What with annoying little details like having the last two presidential elections brazenly stolen by a right-wing lunatic, election-watching has gotten to be a nerve-wracking pastime for progressives. There are still huge, justifiable concerns about the integrity of our elections. Still, it has to be said that things are looking a lot better this time around. People say, “We thought Gore and Kerry had it in the bag, too,” but the truth is, Gore and Kerry never had it in the bag. If there had been honest vote-counts, they would both, in my opinion, have won, but only by pulling out a close election in the last day or so. If you don’t believe me, check out this graph.

It’s possible Obama could have the election effectively won very early on election night. Alternately, we could be in a for a long night and short fingernails. However, you have to know what to look for (or else leave yourself at the mercy of biased and woodenheaded corporate media pundits). Even if Obama wins decisively, he probably won’t officially clinch the 270 electors needed until the polls close in the Pacific at 11 o’clock Eastern time. At that time, California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii will all finish voting—and their 77 electors are in the bag for Obama, meaning he only needs to have 193 electors at 10:59 to be assured of victory a minute later. Read the rest of this entry »