Kerry, John F. Democratic 12,245 45.12%

HA! Kiss my ass Guardian!!!!

"Why do you Americans colour your right-wing party commie red on the electoral maps?"

Not Commie red...Patriot Red, as in the blood of the patriots who fought to keep this damn country out of the hands of ignorant so-called 'liberals'. :) I think it's most appropriate.

bruce - lots of peter lehman and wolf blass shiraz (and thank god i took tomorrow off work) for me and the wife is imbibing lindemans chardonney!

Mr. Bingley - will you have a virtual screwdriver with me? All I have in the fridge is vodka, and it's actually making the returns rather fun to watch in a lighthearted sort of way.

Daily Kos are worried. Very worried:

e.g. "MSNBC exit poll indicates that the youth did not vote. The 18-29 bracked voted the same this year as in 2000, while 30-44 group was down.

That's what's killing us."

Still too early to say that Mr Bush has won but I agree with nicki that the silent majority are at work. Good on you all!

sonetka - lighthearted or lightheaded? but of course...cheers!

I reckon you Americans should cast California adrift from the Union. Maybe it can form its own arrangement with Quebec, eh?

Thanks for the lesson, nicki. I love that about the internet. I've forgotten so much of what I learned in school, but there is always someone out there to fill me in.

e.g. "MSNBC exit poll indicates that the youth did not vote. The 18-29 bracked voted the same this year as in 2000, while 30-44 group was down. That's what's killing us."

So after all the Michael Moore stuff, the Rock the Vote, the etcetera...the young'uns STILL didn't bother to trot down to a booth?

Lazy bums.

Polly - no problem, i had actually looked that up about two days ago myself because i had forgotten!

Mr. Bingley - both, of course! I'm trying to think of a good portmanteau word. Lighthearded?

Oh, and what's all this about the youth not voting? My husband and I (we're both 25), like, *so* voted :). Of course, the votes were for Bush, but hey, you take what you can get.

JPB, some of us have been hoping that California would break off and slide into the sea as has been predicted for years. My only regret would be on behalf of President Reagan who had a fondness for the place.

Oh, and will they just CALL Florida already? All this 197-188 crap is freaking me out. (They just *had* to throw Cali in there to make it look close, didn't they?)

Sonetka, thanks for a great idea. I just poured myself a big glass of Florida orange juice, with a shot of Ketel...mmmmmm.

They called California with 0% of the polls returned according to Yahoo.

Hmmm!

It is but I'm having a frigging heart attack here. I need a higher alcohol drink.

Hey! Before anybody here breaks out the Sawzalls and starts sawing off Californicatorland, let some of us sane CA inhabitants know ahead of time--at the very least we can help.

How are things at The Rocks?

Kerry is winning pennsylvania by around 300,000 odd with 70% counted and they call it for him, Bush is winning florida by around 300,000 with 94% counted and they still wont call it...
WTF?????!!!!111eleven?

They'll deny it up to the bitter end, RhikoR. It's what they do.

They've already called PA for kerry

>They called California with 0% of the polls returned according to Yahoo.

1% according to C-Span!

Un-f**k***-believable! Opened up the ABC(Aust) web site to see the headline "Kerry wins one of key US states". They then list the states Kerry has won.

The only mention of Ohio and Florida is that "both are too close to call".

How hard are these clowns spinning.

Quentin George says:

They called California with 0% of the polls returned according to Yahoo.

Well, why not?

As you well know, no need to count the vote in the ACT either, and you can be certain the ALP has won!

California's not quite D.C, but it's no that much different.

John Edwards failed to deliver NC - or any other Southern State votes - to Kerry.

And he's also lost his vacated Senate seat to a Republican.

If Bush wins, the junior hairdo will have brought exactly squat to the effort.

Kerry, of course, would keep his Senate seat, given that he refused to resign it for the election.

So after all the Michael Moore stuff, the Rock the Vote, the etcetera...the young'uns STILL didn't bother to trot down to a booth?

Hey, I would've, but there's this lack of citizenship that posed a slight obstacle...'course, if I were a Kerry supporter, somebody probably could have gotten me on the voter rolls if I'd tried...

when they call fla, and if ohio stays as is, that'll be close to, what, 250 or so? c'mon!

sonetka, i noticed they took down the early call for washington...jeffs, did they finally find your vote?

Bought some Black Swan Shiraz on your Big Day.
Just put it in the fridge.
Maybe I'll give it an hour or so, but I'm beginning to think I'll be drinking it in celebration and not to get to sleep.
Hope you Aussies can hoist one with me.

Cybercast is calling it 207 to 199 to Bush.

That's pretty dam close. Isn't it?

Sonetka: The MSM is hopelessly biased I agree, but there's practical business reasons for them not conceding florida and ohio too early, too. Remember that what really matters to them above all is viewers, or hits on their website. Calling OH or FL too early may give people the impression the race is over and would lead to reduced viewers.

Biased, sure, but on this matter I'd wager it's the bottom line calling the shots. The fact it fits in with their general agenda, all the better.

This just in...

Moody's has upgraded Brett from Pessimistic to Cautiously Optimistic. Analysts advise that Brett might be way too volatile to put your money in.

Seriously, I'm feeling much better, and it's only partly due to the red wine. FL and OH look good. Damn, 94% precincts reporting in FL with Bush up by 5% and they won't call it? Perhaps somebody knows something.

Anyway, I might eat some serious crow and have to accept lots of Told Ya So's from my wife.

But all in all, I'm happy. Even happier when I see the panic at DU.

Maybe they won't call Florida, because the Democrats still want a chance to steal it?

i'm not american but i did persuade at least ONE, if not two, new york state voters to go for bush.
these kids had no idea about any policies and i let them know about the facts and dispelled any untruthful rumours they had heard in moore's movies.
obviously new york was safe for kerry but in a weird way, i feel a little proud of being able to contribute in this very very important election. probably the most important of my life, definitely the most important sofar (i'm still young-ish). this election does not only concern the USA, it's extremely important for the rest of the world!! global security depends on it.

Yes, it's probably up to the Dem's lawyers to allow the networks to call Florida.

National Review is agreeing with what I said earlier, that Kerry is doing worse than Gore.

Bush has won Florida, they just won't admit it.

After that, Ohio, Colorado, and New Mexico(all looking good), and it's a done deal baby.

That's not even counting Nevada(too soon), Wisconsin(looking good), or New Hampshire(toss-up).

By my bacl of the envelope calcs its 284evs to 254evs at least.

By my back of the envelope calcs its 284evs to 254evs at least.

Cybercast is calling it 207 to 199 to Bush.

That's pretty dam close. Isn't it?

CL, they've already called California, which boosts Kerry a lot, due to its 55 votes.

Things are looking grim for one fat Michiganian.

by the way, apart from fox news on australian foxtel, i'm watching the c-span returns which at least seem to update in real time.

C-SPAN: 2004 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS

The lead in FL seems too big to even try to steal, but who knows.

I agree with the other sentiments on here...Kerry seems to be doing worse than Gore. Wow.

And I eat serious crow given that it appears that the youth vote didn't turn out this year. On another note, I'm not sure I'm ready to not be considered part of the youth vote, but I just need to let go.

nicki, good on you. I have the opposite situation: convinced my wife of Bush's merits over Kerry, but she is not a US citizen.

So, a personal thanks for the helping hand !

Scotland here. BBC moveing towards a Bush majority. The coalition of the willing is holding, Howard, now Bush, and Blair in the next 6 months. In the Anglosphere you can fight wars to overthrow dictatorships and still get elected. Let all Tyrants take note, reform or die. F**K you indeed "Guardian", guardian of what exactly?

The hero of Cambodia is up a creek without a paddle.

carl in n.h. - glad to help, at least now i feel like i may have had some very insignificant influence on all this. i have been following the election coverage closely for the last few months. something that can't be said of any other 22 y/o non-american i know!

Florida now called for Bush!

Um...why is Washington still called for Kerry, now that Bush is leading 50-49?

Susan Estrich (on Fox News), who was downright giddy earlier, has said that Ohio is "everything" and is counting on one particular county ("Kayahoga"?) swinging the vote, cutting into Bush's 4% lead. Then something about urban OH precincts that would be coming in.

I hope she's wrong, but I hope that was spin. Definitely a different msg from earlier. The silly spin seems to have shifted parties.

She's also claiming the FL lead will be contested, "lots of questions", yada yada yada.

scotland, god bless ya.

as soon as i finish this bottle of australian loveliness i will move into some tasty murray mcdavid...yum.

'BBC moveing towards a Bush majority.'

And they took those exit polls so much to heart. Poor dears.

ABCs called Florida for Bush (about frelling time)

The margin in Ohio and Florida is all Bush. I'm calling it. Kerry is dead - 3 Nov 2004 12.44PM Perth WA Time. Go Bush!!!!. Please send your daughters to Australia to celebrate with me, but don't tell my wife.

Whatsisname on channel 9 has just called Florida for Bush does that count?

Kerry was always going to get Cali, that's a given. Florida and Ohio are the crucials, and they're looking good.

Florida is in the bag for Bush. Ohio is this year's Florida. If Bush takes it it's over.

...and what happened to resident troll charlemagne?

I'd feel a little sad if he's banned.

:)

From ABC America: Bush 237, Kerry 188.
I'd put my money on Bush to win.
Thank God.

Razor, sounds good to me, although I think I'm glad I don't have a daughter. ;-)

ABC just called FL for Bush, and CNN's Woodruff says her DNC contacts have conceded as well. As predicted, it all goes to OH. Given the number of potential-chad-hanging ballots used there today, let's just hope Bush's 4% lead holds so it doesn't head to court.

Richard Aubrey:I'll raise one (a VB) with you tonight. I hope when Mr Bush wins tonight he gives the MSM a flogging for their out-and-out bias.

Yep, and I hope Mr Kerry gets so deflated by his loss that he packs his bags and pisses off to France or some other degenerate old world country where the only thing not contaminated by the inhabitants touch is the soap, because they refuse to wash.

Drudge probably has the best map and most up to date i have seen and is also now posting republican sources claiming Ohio: "At 10:30 p.m., Bush was told by a senior adviser that Ohio would land in the GOP column and put him over the top with at least 274 electoral votes, the sources said"

Brett, she's talking about Cuyahoga County, Cleveland area, big rust-belt area that lost a lot of jobs. It could hurt Bush, but maybe not. Time will tell.

According to www.repubblica.it, ABC has called Florida for Bush.

I was beginning to feel quite confident but that has taken as dent in the past 10 minutes.
According to c-span Bush is leading in enough undecided states to win, but if only one of these (not including washington which is too close/early) goes to Kerry then he will lose.
He is only winning New Mexico by 12,000 odd and Kerry is gaining

Yeah, Cuyahoga County is really the Democratic heavy hitter in Ohio, it is also essentially the arch nemesis of my home county. Cuyahoga is in the north east of the state, home to Cleveland, Hamilton County is the extreme southwest of Ohio, home to Cincinnati. Cuyahoga is bigger, and it will go for Kerry, Hamilton County will almost certainly go for Bush, though I wouldn't guess by how much.

Sho - Understandable, but I can't say this shredding of my nerves is exactly encouraging me to return to the networks come November 3rd (or 4th, for all of you whose time zones are significantly ahead of ours). Sure, they get great ratings for one night, but do they really want their viewers to subsequently associate the words "CNN" (or whatever) and "intense pain"?

I need another screwdriver. We also have some pumpkin pie in the fridge, and i should probably eat something, but I think that that combination plus an unexpected sighting of Kerry's lamprey grin might do me in.

Also saw somewhere on TV coverage that the Carolina senate seat vacated by Edwards has been claimed by Republicans? Wonder how dems leader Daschle is doin in Dakota?

Bush media guru woman Karen Hughes has just spoken to Dan Rather on CBS and all but claimed victory including quoting the dark conspirator Karl Rove as saying: "close but optimistic"

With roughly a third of the vote in, Cuyahoga is going almost 70% for Kerry, with Hamilton slightly over 50% for Bush.

How strange is this that I'm posting these statistics on an Australian blog? UK next!!

pumpkin pie on top of a screw driver could get messy. i mean, you and the hubby are still young enough to power through it, but i would suggest...another screwdriver.

just a thought.

Rebecca, thanks. I've heard that if Bush loses OH, he has OH Republicans to blame. I don't know much about it, but apparently OH is largely run by tax-happy Republicans, and I know OH has been hit by job-loss. Looks good thus far, though.

Still, Susan sounded rather desperate.

Lofty, the wife is talking about Machu Picchu next summer.
Maybe she'll settle for Ayres Rock.

BBC finally talk to some GOP people, but then cut straight to a PLO spokewoman.

The people at Chris Shiel's blog must be going nuts

Mr. Bingley - yes, I was thinking only if the election started to look really bad (Kerry sweeping to victory etc) the pumpkin pie would come into play. Then I'd be in too much pain to really care about the impending administrative disaster.

But for now - another screwdriver it is!

Ohio freaking me out.

PLO spokewoman.

PLO!?! I didn't know they were running candidates. What bearing do they have on the election?

With 66.72% of the vote in, Bush still leads by 52.31% in Ohio.

theresites - with 67% reporting, CSPAN says Thune leads Daschle 50.5 to 49.5%.

But 2 years ago he was leading Johnson by what seemed an insurmountable lead with one Indian reservation precinct to report, and (shockingly) lost. He chose not to contest the fraud and to concentrate on 2004. Let's hope it pays off. After Bush, the wife and I are rooting for Thune more than anybody.

ohio...new mexico...wisconsin...oy, i'm putting quite a dent into the wine cellar tonight

I just talked to a girl I know who's in the Army National Guard and is stationed in Iraq. I asked her if she got to vote, and she said, "Yes, for Bush. I know only one soldier who voted for Kerry, and I know a LOT of soldiers here." So don't believe the crap that you hear about our military not liking Bush!

Wisconsin trending back to Kerry. :( Just checked the by-county stats...still plenty of votes to be counted in Milwaukee County and Dane County (Madison), and the one big and one semi-big conservative counties (Waukesha and Racine) probably aren't going to make up for it...

just overheard a a bon jovi song on bbc world that is on at john kerry's party venue.

"We´ve got to hold on to what we´ve got,

it doesn´t make a difference,

If we make it or not,

We´ve got each other and that´s a lot"

ha ha ha
the people on chris' blog are conceding defeat.

Colorado 63% reporting bush has jumped to a 54% lead.

Ohio 74% reporting Bush 51-Kerry 48.

Still 52-48% for Bush in Ohio with 72% of precincts reporting. No movement yet at all towards Kerry.

The Bushies are feeling pretty confident now about Ohio according to Fox News. I think the fat lady is warming up.

Richard Aubrey, I don't know where Machu Picchu is, but Ayres Rock is fine. Just a shame about the long flight to get over here. But on the positive side, there's plenty of time for drinking on the flight!

Scott Campbell at Blithering Bunny, what are the media tarts doing talking to a PLO representative about the election?

Lofty - he's probably an "election observer" dispatched by the UN.

Gap closing slightly in OH, which is where it all sits right now.

But Bush is still leading in NM (can't wait to hear from Richardson if Bush takes that state) and trending better in NV.

OH + NV, or OH + NM = Bush for 4 more.

(WI still fairly close)

Brett - at least I'm polite and asked, most men don't. Drinking age here is 18, too! Just in case the girls were wondering.

I've just estmated a minimum 271 EV for Bush on C-Span results. I excluded the really close states.

>Scott Campbell at Blithering Bunny, what are the media tarts doing talking to a PLO representative about the election?

There's been quite a few Arab speakers giving the 'Arab' POV on British TV tonight. The PLO etc. always get articulate, well-groomed, good-looking young women to represent them on British TV. No crazy unshaven towel-heads wielding guns for the BBC. (No normal moderate Arab people for that matter).

Sonetka, the UN may as well have sent Bin Hiding as well to oversee the election. Oh that's right he's incommunicado in some cave or other.

Lofty - if they could find him, I bet they would. Just to get a balanced view, you know :).

[drinks]

[shakes in fear]

fox just called colorado for bush, putting his total at 246 over 195. with ohio, the president will have 266 and he'll be pretty damn close to victory.

actually, it looks like the gap has widened slightly to nearly 15,000 in ohio. yippee!

Looks like Bush won Clark County OH ... I wonder how the Guardian feels about that?!

Woohoo! C'mon Ohio, you can do it.

(I admit it; I partly want us to get Ohio for nasty personal reasons. A very ex-boyfriend of mine - obviously from my idiotic, pre-husband college days - is a MoveOn, foaming-at-the-mouth Kedwards supporter living in Ohio. I will admit to hoping for shameless joy in contemplating his misery tomorrow morning, should things work out).

[declines to drink toast, for fear of jinxing it]

>it looks like the gap has widened slightly to nearly 15,000 in ohio.

Actually, C-Span make it about 130 000 (with 79% counted).

Judy Woodruff on CNN looks like she's either just cried or she's just about to...Voice cracking.

CNN still running big scare headlines about how Ohio is Too Close To Call. Guys, it's late, even for those of us who are stateside. Stuff the ratings and just call it already.

Anyone got any inside dope on Nevada? It's very close, with only 15% counted.

Sonetka - I'll toast with you, at the very least to spite those stupid, clueless ex-boyfriends!

I'm signing off to go watch Rather/Brokaw/Jennings eat sh---er, crow.

scott cambell-

er, my alcohol-besodded fingers missed a zero on the keyboard...

Melissa -

*clink*

May their dreams wither in the harsh light of day.

Scott - I'm a little surprised at the NV results thus far. The nuclear waste dumpsite issue might hurt him there. I'd still be surprised to see NV go blue, especially given Las Vegas being such a big terrorist risk. Let's hope OH and NM make NV a non-issue.

Ohio must be Bush's. Another 3% counted since I last posted, from 79% to 82%, and the gap has narrowed from 130 000 to 127 000, but even at that rate the gap is way too wide.

Fox just called Ohio for Bush!!

Bush wins OH. *beams a smile* I -love- this country!

Bush still at 51-48.

82% counted.

Go Ohio!

That's 150,000 in Ohio; down to 120,000 with maybe 600,000 to count.

Fox has called it for Dubya.

He needs 3 electoral votes to secure re-election.

Looking OK lads.

Sonetka - *clink*!!

I feel embarrassed that I even have to ask at this point, but how many electoral votes does OH have?

CNN just called Oregon for Kerry. Big flippin' surprise there.

>scott cambell - er, my alcohol-besodded fingers missed a zero on the keyboard...

You drunkbloggers disgust me. Thanks God I stayed sober.

(Christ, why didn't I think to get some beers in?)

Oh, this is precious. Dan Rather is doing his best to show how Kerry could -still- win it. His poor hand is shaking as he points to the different states on the map.

OH has 20 electoral votes. Fox is calling it for Bush.

Just checking in......I see things are looking good for President Bush, even if those flippin' colonists from California gave Washington to Kerry.

Wait!

Is that Mrs. Edwards singing an aria?

hmmm, scott you can tell i'm drinking aussie wine, because if it was aussie beer then i'd never have missed the 'p'...

*hic*

According to CNN's running tally, with 72% of the national vote counted, Bush is leading Kerry by 3 million votes in the popular count.

Another stolen election, ladies and gentlemen!

I'm looking forward to going to the airport tomorrow and waving goodbye to all the folks who promised to move to France if Bush won again.

Fox just called Ohio for GWB!! It's over

Sonetka - OH has 20.

The best site (IMHO) is here:

http://network.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/election_night_2004/us_map_govsenhouse/index.html?SITE=CSPANELN&SECTION=POLITICS

Twenty votes, excellent.

But I'm not getting out the *good* vodka until I see that ticker hit 270.

John Kerry US Navy (Retired)

Okay, now just one goal...getting Bush to 300+ EVs so the Democrats don't even think about litigating individual states.

Another stolen election, ladies and gentlemen!

We're getting better at it, too. By 2012, we should be able to steal 55% of the popular vote, easy.

obviously, bbc world says that depiste fox's call, ohio is "still a knife's edge" because a few provisional ballots haven't been counted yet.

WOO HOO! Bush got Ohio! Yeah!

Makes up for my forlorn vote in Washington.

God, I need a drink. Quick, someone hoist one for me!

Oh wow...Carville on CNN just basically conceded. Paula Zauhn (sp?) just tried to get him to take it back, but he wouldn't.

Novak agreed. ;-)

ITV say that Bush needs either Alaska or Nevada to win, completely forgetting New Mexico.

done, jeffs!

john micklethwaite from the now-left-wing the economist has just realized on sky news that europeans will be pissed off when they wake up...

Jeff - asked and answered.

*clink*

(For the record, I'm not exactly drunkblogging. I can make my screwdrivers last a long time. But they certainly lend a warm air of happy surreality to the evening)

Okay, now just one goal...getting Bush to 300+ EVs so the Democrats don't even think about litigating individual states.

Sorry, PW, but lawyers (and especially Democratic lawyers) need no excuse to file a lawsuit. Note the "intimidation by rolled eyes" suit in South Dakota.

Dem Demolition

BBC said Ohio on knief's edge ??? 52% to Bush???

Me thinks many liberals to be committing Hari-Kiri

I can understand people still being cautiously optimistic about it. Maybe a greater understanding of the US election system would make me that way, too. But I think there's no doubt: Dubya's got it sewn up.

The reason: Terrorism is THE big ussue. He's the only guy with a clear, morally driven attitude to it, and a plan to defeat it. And he has a spine.

Kerry (like many of his supporters) is basically a moral mollusc. He's all over the shop like a squid on a rock.

Novak -- "This is a conservative country"

"too conservative for the Democratic Party as presently constituted."

Amen.

Results updated every 6 minutes. BTW, you have to preview your post in order to post it.

AHHHHHHHH!!

Thank you, Sonetka and Mr. Bingley! I feel much better.

I chatted with my niece, who also live in Washington; she and her husband voted in Washington. So we commiserate in company. [sniff]

266.......Go Bush!

Drudge has just posted: "BUSH WINS"

just heard on CNN - "this country is too conservative for the democrats as constituters."
watch out for those excuses yet to come from the dems, i bet the OBL tape will be the democrats' #1 excuse for why bush won. furthermore, i bet that it won't have been kerry's own fault in the least.

The race has tightened a bit in Ohio ... Bush leads by 101,000 with 87% of the votes counted.

Sonetka - I didn't think I was drunkblogging, but the wife and I just did a wine inventory, and since the general mood of the election turned, we've consumed an impressive amount. I think I need to logoff soon.

Scott - I don't follow that news. OH is in the bag, so Bush needs to win either NV (he's down b/c of the nuke waste issue but it's a usual red state) or NM (he's up by 5% with 83% reporting). I just don't see it going any other way.

Hell, even Carville has conceded!!!

First Howard, then Bush. Great last few weeks.

Excuse me, that virtual alcohol is affecting my typing. I meant to say, "My niece and her husband voted for Bush".

hic!

Bush is shitting it in in AK - 62:35 with 44% of the vote counted.

NM to be declared for Bush any minute now.

It's all over. I feel so sorry for the SMH, The Age, the ABC and all the other assorted losers...

Well done, America! I never did think you could elect that weasel Kerry!

I'm looking forward to having a celebratory toast tonight. Cheers!

JPB

Kerry just pegged back 40,000 frickin' votes in Ohio, in going from 84% to 87% counted.

Lead now down to approx. 100k from 140k. Yikes.

Iowa is really, really close.

I sympathize, JeffS. Husband and I voted for Bush in Cook friggin' County, Illinois. Talk about one grand gesture of futility. I also voted for Keyes, not because I think he's sane, but because I'm tired of Barack Obama being the Second Coming.

Factoid I haven't heard anyone say yet; It is possible, though increasingly unlikely, that Kerry could turn Ohio around.

It is basically impossible that even if he does so, he also makes up enough ground to win the popular vote too. (He's three full percentage points behind and there aren't many states left.) If Kerry wins, look for a whole lot of people to start scraping off bumperstickers which imply that presidents who win that way aren't legitimate....

Oh Christ, is Ohio going to be the new Florida.

NOOOOOOOO.....

"too conservative for the Democratic Party as presently constituted."

Unfortunately, I bet the message they're going to take away from that isn't that they need to realign themselves with the voters, but that Kerry didn't phony it up enough as a centrist. But who cares, it's gonna be another 30 months until we need to sit through another mindnumbingly stupid Dem primary full of unreconstructed leftists again.

Auntie ABC in Australia just interrupted the afternoon kid's program to announce that some US networks are giving Ohio to President Bush, and that it is now basically all over.

I am happy to report that, unlike some US reporters apparently, the lovely Juanita Philips did not appear to be close to tears!

I'm thinking of writing the SMH, Graudain, NYT, etc, a short message that would go something like this.....

I don't know if you follow the news, but I thought you might want to know that President Bush has been re-elected. If you have a problem with this, you might consider migrating to another planet. God knows your publication's content shows that you could be from another world, so why not remove all doubt?

Drudge has called it for Bush, but I think Ohio is still in play.

>The race has tightened a bit in Ohio ... Bush leads by 101,000 with 87% of the votes counted.

That's a big last-minute swing, but still not big enough. Ohio is Bush's.

OK everyone, enough fighting, it's all over and BUSH HAS WON

Fox just called Alaska for Bush. 269!!!!

Thanks all you Aussies for your support, over the last three years and especially tonight.

I'm waiting for CNN to call it, because God knows they're slow as January molasses to call things in Bush's favour. (This being the same news-site that left the forged-documents story up for FORTY-EIGHT hours after the shiatstorm began. They are SLOW). If they call Ohio for Bush, it's pretty much done. I hope.

Well, NBC and Fox have both called OH for Bush. He's still 116,000 up with 88% reporting (per CSPAN).

I was the party's biggest pessimist the entire past week, up until about 4 hours ago. I refuse to go back now!

The tears have begun to flow over at "Democratic Underground".

If I read this right from Fox, there are 58 EV still up in the air. With Kerry at 211, the best he could do is tie with Bush. Not good, but there's a couple of red states in there (NV, NM).

It ain't over yet, but the end is in site. Bush just has to take one state.......

"First Howard, then Bush. Great last few weeks."

Now I hope we make it a conservative hattrick with Michael Howard in Britain next year. Then all the countries I care about will have sensible governments.

Fingers crossed.

Would anybody else find it screamingly funny if the Guardian's Operation Clark County cost the Dems the election in Ohio? ROFLMAO

holy shit is cnn spinning on ohio for kerry.

To my patch of ground, George Washington's rebel army evacuated New York. Down the road they made their daring Christmas 1776 attack. The hills and valleys out my front door was where they lived and died in the desperate winter of 1779-80.

This election was about national existence. It was about whether we would keep faith with men like Washington who gambled fortunes and risked the noose, or put ourselves in the hands of Jacques Chirac, Kofi Annan, Pinch Sulzberger and the rest of the globalist gang that thinks it knows better for us. It was about keeping up the fight to be able to pass on their inheritance to our kids.

To hell with them and their global test. Can we get the one more point we need for a passing grade on our American test?

Dave Smith
in "Purple" northwest NJ

I agree with Retread...no matter how the election goes tonight, a GIANT THANKS to Australia. I've monitored this blog for a while, especially during the recent Aussie elections. Australia has been the greatest ally for the longest time, and I can't express enough appreciation.

Just went through the Ohio by-county data on CNN...if the trends hold in all the counties which haven't reported 100% yet, Bush should pick up about 30,000 across the state despite Cuyahoga County still about one third away from being fully counted. They'll have to raise a lot of dead to make up for that.

88% counted in Ohio, and it's back up 116 000 lead for Bush. It's over.

By my calculations there are about 600 000 votes left in Ohio. To make up 116 000 votes would be astonishing. Kerry would have to win 360 000 - 240 000 - about 67% of all the remaining votes. Ain't gonna happen, even if all the areas that are left lean Kerry.

HEY! DU is shutting off access to unregistered users due to "...an unusually high level of traffic..."

Can someone cut-and-paste the whines? I'm curious as to who wants to migrate to France.

PJ, only 1600 votes diff in Clark. Nice thought though.

It's a pleasure Retread. Congratulations to Mr Bush.

And, fellow Aussies, won't it be a treat to see Kerry O'Brien looking as sour as a prune for the second time in three weeks and four days?

Mr. Bingley - sick, innit? Don't know why I keep going back there. It's like watching some morbid disease spin out of control - you can't help but be fascinated by the sheer weirdness.

I would like to echo the thanks to the Aussies. I'm not 100% sure of this yet, but am hopeful. (I want to stay up until EVERY network has confirmed Bush winning - don't want to wake up to a nasty surprise like in '00. Thank God I have the day off tomorrow).

From news.com.au:

"The Kerry camp still believes it can close the gap in Florida because most of the state's 1.5 million postal ballots have yet to be counted."

F...ing dreamers..

And let me add a big THANK YOU to Australia as well, a true ally and friend! Good on you, mate!

Carville's conceded.

Drudge is calling the election for Bush.

BBC has bush 249 kerry 221.
CNN has Bush 249 Kerry 200.

Its looking good.

Daily Kos sang froid:

"MARKOS! FUCK THIS SHIT! (none / 0)

PUT UP A FUCKING HEADLINE! DRUDGE IS A FUCKING PUSSY FOR PUTTING UP HIS HEADLINE! WHO THE FUCK IS HE?! PUT YOUR OWN HEADLINE AND DO NOT QUIT! DO NOT BACK DOWN!
THIS IS AT BEST A TIE SO FAR!

CALL SOME FOLKS AND TELL THEM NOT TO CONCEDE!

DO NOT JUST FUCKING LIE DOWN MAN!!!THIS IS NOT OVER!!

THEY KNOW OHIO IS NOT DONE AND YET THE FUCKING RAM IT IN BY CALLING IT!

FUCK NO!"

For your schadenfreude pleasure, I give you Democratic Underground.

JPace (xxx posts) Tue Nov-02-04 10:59 PM
Response to Original message
25. The thought of looking at AWOL and his regime
Edited on Tue Nov-02-04 11:00 PM by JPace
continue their dismantling of our country for another
four years is so abhorant it makes one feel ill. Its
like trying to kill a damed vampire....we shoot and
shoot and the thing just keeps rising up and coming
at you again.

Hmmm...Iowa could still go Bush.

MSNBC just called Karl Rove a "political genius" - dead right!

WhoooHooo! Wolf Blitzo just called New Hamper for Kerry.

"Sniff"

JPB - there's an image; Kerry as Don Quixote. Only I like the Don better.

"To dreeeeamm...the impossible dreammmm...
To fight the unbeatable Cong
To bear with unbearable spouuuuses....
To run where Dr. Dean could not go...

Stop your frantic barking, Trimalchio. It's over. Now YOU get over it.

>"The Kerry camp still believes it can close the gap in Florida because most of the state's 1.5 million postal ballots have yet to be counted."

The difference there is 360 000 votes. So they'd have to get, say, 950 000 to 550 000 of the postal vote to win, which is almost two-thirds. As JPB says, they're dreaming.

Its all over red rover,

Bush in

Now, the winners list

1 Michael Moore - ambassador to Afghanistan....

Stop your frantic barking, Trimalchio. It's over. Now YOU get over it.

He's quoting Kos.

waaaaayahaaaah !! ONYA SEPPOS
now get back in ere and join us in the left-bashin. been doin it fer 3 weeks here in oz and he novelty aint worn off yet. plus theyll be sookin with renewed vigour after the US result. ahhh I luv this shit
think im a bit pissed though. a beer might cure it. cheers

Sheesh, the lefties can't even figure out how to kill a vampire. Maybe they are allergic to garlic, and think a cross is politically incorrect.

Thanks, Bruce!

I shall have fun all week reading and listening to the whining and crying of Soros, Moore, MSM, the pundits.. GLORIOUS!!!!

i can't wait to see and read all the reactions by the liberals. not just in the US, but all over the world. this will be absolutely priceless.

and finally sticking to my beliefs in the past 4 years will start paying off now that i can gloat!!!! i'm looking forward to seeing every single one of the many leftie people i have encountered in recent times and rub it in. damn wacked out lefties always thinking they're on a moral high horse, always assuming everyone else hates bush too... in the simpsons' nelson muntz's words: haw haw!

Dear Spork,

Please note the quotation marks (""). That means someone else said it (www.dailykos.com). You can find "sang froid" in the dictionary.

-Trimalchio

This is the Counterpunch Kerry celebration thread...Right?

sonetka - my bride and i are sitting here chortling with glee, watching them squirm

OHIO - Bush up by 130000 with 89% counted.

IOWA - Bush up by 4300 woth 90% counted and coming on strong.

NEW MEXICO - Bush up by 22000 wit 87% counted

WISCONSIN - Bush down by 26500 with 74% counted

He's home guys !!!!!

Bruce, maybe you can give those Dems Underground a few hyperlinks to the Australian leftie blogs. If they go through the archived posts there of about a month or so ago, they can find plenty of inspiration for their whining!

Jeff - Well, you can shoot a vampire to death. But you have to use silver bullets, and you know how ecologically unfriendly those are :).

Ohio is, I admit, flipping about dramatically. But now it's back up to 130 000 lead for Bush with 89% counted.

rog, do not send Moore to Afghanistan. They have enough problems.

No, I suggest Iran as a suitable location. He can bring a suitable supply of pig's knuckles and pork rinds with him. Or maybe Saudi Arabia.

Wanted to add - go Iowa! I used to live there and retain a fondness for the place, despite their repellent governor. Go, good citizens of Powesheik and Johnson Counties! Go, citizens of Des Moines! Cast off the blue-state status which was so narrowly yours last time!

Damn it, I want to be proud of at least *one* state I've lived in. Can't count Utah, because we're not moving there until December.

"PLO!?! I didn't know they were running candidates."

They certainly are running a candidate, his name is John Kerry

By my count, Kerry will win all the remaining states except Nevada and Iowa, which both have only several thousand votes between Bush & Kerry.

The JeffS - and he can team up with Osama bin Laden, his favourite movie reviewer, while he's in Iran.

"THIS IS AT BEST A TIE SO FAR!"

That particular moonbat doesn't seem to realize what happens if the electoral college is tied, hehe.

Actually, Sonetka, I find it ironic for the left, the nominal "anti-war, anti-violence" group, to use that analogy.

But you're right, they probably won't use silver bullets because they not eco-friendly. Oh, and they have to be blessed by a priest first, another problem for them, no?

Trimalchio, My sincerest apologies. It's late and I'm very tired. I should have noticed the quotes in your message. Please forgive.

Sorry, the REAL JeffS.. this champagne is working wonders ;) at least two drunk bush-supporters in australia.

Let's just hope there's no bitter and twisted legal action that keeps the result hanging (and my winnings hanging at Centrebet heh heh..).

Can't wait to see all my soft (politically) friends who couldn't BELIEVE i was betting on 'that man'!

Dan Rather: "We would rather be last than wrong". He's still desperately searching for math that will make it work for Kerry.

allow me to explian i meant another beer. sorry its now 5:30 or something in australia and I am on beer number 5 and a half. congratulations to the U S of a. well done. give us a minute while i try and remember what i was celebrating

That's cool, nicki. Party on!

Oi! CNN sez "Projections are outstanding for only a handful of states with Ohio and its 20 Electoral College votes being the key, and where there is not yet enough information to make a projection."

Is this the spin you were discussing?

Looks like Daschle is going to lose in SD as well - the second most important race in America tonight. It's not the Dems' night, is it?

Spork, No offense taken.

That popping sound wafting across the suburbs of the US isn't just champagne bottles being opened, it's also the occasional leftie head exploding.

has anyone succesffully managed to get into to DU ? there is denial on an industrial scale going on there :

"I tried earlier, and no one wanted to believe it. Maybe now you do? *THE FIX IS IN.*

If we're afraid to call it as is, there's no chance we'll ever see democracy or a Democrat elected in this country every again. PLEASE WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES.

Here are some facts:

(1) All exit polls had Kerry ahead in in FL and OH.

(2) All Democrats were completely confident, based (I'm sure) on internal polls. Kennedy said Kerry won. He was sure. So was the DNC chair, who referred to Kerry as president-elect.

(3) Canadian TV (CTV) said it will be an early landslide (their word) for Kerry. They had inside information.

(4) Exit polls have always been correct -- until they pulled Florida away from Gore, and Bush took power by force. Since then no exit poll has ever been any good. Coincidence?

(5) In the midterm elections, the VERY SAME thing happened as tonight. Polls nationwide favored Democrats, and then the GOP won every state -- and the exit polls vanished!!! Pollsters had never been so wrong. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME MACHINES WERE USED.

(6) We all know who owns the Diebold (Diabolical) voting machines. And it ain't the Democrats.

(5) Every historical predictor pointed to a Kerry victory: the large turnout, Bush's approval ratings, the economy, and the fact that he consistently polled under 50 or even 48%. No president had ever won with such low numbers.

And then magically everything reversed itself and Bush wins. Do you guys believe this is for real?

I don't know what we can do. But at the very least I suggest:

-- Write letters to every paper and every person you know, outlining the facts above (plus everything you can add about the electronic voting machines -- lots of info out there).

-- Write Kennedy and others who KNOW Kerry had the real vote. We need them to come forward and speak out.

-- We need strategy. We can't just go and protest and be angry. It will look like we can't accept defeat. We need to get our facts and target our message. Or else forget about this country.

Ideas? Drop me a line.

this is too funny

CNN is still soldiering on bravely hoping that Ohio will somehow flip for Kerry. They're talking breathlessly about the provisional ballots as if they're going to swing 100,000+ votes to Kerry.

on BackPages Blog:

Ohio has blown back out for Bush: 51.03/48.47, with 89.6 counted. Is that sound I hear a Fat Lady clearing her throat?
Posted by cs on November 3, 2004 05:39 PM

Well Fox and NBC now are the fat lady's support act - both project Ohio for Bush.
Posted by tb on November 3, 2004 05:43 PM

Face it. The minute that first plane flew into the Twin Towers, Bush had won his second term. With the media that exists today in the US, this was all but inevitable. Those gallant folk in the US tried their best, but it was not enough to stave off the onslaught that is right-wing Amerika.
Posted by JC on November 3, 2004 05:43 PM

Time to start the Condi Rice '08 Campaign!!!

HOO-EEE! It's time for big hats, beer and beligerence to bolshies!

Oh, man, I just noticed this. The Senate has at least 52 Republicans, a gain of 1, with 3 undecided. The House is projected to maintain the GOP advantage.

And Kerry just took MN.

Randal - CNN says Kerry is "refusing to concede" until Ohio is no longer in play. Christ only knows what that means. I'm guessing that "no longer in play" means "when the Democrats win it."

Then again, the Dem machine doesn't exactly sound supportive of Kerry. He doesn't make a very good golden boy.

Ohio - Yahoo have 93%, with Bush leading by 104 000.

MOik, I hope that champagne is Australian sparkling and not Frog fizz.

And also - how could so many media outlets get it so wrong? All they had to do is ask Gerard Daffey. Gerard Daffey knows everything. Why didn't they ask him?

Let\\\'s start a collection for all the one-way tickets for those who said they\\\'d leave if Bush wins again. I\\\'ll contribute $20.

Here's the latest polls from the states still in contention as of 1:43 am EST (www.newsday.com):

Ohio: Bush, 2.585 million -2.483 million (92% precincts reporting)
Wisconsin: Kerry, 1.142 million - 1.114 million (79% precincts reporting)
Iowa: Bush, 700,000 - 693,000 (92% precincts reporting)
New Mexico: Bush, 253,400 - 230,700 (92% precincts reporting)
Nevada: Bush, 261,000 - 260,000 (49% precincts reporting)
Hawaii: Kerry 55,000 - 69,000 (0% precincts reporting)
Michegin: Kerry, 1.167 million - 1.562 million (71% precincts reporting).

Based on the current polls, Ohio and New Mexico are in the bag for Bush, which gives him a minimum of 274 electoral votes. If he takes all the states he is currently leading in, he'll have 286 electoral votes.

Last count, Bush was leading the popular vote by three million. Let's hope he gets it. And honestly, if the shoe was on the other foot and Kerry was about to clinch the nomination , I'd be saying the same thing. The job of running this country is tough enough without over half of the opposition claiming you stole the election.

Just got home here in Oz - well done guys! Heard a rumour the goodies won Clark County - can anyone confirm or deny please.

"colorado thistle" in comments at Kos:

"Should we march in the streets? Should we protest from now until 2008? Should we accept a result that is so fricken wrong? I say march, fight, and, if you're not like me, that wants to move to New Zealand right now, get out and protest peacefully, go out and make this president resign."

This is too good. Onya Bush.

the "nomination"?! I meant the election. I really need to go to bed.

ps: current tallies at Newsday.com have Bush padding his lead in Ohio and Iowa, and Kerry retaking the lead in Nevada.

fuster, i would humbly suggest that polls only show how a small group of people say that voted, as opposed to how they actually voted.

Well, the Dems are currently down 107,000 in Ohio and that's not going to change much anymore, since the few Democratic counties not finished counting yet are at best delivering another 10,000 to Kerry and that's going to be offset by Warren County (Bush up by 34,000 votes there and still 21% to count, so that's about +7,000 for him there).

I guess the Dems and CNN are putting their hopes on the 130,000 or so provisional ballots (and a challenge to get military absentees disqualified, I guess). Still, those provisionals would have to break 80-20 for Kerry, and I find that hard to believe, even with the fix being in.

with 96% in ohio's back out to 120,000!

Graboy, Here you go:
Clark
Bush, George W. Republican 34,444 (50.96%)
Kerry, John F. Democratic 32,824 (48.56%)
Badnarik, Michael 183 (0.27%)
Peroutka, Michael Anthony 144 (0.21%)
Cobb, David Keith-WI 0 (0.00%)
Schriner, Joe -WI 0 (0.00%)
Duncan, Richard A.-WI 0 (0.00%)
Parker, John T.-WI 0 (0.00%)
Harris, James -WI 0 (0.00%)
Zych, Thomas F.-WI 0 (0.00%)
Precincts Reporting: 100.00% (67,595)

CNN is calling Ohio a 'green state'. Gimme a break.

Only 1000 in it in Nevada, with 54% counted. Bush up by 27 000 with 93% counted in New Mexico - looking good there. And Iowa: Bush 11 000 ahead with 94% counted - but that's close, because there are more voters there than in New Mexico.

I know Bush doesn't need all these states, but it would be good to see a big a win as possible.

a DU'er spoke thusly:

(3) Canadian TV (CTV) said it will be an early landslide (their word) for Kerry. They had inside information.

Ignoring the hilarity of putting your faith on freakin' Canadian television to get the US election right, what exactly does it mean they "had inside information" into an election whose votes hadn't been counted yet? Is he insinuating that CTV knew about Democrats' plans to steal the election, but those darned Repubs just stole it back somehow?

Man, these people need killin', as they'd say down in Texas...

Mr. Bingley - Good for Ohio. The "green state" stuff is hilarious.

Still cheering for Iowa.

Congratulations, people!
My personal take is that a lot of people felt like me -- not madly in love with Bush, but totally disgusted with the 4 years of psychotic hate-spewing from the left.
I guess we can say thanks the Eminem, Yassir Arafat, Bin Ladin, Mike Moore and assorted hate spammers to convince the "swing voters".

From Drudge:

Boston, MA - Kerry-Edwards campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill released the following statement:

"The vote count in Ohio has not been completed. There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio."

According to the Corner, Kerry is not making a move to make any kind of speech, concession or otherwise.

Methinks he believed his own hype. "Me, lose the election? Impossible! I am the great and powerful JOHN!!!"

For Chrissake, dude, give it up and go home. You know Theresa would rather be living in one of her Swiss villas than in that poky old White House. Do it for the family. Please?

Speaking of Arrafat, should Dubya pull it off (so close, YES!), who wants to bet on him retiring in Paris to live out his golden years, out of range of the IDF, and protected by the French?

I doubt there are actually that many mail in votes. But if Bush can maintain a 150000 vote lead, it won't matter if there are 250000 mail ins.

JamesUK

Thank you. Sheer bliss. Off to the fridge (which was packed full this morning).

Teddy 'the swimmer' Kennedy is reportedly consulting with Kerry.

Oh, God, Ohio in 2004 is what Florida was in 2000. If Jesse Jackson shows up there, I'm gonna puke.

uh-oh, sounds like trouble at mill, from DU:

Posted by SkinnerAdded to homepage Wed Nov 03rd 2004, 01:59 AM ET The Kerry Campaign says they think they won Ohio. John Kerry isn't conceding. Neither am I. And neither should you. This is Florida 2000 all over again. But they're not going to steal it this time. No fucking way. CNN says there are 600,000 ballots still to be counted in Ohio. Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell says it could take 11 days to count them. The entire political and media establishment is going to Ohio. This is it, people. The moment of truth. This time, I am not going to sit here in my comfy house and watch this on TV. This time, I'm not going to sit back and watch a bunch of Republican congressional staffers in button-down shirts and loafers shut down the process. Fuck that. I have a tent. I've got my health. I've got a car. Now that the campaign is over, I've got a shitload of free time. I have a website that gets tens of thousands of people every day. I am going to Ohio. Who is with me?

Are these morons really going to contest Ohio?

Free the oppressed and fight for the weak, and the left and the media will villify, and try to destroy you.
I wonder what Jesus' chance of survival would be should he happen to pop up about now?

I think it's time to make what Dubya called the One Finger Victory Salute. So, to Michael Moore, George Soros, the DU, MoveOn.org, Euroweenies, the MSM, the East Coast Euroweenie wannabes, and all the rest: here's a big, fat, brass-plated One Finger Victory Salute just for you!

Even less than if the Romans were occupying North America, truss.

Graboy,
:) Goodonyer

Oh Christ. Please God, let them come to their senses, if they have any.

Though I'll admit that one of the funniest sights of 2000 was watching Bill Daley prancing around, bleating about how Florida was "stolen - stolen!" Yeah, Bill, you should know all about that kind of thing. Still, it's a sight I could gladly go without ever seeing again.

Please, God. Just make them see reason. They lost, f'r Chrissakes. Will this turn into a tradition? Every election the Democrats lose is somehow stolen?

I think I'm going to vomit.

It looks like since there are about 150,000 provisional ballots in Ohio and Bush is only ahead by 107,000 (93% reporting) Kerry\'s not going to give up. Kerry is counting on getting over 70% of those (and don\'t forget a lot of them are probably bogus). If he has any class he\'ll concede Ohio. Don\'t hold your breath.

The Democrats are going to complain about the exit polls and imply some voter fraud.

But I think it was just the early exit polls that screwed Bush. I don't have access to a straight exit poll breakdown. But for Florida I calculated the final exit poll as 51% to Bush. Bush got 52% of the vote this is well within the margin of error.

Kerry down almost 29,000 in New Mexico with barely 30,000 votes left to be counted, and CNN isn't calling the state yet, hmm. I guess they're keeping their faith that all the provisional ballots casted by illegal aliens will come through for them, or something.

Can someboby post some more leftie squealing please.
I need another fix. It's addictive.

Think Kerry'll give up when every last one of those ballots is counted? Like hell. They'll be counting chads before the day is out. Because God forbid that the almighty John actually lose a race.

God damn it.

Also tradesports had Bush at 25.00 this morning before any official results even came in or the final exit polls for that matter. I closed my position at 96.00 tonight because I can't justify the risk of absentee ballots/recounts/or court challenges to grab an extra 4 points. I'm happy. :)

"Are these morons really going to contest Ohio?"

No Amos their just going camping, moon is waxing and they will be barking.

Even worse, Sonetka, it's another 4 years of "Bush stole the election!"

It almost makes me wish we could crush dissent. At least dissent from confirmed congenital idiots like Kerry.

Can someboby post some more leftie squealing please.
I need another fix. It's addictive.

Me too. And Democratic Underground has blocked access to non-registered users.

Bush currently up 128,000 in Ohio (via CNN), and he should pick up another 16,000 or so...if they're going to put their hopes on 150,000 provisional ballots to offset a 144,000 vote hole and not conceding for perhaps two weeks until those provisionals are counted, they can say goodbye to the 2006 election, too.

Thank you, PW, for finding the silver lining in the cloud.

Ah, but Bush seems to have won the sacred popular vote. Any bets on how soon that will vanish down the memory hole?

This can't last as long as Florida, though. Florida really was close. Ohio - doesn't look like it. At least, not the way Florida was. Damn it, I want to see the Republicans challenging Cali or something like that. I want to see the Democrats having to defend themselves against undisproveable anecdotal crap six ways from Sunday.

Of course, I also want adorable twins and a million dollars. I think the latter two are more likely.

Can someone please tell Kerry that he can save his dignity by conceding NOW.

I'll settle for the million bucks and a rational Democratic party.

Let's listen to John Edwards now...this should be fun.

Quentin, what dignity Kerry ever had when down the toilet when he prostituted himself to the Vietnam Veterans Against The War 30 years ago.

But I agree, a concession would be great.

JeffS - sounds good to me. With a million dollars I could afford to adopt the adorable twins.

To satisfy your cravings, this is from The Currency Lad:

Screw Them

FLORIDA and Colorado have now been called for the Republicans. While we await the final word on Ohio, why not enjoy some afternoon delight courtesy of the commenters at Daily Kos? For some of them, it seems all that open-armed love for the young and the old has evaporated quickly. Mighty quickly.

Brian Williams is talking about the Moral Majority vote. What hypocrites!! Bush is a "Fake Christian" and a moralist who took us to war in Iraq, spilling so much blood. There is a God folks, I'm a Believer. When Rove and Co. comes beforetheir Maker, it's going to be payback time for Eternity. And that's a long long time!!

A Dem activist friend use to say, "no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Seems to me this is a case in point. My take is we (USA) haven't learned our lesson yet and the frightened little people, which appear to be the "voting" majority, have chosen faith over reason because it's going to take real faith in Baby Jesus magic to save us from ourselves.

Who started this pathetic dismal mopey pessimist thread? Kos or the anti-Kos? Kos must be drinking heavily if he can't even spell vot(e). I'm 20, a student at Washington U in St Louis and everybody I know voted for Kerry. Of course, I don't have any Republican friends, but still.

More leftist squealing from Daily Kos, as requested:

"read Orcanus.
Last night was exactly the excuse the thugs needed to start consolidating their forces, and moving us toward the police state that they want.

THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE AGINST US, the question is do we respond in kind. The even bigger question is DO WE RESPOND NOW, while we are together, or later as individuals that they can pick off in ones and twos.

This will not be won in the courts, and the constitution will not stand long enough for us to have another try at the ballot box.

This one will be won, or it will be lost in the streets.

The last hope is that we get saved the same way the Germans did.

If you don't have the stomach to fight, then put your head down, and prey you survive till the rest of the world comes together and puts a stake through the heart of the evil that rises up from last night.

America died last night, it now comes down to us to see if anything can be salvaged or if we becomme a third world nation. Once the thugs consolidate power here, e will comleate the journy to being a right wing fasist state of some sort."

Soneka & RJeffs,
No, you should have your own. The more the better.

Fox just called MI for Kerry. 269 to 238.

When it is all said and done, who would have thought that Tim's idea would end up getting the Gaurdian to win Ohio for Bush....

that is just HI-larious.

Four more years. Osama, if that was really you, I would start running.....

"amaranth" at the Daily kos:

"Keep fighting huh? If we cannot beat this President i'm not sure it is worth fighting for, I don't think these people deserve saving, I think it is within my means to leave this failed experiment called America to it's own damn desmise and dammit it looks like a better option right now."

I'm 20, a student at Washington U in St Louis and everybody I know voted for Kerry. Of course, I don't have any Republican friends, but still.

*cackles*

The Dems want to find some way to at least make it seem like Bush stole this election.

Hey, hey, my, my,
The plastic turkey will never die.

Edwards just came out and said they will fight for every vote. This is code for litigation, litigation, litigation. Where\'s Nixon when you need him?

JamesUK - some of us can't :(.

Edwards says no concession. Good grief. Do these people have not a shred of dignity among them? Do they realize what an awful precedent this is? To do this not once, but twice in a row?

Sweet monkey jesus, here we go. Well, I'm glad to see my fellow Ohioians turned out in numbers able to offset Oberlin College and Kucinich-vania (Cuyahoga County). That's positive news at least.

Crap. I guess my dream of an election sans litigation just got flushed.

I should have known better when the DNC picked a known ambulance chaser as their VP candidate.

Nicki,
uh-uuhh.. shudder! Thank you.

For fucks sake Kedwards...IT's OVER!

Congratulations to all you 'Merricans for showing courage and common sense.

Can't believe Kerry won't concede. I guess our even MSM in Australia wouldn't put up with that sort of bulldust. They would ridicule anyone trying to spin a win in Ohio when down by a hundred and plenty thousand when only a theoretical 250,000 left.

By the way, all you folks in Fallujah should reconsider your accommodation arrangements. Not sure that a hift to Syria or Iran is a great long term move either.

It's a shame when Nixon has more grace and class than the current Democratic candidates.

This is such absolute bullshit. Bush is up by 125 000 in Ohio, and there can't be more than 200 000 votes left to be counted. The estimate of provisional votes seem to be anywhere between 150 000 - 500 000 (but not all of those will be valid). How deluded is the Kerry camp to think they can pick that many votes up?

(Sky just reporting that only 6000 votes left in Ohio - not sure if this is true. Also a rumour that vote-counting in Ohio has had to stop because of a technical problem - they say this could be false, though).

Hey - New Jersey came within 5 points for Bush (Gore won by 18 last time). I can't believe K/E are going to NOT concede. Bush is winning popular vote by 3.5 million votes - but THIS TIME that doesn't count. Amazing.

Well put, Quentin. I guess the difference is that in the current Democratic candidates, we have an ambulance chaser and a preening Euroweenie.

"Once the thugs consolidate power here, e will comleate the journy to being a right wing fasist state of some sort."

Complete with embarassing misspellings and all, that really sums up the mindset of the current Democratic base better than anything I've read in a while.

Bush won, fair and square, in both the Electoral and popular vote counts. Now it's up to the Democrats to summon (or cultivate) the dignity to concede the election, promptly and without snarky comments. They lost the election, and so they should act like grown-ups and acknowledge it.

I'm not holding my breath...

Trimalchio :)
Sonetka. Cold turkey. Good point.

(Sky just reporting that only 6000 votes left in Ohio - not sure if this is true. Also a rumour that vote-counting in Ohio has had to stop because of a technical problem - they say this could be false, though).

Someone on FNC said that the counters in Ohio had to stop because of machine problems and "exhaustion".

Wimps. Gimme those ballots... I'LL count 'em.

Whups! Fox just withdrew MI for Kerry. It's back to 269 to 211. Anyone know what happened?

It’s a scorched-earth policy to delegitimize Bush’s second term any way they can—except that in fact these Dems, Kerry, Edwards, Kennedy, & their gang, are scorching not the earth but the system itself which they dislike anyway, they want socialism. They don’t mine destroying what America has in order to get what they want. For them it’s like killing two birds with one stone.

Whups! Fox just withdrew MI for Kerry. It's back to 269 to 211. Anyone know what happened?

Beats me, there's really no way Bush can still pull out MI in my opinion, unless all soldiers currently stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan happen to hail from Michigan and make up for Dubya's current 90,000 deficit and the additional 75,000 Kerry should be picking up in Wayne County before the night is over...

269 EVs and New Mexico with 98% reported and a 5 point lead and it still hasn't been given to Bush.

Maybe they are getting over-tired and are taking their eye off the ball.

OK, I need to watch something else.....Fox just gave MI back to Kerry. 269 to 238.

Guys, the Kos misery thread is here:

After 2000, we were, sad, disappointed, upset. But we talked about it, we picked up the pieces. This time, what can I say? It's so devastating, on every level. I can't think. I can't speak. Anyone in Chicago interested in starting a support group?

And the boys and girls of Atrios get gonzo here:

This is a nation built on racism, human slavery, and genocide. What more should we expect, really?

And:

NEVER cooperate with Republicans. Kick them in the balls at every turn. Kill their children. Fuck their wives. Curse their god. They are right about one thing, however: I now officially HATE AMERICA. I BLAME AMERICA FIRST.

Charming to the last.

Cannot friggin' believe it. According to CNN's own chart, Bush is up in Ohio by 150,000, 97% of precincts reporting. And yet they're yapping about "too close to call."

Look for the Democrats to discover a miracle cache of 100,000 D votes somewhere. Jesus.

Fox's website still showing MI for Kerry. C-Span numbers support this. No big deal.

Are any American stations giving New Mexico to Bush? No British stations have yet, even though he leads by 30 000 votes - 52% to 47% - with 99% of precincts in.

If we ship these turkeys to Antarctica, they could start their own nation. Their beginnings would literally be as pure as the driven snow.

You know what *really* tees me off about these crazed Democratic weasels? They keep figuring out our game plan.

I mean, how could they possibly have known we were about to install a police state with TJ Hooker in charge as the Supreme Overlord? (All this George Bush stuff has just been a smokescreen.) Goosestep marching! Uniforms! Book burnings! Mandatory 6am exercises! The Two-Minute Hate! Star Trek TOS on every channel 24 hours a day! Liberal beatings of liberals! Oh, the list goes on.... but why bother, the plan's in shambles, they got our codes...

99% counted in New Mexico. But they haven't called it?

Why?

Yeah, Razor, I'm focusing too much on the browser. Sorry.

Nevada goes to Bush - 5 EV's

"This one will be won, or it will be lost in the streets.

The last hope is that we get saved the same way the Germans did."

What, does he mean some American cowboy will come beat off the bad guys for him then rebuild his sorry ass state?

I think I will see about exercising my 2nd amendment rights. Just in case. :) Those loonies scare me sometimes.

Hard to say, Quentin. They might be confirming their counts to avoid litigation. This might be a wise move, given the past history of the DNC when they lose an election.

apparently, according to CNN, bush & co are waiting for nevada and new mexico before they make a victory speech.

You know Bush now has an absolute majority of the popular vote (51%) and a win in the electoral college?

The American news networks are avoiding calling New Mexico & Iowa for Bush in order to give Kerry some cover, some credibility, for his stubbornness.

FoxNews would have called it but the FoxNews commentators have an agreement that their unanimity is required in order to call a state for a candidate—& Juan Williams has been holding out in order to give Kerry some cover for his stubbornness.

"Let\\\'s start a collection for all the one-way tickets for those who said they\\\'d leave if Bush wins again. I\\\'ll contribute $20."
----------
Hopefully these lunatic moonbats do get the fuck out, but probably like last time they threatened leaving few will follow through. Judging from an article I read, one of their destinations of choice for these types is NZ. :/

The last hope is that we get saved the same way the Germans did.

Can someone explain this? Last I looked, the Allies rolled over Germany in WWII. I sure can't think anything else, unless this leftie is talking about the Berlin Airlift.

42nd SSD: rotflol! Thanks for the laugh, that was really needed right now.

Look - they called NJ for Kerry before 8pm (the polls close at 8pm) - the WHOLE night Bush was winning in Florida at the same rate as Kerry was in NJ - yet they waited until Florida was 98% in before they called it for Bush. So they've been doing that all night. Calling states with 20% of the vote calculated for Kerry and WAITING for states which 95% of the vote is already in for Bush. Bias? Now come on. We all know the media isn't biased...

Wait, what am I saying? This is from KOS, fer gawd's sake!

Never mind.

Hmmm, now that I think about it....maybe he means when they became the favorite whore of the French?

Anyway, time for bed. Been a good night. Thanks, all you adorable Aussies. Y'all are the best!

Update: Fox is holding off because New Mexico has some funny business going on.

Ohio - Yahoo clicks over to 98%, and its a lead of 136 500 - 51% to 48%. Iowa 98% done, and looking like Bush (but that's closer than Ihio).

CSPAN has given Bush NV.

From news.com.au coverage:

"After voting in Boston with his two daughters, Alexandra and Vanessa, Senator Kerry said: "I hope there aren't challenges. I hope America will vote according to the law today."

This was before or after he issued the press release about challenging the results in Ohio?

What a fuckwit...

Yeah, bed for me as well, work for me in the morning. Keep these lefties in line, would you, people? I'll sleep better.

Thanks!

Can someone explain this?

The moonbat is equating the U.S. liberating Germany from Nazism with what needs to be done with the U.S. now (i.e. liberation from Bushitler). I do wonder which country or organization he expects to send troops for this liberation...Germany? France? The UN? Cuba? Canada?

If Bush wins NV, NM, WI, and IA, then OH won't matter. But OH has laws on the books ... the margin between the two parties has to be 0.25% for a challenge to be levied to the vote count ... but the margin for Bush is way more than that. The Sec of State of OH, Blackwell, is a great man who will not take crap from anyone, he will follow OH law and will allow no court challenges if they do not comply with OH law. OH is no FL ... governor, legislature, representatives, state supreme court all GOP, which means, no legislating from the bench as the FL state supreme court did in 2000.

Bush is up by almost 4 million votes in the popular vote now. That's going to send the "Selected Not Elected" crowd completely around the bend. Not that that's a long journey.

All the wine's gone and I've started in on the kids' Halloween candy. Don't overlook Atrios in your quest for comedy gold; his eschaton seems to be immanentizing quite nicely.

Feel the love:

________

Kerry should declare victory and then start fighting.

They hate gay people, love an invisible sky buddy, and there are more of them than us. But in my heart, I know I am right about how the world should be. I'll sleep tonight thinking of 2006 (or New Zealand

Dogville. Rent it, see it. That's what we are. Dogville.

We couldn't defeat Bush, so it's up to you, Iraqi freedom fighters. Face it, most Americans like Bush. Which makes it clear that most Americans are thoughtless, xenophobic wastes of sperm and egg.

The conservatives have control of the media. How can the Dems get their message out there, if no one will let them speak?

I'm sick of patriotism. Sick of the flag. Sick of everything it stands for. Think I'll take an extra anti-depressant tonight and avoid the news altogether.

All I can say is that there is plenty of space in Sweden for a couple of millioon of you. You can return to the US when things are back to normal.

We're fucked in Alaska. We'll have cash out the wazoo, but no animals, no trees, no fish. But we'll have cash, everyone will be little Halliburtons.

When the Plame indictments come down, we'll see who's in cuffs and who's not.

etc etc

Anyway, looks like CNN isn't going to call any state (except Wisconsin, which looks to be going Kerry) until Kerry makes his concession speech or his pack of lawyers descends on the earth, lest they actually have to admit that Bush has 269+ EVs. Media bias? Nah, of course not.

Sky now says there's 130 000 votes left in Ohio - although who knows how old that news is.

And 200 000 provisional votes - but who knows how accurate that is.

If we go by the mantra that the rabid left have, which is that Bush was "not elected" in 2000, then theoretically, he could run for another term, couldn't he?

Bruce,
That stuff is quite sobering. They really ARE lunatics.

Hah! Check out the "http://news.yahoo.com/electionresults">Yahoo election results page on New Mexico.

according to c-span, 101% of precincts have been counted in new mexico, with a 52% over 47% lead for the president, but no one has called the state for bush.. what's going on?!

With 6% of the precincts still needing to be counted in WI (10 evs), Bush is only down Kerry by 17,000. Nevada (5 evs) called for Bush. NM (5 evs): Bush 52% to 47% with 97% of the precincts counted. IA (7 evs): Bush 50% to Kerry 49% with 98% of the precincts counted.

This from C-Span:

New Mexico ElectTotal: 5 Precincts Reporting: 101%
Name Party Vote Pct Electoral
Bush Rep 279,968 52 0
Kerry Dem 251,524 47 0

HEY, FUCKING WAKE-UP AND CALL THE DAMN THING.

Looks like Dashle is going down by a very slim margin.

Clearly, Karl Rove has engineered this situation to cause maximum long-term damage to the Democrats' reputation. Or rather, to goad them into causing that damage to themselves. Leave it to the Dems not to realize that.

/sarcasm, I think

Iowa, New Mexico and Ohio are all Bush.

Wisconsin is Kerry. Barely.

There's nothing left to count.

Concede, you dumb sons of bitches.

SleepyinSeattle writes:

Hopefully these lunatic moonbats do get the fuck out, but probably like last time they threatened leaving few will follow through. Judging from an article I read, one of their destinations of choice for these types is NZ.

Mate, if I were them, I wouldn't be applying for those NZ visas just yet. Being married to a New Zealander with her relatives all living in "Godsown" I have a feeling Ms Clarke's Labour government may be history after the next NZ election.

I think France or Belgium may be a safer bet for these loonies. With a bit of luck, some Muslim might even chop their heads off when they get there.

13teen,

In South Dakota, with 97% of the vote counted, Daschle is down by 7,900 votes. (192.6K for Thune, 184.7K for asshole.) That fucking weasel isn't going to steal this one on the reservations this time, unlike in 2002.

In Ohio, only 76,000 provisional ballots were issued:
http://election.sos.state.oh.us/ProvBallots.htm

Bush is up 144,000 there with 99% of the precincts reporting. Kerry can count all he wants; there is no math anywhere that has him within 100,000 votes in Ohio.

They've apparently counted 103% of the vote in New Mexico. Are the extra's for Bush or Kerry?

JPB,

"I think France or Belgium may be a safer bet for these loonies. With a bit of luck, some Muslim might even chop their heads off when they get there."

Shhhhh! You're giving away Rovie's plot.

Perspective: Bush's OH lead is bigger than Kerry's PA and NH lead ... but the MSM had no problem calling those two states for Kerry.

In Ohio, only 76,000 provisional ballots were issued:
http://election.sos.state.oh.us/ProvBallots.htm

I was getting my hopes up, too, but...check all the empty cells in that table. The counties that already have a provisional ballot count only represent about 52% of the total electorate (many of the missing counties are big ones), so I suspect the final number of provisionals will be about 150,000 as expected.

Too true, MountainMama, and the MSM had no trouble calling them yonks ago.

Dickheads.

For some good news...that assclown antisemite in Texas district 08 went down 30-69 to the incumbent Republican. Good riddance.

In Nevada, 100% of the vote counted:

388,791 for Bush
368,305 for Kerry

And yet nobody will call it for Bush. A 20,000 vote lead, with 100% counted, and yet none of those ass-holes will call it. Un-friggin-believable.

A Man Without A Life posts as follows:

The 103% in NM is just bad AP arithmetic. If you check the totals it's 1535 of 1566 precincts counted, or 98%.

And while I was posting, they fixed it.

CNN just called it for Nevada, about time.

c-span just downgraded new mexico's counted votes to 98%.....??

Daschle being defeated is incedible news and i'll hold that hope until the morning totals. Bush re-elected, daschle defeated and supreme court appointments not far down the road, and toss in federal judgeships that have been kept under lock and key by the worm from South Dakota.

hear that sound?

Thats the fizz of a nice cold beer, on second thought, maybe i'll have a shot of hopped shnaps too.

Bush seems to be enjoying one last surge in Wisconsin...went from minus 20,000 to minus 14,500 with precincts going from 95% to 96%. I have no idea how many provisionals and absentees there are going to be, but it would be supremely delicious if Wisconsin turns red on military ballots, which (along with Iowa) would give Bush 271 EVs even without Ohio.

New Mexico currently Bush +1,800 on CNN, 6% yet to be counted.

Okay, nicki's comment makes me wonder whether I in fact didn't hallucinate just now. I could swear New Mexico's count was near 100% already (I thought I was imagining that), but as just posted, now it's at 94%...odd.

But I shouldn't complain...the NM county with the most outstanding votes is currently 75-25 for Bush. *G* If trends hold, that's another 15,000 advantage for Bush which should deliver NM to him.

PW: it was at 103% on c-span, now it's 99%.. i don't really get it, but be assured, you are not hallucinating..

New Mexico's at 99% according to the Yahoo map.

Daschle is done. Adios, asshole. Today is truly a good day. Thank you South Dakotans.

From NRO regarding New Mexico:

CNN still won't call....Says Sec't of State won't certify until tomorrow.

Why can't these clowns just concede?

And now it has jumped from 94% to 99% at CNN again...must be the DNC lawyers playing with the recount buttons on CNN's computer system, I guess.

nicki,

They just screwed up their math -- didn't have enough total precents listed. They just adjusted it correctly.

It just gets sweater all the time.

Howard Dean WAS the governor of Vermont. Gave up that office to run for president, ARGGGHHHHH.

With 97% of the precints reporting in Vermont:

176K - Douglas, REPUBLICAN
114K - Clavelle, Democrat

Thank you Howie, we got us another governor's mansion.

NY Post:

Early in the voting, Kerry allowed himself to muse about the problems he might face in the White House.

Problem solved.

What are "provisional" ballots?

No, Jim Douglas has actually been Governor of Vermont since 2002...

Looks like 2 lost governorships for each party (Republicans taking Indiana and Missouri, Dems taking Montana and New Hampshire), with Washington state (previously Democratic) currently on knife's edge: Gregoire (D) 910, 491 - Rossi (R) 910,023

PW,

Thanks for the correction.

As to the Washington state governorship, the Libertarian candidate currently has 38,400 votes.

Of course, the libertarians I have met here in Washington state probably wouldn't have ever voted for a Republican. They are the fusty, utopian-demanding perfectists that couldn't possibly sully their hands by voting for a major party candidate. They pretty much revel in being non-entities, it re-inforces their sense of self-superiority over grubby "politicians" and their oh-so mindless supporters. Fuck them, I hope the Washington state Republican party can fuck them over good at some time in the future. Payback is a bitch.

Um, not "perfectists" but "perfectionists". Jeez what a word to screw up. Proves that I'm not perfect, I guess.

Provisional ballots: I just figured out today what the hell these are. Basically, if you arrive at your polling station and they do not have you on their list you get to cast a provisional ballot. If you check out later your vote counts. If if it turns out you are a left-handed lesbian Guatemalan felon your vote won\'t count.

this is fantastic, there is NO ONE left at the democratic "victory party", while the republican venue at the reagan center is full of people. i hate to gloat, but i will...

Shanks,

Or if they are drunk retard who shows up at the wrong polling place. The type who's driving down the street, sees a sign that says "Polling Site", and decides, "hey, that nice guy from the Democratic Party gave me a some cigs and a bottle of wine to sign up, I guess I better vote or else they won't give me cigs and juice next election". Stops and demands to vote. They don't have him on the election roll because he listed his residence as a dumpster in the alley off of a street three towns over -- and would be on the election roll in that town. They'll (gladly) give him a "provisional ballot", if only because the guy is stinking the joint up. He votes. Later, the state election office then tries and see if he really is a registered voter. If he is, his vote counts. If not, no it doesn't.

Bad weather in New Mexico is making it difficult to send the election return smoke signals into Santa Fe. Pony Express riders have been dispatched from Santa Fe to the affected areas to bring back the results to the capitol.

Just a little cowboy humor to cap off a good day for the Republicans. LOL

Thank you very much Mr Tommy Shanks. You're very kind to take the time to explain that to me.

Here in Oz we have to enrol to vote and there's a cut off date. If you haven't been enrolled by that date you can't vote even if you're qualified in every other way.

So are you talking about people who have properly registered to vote but because of some public service screw-up have been left off the roll? Or is it possible to lodge a provisional vote even if you haven’t registered but, being qualified (or not, as the case may be), just decide on the day that you want to vote?

http://bigpeeler.smugmug.com/photos/10810722-L.jpg

A friend of mine - a real Bush-hater - shocked me the other day. He was hoping for a Bush re-election because the mess he has created is so massive that anyone following him into the Presidency would be doomed to failure. It's his contention that Bush will self destruct. I don't agree with this, and fear for all the others that Bush will take down with him (several-tens-ofthousands already, and counting)

I was taken back for a minute, but began to see the method to this seemingly mad idea. Who knows, he may be right.

We talked for a while and imagined what would have happened if Gore had won in 2000, with 9/11 still occurring. Who knows what Gore would have done? Maybe he would have been effective, maybe not.

My friend went on to say that this would have led to massive factionalism in the nation, and we'd be right where we are today - a divided nation. Far right neocons would have done everything they could to have blamed the attack on Clinton, due to his failure to nail Usama - and they would have been partially right. The 2004 election would have been a Dem slaughter, based just on that. His imaginary portrayal of events somehow struck me as plausible.

Don't despair at the current turn of events: The people behind Bush have been cynical dividers. That will have to change. If it doesn't, we will begin to see the Congressional turnstiles start to turn in 2006. The Repubicans have absolute power now. We know what that does. (In this case however, it will have to corrupt *more*)

Thankfully, California has all the things that Kerry was shooting for on his platform (including stem cell research!), except for national health care (badly needed).

No matter who wins, we are *definitely* headed back toward the middle - however slowly - because REAL conservatives (not neocons) in the Repo party are really afraid for their jobs, and largely offended (as are their constituents) at the far-right pandering that has gone on recently. The Bush deficit, the Bush administered far-right-wing agenda, the disaster in Iraq, and more than a few other things are making these people nervous. Many of them stand for election in two years; they won't let the far right wing freaks forget that.

So, no matter who wins this, we're going to continue to be a divided nation. We will also see an implosion of the Democratic Party, and a real power struggle in the Republican Party for philoshophical hegemony (that will be fun to watch).

The Dems are going to have to find themselves, and right after that, they have to find a person with SOUL. Mondale, Dukakis, Kerry - balh! Where did they find these people? I voted for Kerry, reminding myself all the while of the feeling I first had when I first saw him.

I grew up in a blue collar town. As hard as I've tried to escape my blue collar roots, I can't. One thing those roots have left me is an acute sense of when I'm being pandered to. That's how Kerry, Dukakis and Mondale always struck me. Clinton (a once in a lifetime political genius) was the exception.

The first time I saw Kerry thrust his fidt in the air - after winning the Democratic nomination I had an immediate intuition that said "this guy will not be seen as 'real' by most of the people in the states he will need to win. Cognitive dissonance crept in immediately after that intuition, and has only just disappeared (as the human tendency to rationalize every failing and disappointment is now centered ondealing with this lost election)

A few thoughts:

No matter who wins this, the neocon agenda has been thoroughly OUTED, for all to see. The press - most of which has endorsed Kerry (dozens of newpapers and periodicals that endorsed Bush in 2000, endorsed Kerry this time - including the conservative UK stallwarts Financial Times and The Economist.

The press will be watching this time. The neocon agenda will no longer be able to hide under the rubric of "national security" (or so-called). The jig is up. It's back towards the middle (admittedly, a right-leaning middle). I don't care if it leans slightly left, or slighly right - as long as it's away from the current extreme).

No matter who wins, if (god forbid) we are hit with a terrorist attack, there will be hell to pay for whose watch it happens on.

No matter who wins there will be a serious imbalance in foreign debt to resolve.

No matter who wins there will be a (depending on who is doing the measuring) a $45-$70 TRILLION dollar hole in payables to social security and other funds that will have to be secured. (Our total net worth as a nation is something like $40-45T).

No matter who wins, he will have to begin to repair the damage done to our reputation overseas, especially if we're going to be able to get a grip on dealing with distributed terrorism.

No matter who wins, he will have to do something about health care in this country. What's ironic about this is that it's the people in the "red" states who suffer from this lack more than any other. Fear and hate are powerful motivators - even against one's own economic or physical interests. (Incidentally, there's good social psychological research indicating that groups will sacrifice a significant degree of their general group well-being in order to deliver punishment to someone they hate). Whether consciously done or not, the Bush people have been spectacularly successful at creating fear, and manipulating that. (yes, it's also one of the first goals of oorganized terrorism; create fear in the populace, so we can in a very real way say that Bush has taken Usama's bait - hook, line, and sinker)

No matter who wins, he will have to reach out across a divided aisle to help repair 12 years of partisan divisivness.

No matter who wins, he will have to find some way to quickly extract America from its current Middle East adventure, or find a way to have other nations help us through it. The current path is domestically and internationally unsustainable. Even those who favor Bush largely think the Iraqi war was a mistake.

No matter who wins, he will have to thhink hard about choosing Supreme Court judges that are middle-moderate. Assuming a Bush win, he will not have the necessary 60 votes to stop a fillibuster. Socially conservative Dems and Repos will not let another Thomas or Scalia tilt the courts. It would be political suicide for either party.

No matter who wins, he is going to have to begin to show tolerance for difference, do his best to diminish partisan bickering, and be a leader - not only of his party and the Congress, but of the American people. He will have to lead in a way that helps us all to see that our fates are intertwined, our differences OK, and our destiny fragile.

No matter who wins, he will have to begin to find ways to unlock American ingenuity and diversity. That's our greatest strength. To fail to do this would be a massive failure in leadership. We are the ONLY country in the world with this kind of cultural diversity; instead of making it a problem, we must turn it into a strength.

We'll see...

And charlemagne's long and incoherent entry is just the cherry on the cake!

Hey charlegmagne, "divided nation" my butt!
Huge popular vote win, something Bill Clinton never came close to.

Aaaaahhh, a bit of 1972, and a bit of 1988... blended nicely...

Aaaaahhh, a bit of 1972, and a bit of 1988... blended nicely...

Charlemagne - F@*K OFF!!

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Bush wins - stick that in your crack pipe and sha-moke it!!!

No matter who wins, he is going to have to begin to show tolerance for difference, do his best to diminish partisan bickering, and be a leader

I know, don't feed the trolls and all, but just one note: Considering who's done the dividing over the last four years, how about you rephrase that as "no matter who loses, they are going to have to begin to show tolerance for difference, do their best to diminish partisan bickering, and not mindlessly obstruct the leadership"?

Wait, I just realized I was talking about the Democratic Party there, so fat chance of any of that actually happening. And you, you just keep clinging to your "no matter who wins" mantra - I can see it's helping you through these troublesome times. Hehehehehehehe. Good thing we all have better things to do than dig up some of your particularly moronic posts from the last few weeks. Have a nice four years, Charlie Little!

Regarding provisionable ballots, the majority of them likely will not count. It's really inconceivable that OH has 136,000+ people, all Dems, who didn't show up on any list of registered voters but are actually legally registered. You had to be registered by Oct 4th to vote in this one. Fraud is the only way to make this one even close.

So all these unregistered people show up anyway, cast a provisionable (b/c that's all they can do) and then cry "disenfranchisement!" when it's not counted. Hell, the election judge at the precinct where I was working (a Dem) was basically telling people that they could cast a provisionable, but that it wouldn't count.

Janice - You have to register in advance and go to the correct polling place. Some states may allow instant registration, but I\'m not sure. Provo ballots are more for covering screwups by the bureaucrats, like one guy in Chicago who had voted int he same place for years and then they didn\'t have his name on the list (along with other voters in the Republican party - I think it\'s linked in Instapundit).

Apologies for the extra slashes - I think it has to do with the security code.

ah, charlemagne's back!

kerry's really looking like a spoiled petulant fool by not concedeing. $20 says tuh-reh-suh dumps himwithin 2 years.

"California has all the things that Kerry was shooting for on his platform."

We shot down the repeal of Three Strikes.