2008 Election - The Day After

My prediction was perfect for a long stretch of the night, until Obama won Florida. I just didn't anticipate him winning both Florida and Ohio. I also didn't see Indiana going blue for the first time since 1964, which it did early this morning. North Carolina currently has Obama ahead by .2, so, if that holds up, I will have ended up 48/51. (47/51 if McCain's .2 lead in Missouri doesn't hold up, but I think it will). Ultimately, I underestimated Obama's electoral vote total by about 40-50 votes. My popular vote prediction was two points off from the current count of 53-46; I gave McCain an extra point and shortchanged Obama by one point.

The weirdest moment of the night--CNN's bizarre holographic interviews, complete with Star Trek terminology (Wolf Blitzer: "We're beaming you directly into the CNN Election Center."). This odd exercise culminated in Wolf breathlessly urging "Stay with us. Many more holograms to come."

The second weirdest moment of the night--All-powerful Oprah Winfrey being in the SECOND row at the Obama victory speech and having to strain to see past the people in front of her.

The Not-Knowing-When-To-Stop award: Apparently, Obama did not feel the evening was uplifting enough. During his victory speech, he had to let us know that his daughters were getting a new puppy! (Just don't name him Checkers....)

The Official 2008 Presidential Election Prediction

I have no fancy red-and-blue map, but here's my prediction.

Barack Obama will win: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Hawaii, for a total of 311 electoral votes.

John McCain will win: North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Alaska, for a total of 227 electoral votes.

Popular Vote: Obama 52%-47%