Iran Election Guide

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Tuesday
Nov042008

Live Blog: A Celebrity Appearance

12:17 a.m.: Darth Vader, a.k.a. Dick Cheney, arrived via hologram to slay Jessica Yellin/Princess Leia.

OK, that part's not true. But I wish it was.

12:16 a.m.: I swear this is true: CNN just "teleported" a hologram of a reporter onto the floor to talk with Wolf Blitzer. It's like Princess Leia just arrived to ask CNN to save the American Empire --- apparently, she is Jessica Yellin, who is actually in Chicago for Obama's rally but joins us "via hologram".

Wow --- Jessica just said she feels like "Princess Leia", so she at least she's cognisant that this is tele-visual idiocy.

12:08 a.m.: The CNN blather is boring me, so I check out county-by-country in Kentucky, where some of my relatives live. Harlan County --- coal-mining country --- goes for McCain 75-23.

Someone asks, "What would it take for Harlan to go Democratic?" The response: "If the Lord Baby Jesus came down from Heaven and ran for the Democrats, he might close the gap to 60-40."

12:05 a.m.: CNN calls Democrat Mark Warner as the winner in the Senate rate in Virginia, taking the seat from the Republicans. A Virginian at the party says to look out for Warner for a Presidential run in 2016.

12:04 a.m.: Fox has also called Vermont and Kentucky.

12:01 a.m.: But Indiana is still not called. Our professor from New Zealand, still waiting for the pub to open notes: "See what [U.S.] National Public Radio had to say about why thought they thought Vigo was such a good indicator. Indiana State is no Indiana University after all."

12:00 midnight: CNN, making up for its earlier sluggish performance, moves quickly to call Vermont (3 electoral votes) for Obama. And it goes ahead and tips Kentucky for McCain.

Canuckistan is pleased to be using his magic markers on the map.

11:57 p.m.: And, with 9% counted in Kentucky, McCain is only up 51-48. I expected a bigger gap.

Obama clinging to 50-49 lead in Indiana.

11:57 p.m.: I know it's with less than 10 percent counted, but Senator Mitch McConnell --- the Republican leader in the Senate --- is behind in Kentucky. C'mon, we want a "reverse Daschle" (or, for British readers, a throwback to Portillo '97).

11:54 p.m.: I am pleased to announce that the Canuckistan Election Night Party now has its celebrity. Emma North, our favourite reporter for BBC Midlands Today, has arrived.
Tuesday
Nov042008

You know you've had too many Obama cocktails when...

Your host thinks the BBC's on-the-ground reporter's name is 'Key Battlegrounds'.
Tuesday
Nov042008

Vigo

Many of Obama's early votes in Indiana have come from Vigo County, home of Indiana State University. Expect Obama votes to come in from Bloomington, home of Indiana University. His big numbers will come in just after midnight UK time from Gary, Indiana, right next to Chicago and where he did extremely well in his close loss to Clinton in the Indiana Democratic primary.
Tuesday
Nov042008

Live Blog: Making Up Important News

11:49 p.m.: CNN wizard Bill Schneider (I really love this guy) stands in front of his bar chart entitled "White Christians/Evangelicals". It looks like a tornado --- I think this has theological significance, but I'm not sure.

11:48 p.m.: Canuckistan is no longer so excited --- apparently one of the first counties to return from Indiana was Vigo County. Whose largest city is Terre Haute. Which is the home of Indiana State University. So, apparently, that accounts for the Obama edge in the early returns.

11:29 p.m.: CNN's wizard Bill Schneider, presiding over something useless called a "Double Funnel", just summarised: "The wider the bar, the bigger the vote."

Which makes me think this election is actually being conducted in the Guinness Brewery.

11:29 p.m.: Canuckistan is getting very excited because Obama is up 55-44 in Indiana. Only 1% of the vote counted, but he's already looking at county-by-county breakdowns.

I worry for him.
Tuesday
Nov042008

Poll closing times

From the Swing State Project, via HuffPo, comes the prettiest poll closing time map I've ever seen: