Democrat's exit poll results leaked

John Snow says he's received the official Democratic exit poll numbers from a mole in the DNC. He's tipping Obama's 54 to McCain's 44 nationally, and wonders whether he should be using the word "landslide" or "blizzard". They're calling it for Obama 54-45 in Ohio, 52-44 in Florida, and 52-48 in Indiana, amongst others.

Live Blog: "Keep the Rural Margins Down"

1:03 a.m. CNN's shocking statistic of the hour: white evangelicals went for McCain 84-16 in South Carolina.

1:02 a.m. Our professor in New Zealand has tipped us that National Public Radio in the US has already projected Pennsylvania for Obama --- that, of course, is huge.

1 a.m. Here comes the Obama wave: CNN calls Massachusetts (12), Illinois (21), Connecticut (7), New Jersey (15), Maryland (10), Maine (4), District of Columbia (3), Delaware (3) for the Democrats. McCain gets Oklahoma and Tennessee (11).

But why no call on Alabama? Good Lord, I thought my home state was the reddest one in the country (bar the folks in Idaho).

12:59 a.m. Canuckistan is sweating a bit. Obama down 55,000

12:58 a.m. Polls in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Missouri --- amongst others --- closing in two minutes.

12:57 a.m. CNN calls South Carolina for McCain.

12:56 a.m. CNN's John King is wetting himself. He's playing up-close with the Indiana map and is going on at very great lengths that Obama is doing better than Kerry '04 in the state. Well, since Kerry lost it big, that doesn't mean the break-through Democratic gain, but it does mean the GOP is going to sweat this as urban votes come in.

Ohio too close to call

BBC News says:

US media is reporting that mid-western battleground Ohio is too close to call.

Meanwhile Time reporter Ana Marie Cox, covering the Republican campaign, tweets:

There are two enormous screens in the filing center: one shows CNN. One shows Fox. Only can hear Fox. McCain staff wants to believe.

Live Blog: Longer Night than Expected But a Possible Early Democratic Upset

12:41 a.m. Fox has already called West Virginia. Pretty quick off the mark on that one, but no real significance. Still, since there was a momentary panic for the Republicans two weeks ago that they might be in danger there, I hear a small cheer from the GOP.

12:32 a.m. Polls just closed in Ohio and North Carolina. Meanwhile, McCain up 52-47 in Indiana with 14% in.

Mitch McConnell is still 50-50 in Kentucky.

12:25 a.m.: Either CNN is being very cautious, or we are in for some tight races --- they are offering nothing on Florida or Virginia beyond the bare reporting of the first 2% of returns.

Update: as I type, they are trying a county analysis of first returns from Virginia. A rural county for McCain 71-28, outskirts beyond Richmond slightly for McCain.

They're reading Indiana, which we're finding interesting. CNN is saying what Canuckistan has already figured out --- a lot of the Democratic areas (Indianapolis, Gary, East Chicago) have not returned. Upset on the cards for the Democrats?

A Question: When Are Early Votes Announced?

I've just asked and can't get an answer: for states that allow early voting, when are the results announced? All of them as soon as polls closed? Spread out over the process? Or at the end?

I ask because, in a case like Florida, 37% of the return will come from early votes. Given that McCain has an edge in the first results there, I have to assume the early votes are not revealed until later.

An additional thought: Florida is swinging back-and-forth as each county chips in numbers, even though the polls haven't closed. So, as the early returns are coming back on a county-by-county basis, they will be spread out as the count comes in.