tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64084502011-07-14T16:28:02.323-05:00Musings from Knight Ridder correspondents covering the presidential campaign.Jim Van Nostrandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12244561350886559296noreply@blogger.comBlogger4011100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099772698466163802004-11-06T15:06:00.000-05:002004-11-06T15:58:40.403-05:00

The people have spoken. We have spoken. We blogged for large parts of the year. When we first started out, as Hot Off the Trail, Howard Dean was screaming, John Kerry was winning (primaries) and we had a plethora of candidates who were already getting tired of bad food and long days on the road. Before all the other Dems even dropped out, the Bush-Kerry trash talk heated up and kept going for

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099772929779060132004-11-06T13:27:00.000-05:002004-11-06T15:28:49.780-05:00

... but the folks at Rent-a-John sure are.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099672976970590962004-11-05T11:41:00.000-05:002004-11-05T11:42:56.970-05:00

Bush officialy won Iowa, three days after Election Day.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099671717195354832004-11-05T11:12:00.000-05:002004-11-05T11:21:57.196-05:00

For any Dems ready to head for the border - the northern border with Canada, that is - Thane Burnett, a columnist for the Toronto Sun, offers an unofficial citizenship test in today's Philadelphia Daily News. Questions include: "What are Smarties?" "If you're in Newfoundland, and ask the quickest way to get to "Dildo," where would they tell you to go?" and "Explain our senate. To the rest of us.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099601013088191042004-11-04T15:40:00.000-05:002004-11-04T15:43:33.086-05:00

Many in the San Francisco Bay Area are looking around and wondering what happened on Tuesday. In six Bay Area counties, the vote for Sen. John Kerry over President Bush was a resounding 71 percent to 28 percent. And yet, 44 percent of California voted for Bush's re-election and 51 percent of the country agreed.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099599969420169152004-11-04T15:19:00.000-05:002004-11-04T15:37:32.770-05:00

The Philadelphia Daily News, which has a lot to say, offers two opinions on Tuesday's outcome. Stu Bykofsky says: "For blue-faced Democratic diehards who insist this is the first time [Bush] "won," pardon me for saying that sour grapes like that helped get him re-elected. Your infantile whining is music the Republicans love to dance to." Ronnie Polaneczky asks: "How cynical, how blatantly

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099599070615330412004-11-04T15:08:00.000-05:002004-11-04T15:11:10.616-05:00

It wasn't just heavy turnout that made polling places look like Soviet-era bread shops, with lines around the block, the Charlotte Observer reports. The system was strained by precincts stuffed with too many registered voters, an unusually long ballot and, in some places, a shortage of voting machines.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099598561564956642004-11-04T15:00:00.000-05:002004-11-04T15:02:41.566-05:00

Never! More than 4,500 votes may have been lost in Carteret County, N.C., because officials believed a computer that stored ballots electronically could hold 10,500 votes, but the limit was actually 3,005 votes.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099596955701162202004-11-04T14:05:00.000-05:002004-11-04T14:35:55.700-05:00

Disgruntled Democrat looking for an out? You could go through the usual Canadian immigration process ... or you could marry into the country! A Canadian spoof site, Marry an American, offers to help out forelorn Yanks: "And let's face it, when compared to the United States, Canada is a liberal utopia & we have universal healthcare (in two languages!), gay marriage, free marijuana for everyone,

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099590758144693102004-11-04T13:46:00.000-05:002004-11-04T12:52:38.143-05:00

Is it too soon to pick a leading Democratic candidate for 2008? The New York Times says it's not and adds that Clinton looks like the one to beat. Hillary Clinton, that is, the former first lady and junior Senator from New York.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099589707360379632004-11-04T13:31:00.000-05:002004-11-04T12:56:50.960-05:00

How can 59,054,084 Americans be so dumb? OK, Britain didn't really ask. The Daily Mirror did.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099589298337284412004-11-04T13:20:00.000-05:002004-11-04T12:28:18.343-05:00

The Philadelphia Daily News - which we can always count on to speak its mind - is running a plea for Canada to adopt us. We would get flu shots, free health care and a national anthem that's much easier to sing to. Our neighbors to the north would get serious sports teams, warm weather vacation spots and fresher produce, as well as top cultural arts: "Tourists will love Canada's museums

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099587607494669102004-11-04T11:54:00.000-05:002004-11-04T12:00:07.493-05:00

The Associated Press is reporting that a new puppy will be entering the White House. W marked Laura's 58th birthday today by announcing he would give her a Scottish terrier puppy that is a relative of the current first dog, Barney. Miss Beazley, as the first lady and twins Barbara and Jenna have already named the pup, was born Oct. 28. She is due to arrive just before Christmas. The dog was

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099597572124278822004-11-04T11:38:00.000-05:002004-11-04T14:52:44.496-05:00

Whichever side you're on, there's an insulting T-shirt to express your opinion at T-Shirt Hell. Warning: Some - or maybe all - may be offensive. Two shirts showing the red and blue states offer opposing views. One says: Blue=Democrats, Red=Complete Morons. The other: Red=Republicans, Blue=Idiot Crybabies. Also availble: "Well ... that's the last time I vote," "I bet you'll vote next time,

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099585029319444472004-11-04T11:14:00.000-05:002004-11-04T14:37:21.573-05:00

Making its way through e-mail boxes: A new rendering of North America (most of it anyway).

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099576148208424562004-11-04T08:43:00.000-05:002004-11-04T08:49:08.210-05:00

News organizations are saying they'll look into why exit polls showed an initial surge for John Kerry. But they also blamed bloggers for spreading news that gave a misleading view of the presidential race. The Florida and Ohio exit poll results, along with those in other states where Kerry was strong, were quickly disseminated on Web sites such as Slate, the Drudge Report, Wonkette, Atrios and

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099543369257783052004-11-03T23:41:00.000-05:002004-11-03T23:42:49.256-05:00

Let's wrap up tonight with a look forward, or at least a nervous glance, considering what lies ahead. As one senior administration official told Reuters after the election victory, "There was not a lot of high five-ing. The sense was, OK, we've won, but the prize is the responsibility, the toil." Newsday breaks down the issues on the second-term agenda, and the Washington Post says Bush and team

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099539810064429932004-11-03T22:42:00.000-05:002004-11-03T22:43:30.063-05:00

Michele Catalano of A Small Victory, on the other hand, woke up feeling pretty good until she logged on: I woke up to a very different world in which people I assumed were rational Democrats are spitting poison nails. I received some nasty emails and comments (since deleted) that were alarming in their venom and hatred. People I never had a harsh word with were suddenly knocking down my virtual

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099537232305111502004-11-03T21:59:00.000-05:002004-11-03T22:00:32.306-05:00

Joanna Guldi woke up this morning feeling bad ... very bad: I saw the beast of history for the first time last night. It was slinking through our electric city of San Francisco, marking the doors of hipsters and intellectuals with ram’s blood. They didn’t know it; by morning many of them were back to talking about ideals that had to come true, even if it takes a hundred years: gay marriage, a

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099532497980208672004-11-03T20:40:00.000-05:002004-11-03T20:41:37.980-05:00

Jay Rosen at PressThink, among a lot of good observations, asks if we're headed for an opposition press: Big Journalism cannot respond as it would in previous years: with bland vows to cover the Administration fairly and a firm intention to make no changes whatsoever in its basic approach to politics and news. The situation is too unstable, the world is changing too rapidly, and the press has

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099531383008184022004-11-03T20:22:00.000-05:002004-11-03T20:23:45.063-05:00

Timothy Noah, writing at Slate: In the coming days, a heartfelt dialogue will begin in which Democrats ask themselves, in a refreshing spirit of constructive self-criticism, why they can't connect with the American middle class. I have been listening to, and occasionally contributing to, discussions on this topic for more than two decades, and they began well before I tuned in. By now, the very

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099524269833818262004-11-03T18:21:00.000-05:002004-11-03T18:24:29.833-05:00

Taking the results especially hard? You may want to look over Harper's guide to expatriation, offering counsel on renouncing your citizenship and resettling in another country, on an Indian reservation, on the high seas or in a micronation you create yourself.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099522754339057702004-11-03T17:58:00.000-05:002004-11-03T17:59:14.340-05:00

Steve Thomma of the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau looks at the nature of the Republican base: Bush never enjoyed broad support. Only half the country approved of the way he handled the job. But he so energized that half and cast enough doubts about Kerry it was enough to win in a nation that remained closely divided, culturally and politically. Beyond his aura of strength, he appealed to the

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099518020605781382004-11-03T16:39:00.000-05:002004-11-03T16:40:20.606-05:00

Dan Gillmor of the Mercury News and SiliconValley.com looks ahead and sees stormy times: There's no secret about what's coming. We don't have that excuse this time. Here comes more fiscal recklessness -- as we widen the chasm between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else. ... Here comes an expansion of the American empire abroad, a fueling of fear and loathing elsewhere on the globe. ... Our civil

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099515909072083722004-11-03T16:00:00.000-05:002004-11-03T16:09:24.056-05:00

From the radical left, Alexander Cockburn weighs in on where the Democrats went wrong: Week after week Kerry and his boosters displayed an unmatched deafness to political tone. The haughty elitist from Boston probably lost most of the Midwest forever when he said in the high summer that foreign leaders hoped he would win. The applause of the French in Cannes for Michael Moore's 9/11 was the sound

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099514277408846752004-11-03T15:30:00.000-05:002004-11-03T15:46:14.876-05:00

Bush chief of staff Andrew Card says the president won reelection by more votes than any presidential candidate in American history. Howard Dean's Blog for America points out that more Americans voted against George W. Bush than any sitting president in history. Safe to say turnout was heavy.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099513128411636212004-11-03T15:11:00.000-05:002004-11-03T15:18:48.410-05:00

French president Jacques Chirac and Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero watched Tuesday night's U.S. election and expressed hope that their relationship with the United States could be improved. Election interest in Europe was intense, as was the disappointment many felt over Bush's victory. Some saw it as proof that Europe and the United States are further apart than ever.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099510045119851112004-11-03T14:24:00.000-05:002004-11-03T14:27:25.120-05:00

The Democratic candidate for the vice presidency won't be going back to the Senate. He gave up his spot and it was filled in Tuesday's election by Republican Richard Burr, a five-term congressman who cast himself as a staunch ally of President Bush. We suspect Edwards will be back.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099508493412394942004-11-03T13:58:00.000-05:002004-11-03T14:01:33.413-05:00

Kerry is conceding, but in Ohio, there are still provisional ballots waiting to be verified. However, it's mathematically impossible for the outcome to change.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099506137318207772004-11-03T13:13:00.000-05:002004-11-03T13:35:06.010-05:00

It's not only Bush who must try to unify Americans. The Democratic Party must also try to reconnect with much of the country, says Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times: "To put it another way, Democrats peddle issues, and Republicans sell values. Consider the four G's: God, guns, gays and grizzlies. "One-third of Americans are evangelical Christians, and many of them perceive Democrats as

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099504836469762292004-11-03T12:58:00.000-05:002004-11-03T13:00:36.470-05:00

Some factoids about youth turnout on Election Day: * 4.6 million more 18-29 year olds voted than in 2000. * Youth turnout up 9 percentage points.

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099499605851948852004-11-03T11:23:00.000-05:002004-11-03T11:33:25.850-05:00

Despite all the pre-election worry and some glitches here and there on Tuesday, the Diebold electronic voting machines did better than expected. The Green company's competitors weren't so lucky. Thousands of voters complained about machines breaking down and recording the wrong votes in Ohio, Florida, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The most harrowing reports came from Columbus, Ohio;

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099498593067143412004-11-03T11:14:00.000-05:002004-11-03T11:16:33.066-05:00

Kerry, we're told, called Bush to concede. The good news for him is that he still has a job in the Senate, unlike Al Gore, who rather fell apart after the fateful 2000 election.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099498197332283632004-11-03T11:06:00.000-05:002004-11-03T11:09:57.333-05:00

Adam Smeltz, of the Life of the Parties blog, reports that young voters didn't come out in the great numbers expected after all, at least not all over the country.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099494242699413122004-11-03T09:54:00.000-05:002004-11-03T10:15:42.510-05:00

Determined not to get it wrong this time, the TV networks were extremely conservative about predicting any results Tuesday night. Their result: They were far from getting it right. All five major networks flooded the screens with talking heads who reported how and why they weren't reporting key presidential results. Political blogs were quicker to report results, but they weren't always right.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099493420356030642004-11-03T09:45:00.000-05:002004-11-03T10:16:15.166-05:00

Remember that announcement two years ago that NBC's Tom Brokaw would retire after the 2004 elections and be replaced by his regular fill-in, Brian Williams? Voila, the 2004 elections are (mostly) behind us. Brokaw's last day is Dec. 1. The New York Daily News points out that viewers weren't reminded of this until very late Tuesday night. "Tom," said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at the end of an

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099492925451347362004-11-03T09:38:00.000-05:002004-11-03T10:16:56.400-05:00

Traffic in the blogosphere was so heavy Tuesday that many sites saw slowdowns or were simply unavailable, especially among exit-poll reports that Kerry was leading. Wonkette and Slate were both down for long periods in the afternoon. Not that we're complaining about traffic, mind you.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099489554098359902004-11-03T08:39:00.000-05:002004-11-03T08:46:54.946-05:00

Bush was the first president since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net loss of private-sector jobs, says Dick Polman, of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also had to defend a war that was based on rationales that were subsequently undercut by U.S. weapons inspectors and the 9/11 commission. And that helps to explain why, as in 2000, he had to fight a Democratic rival for every last vote; and why,

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099487796866091062004-11-03T08:11:00.000-05:002004-11-03T08:18:47.293-05:00

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press says it's too soon to tell whether we'll be able to forget our partisan differences aside and allow ourselves to be led: "Can we put aside the anger, mistrust and fear that fueled possibly record numbers of voters for this election? Can we turn down the burners that boiled emotions, torched dinner conversations and turned neighbor against neighbor? "For

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099486836805793632004-11-03T07:59:00.000-05:002004-11-03T08:02:04.806-05:00

We get less than a month of regular annoying TV ads before the annoying Christmas TV ads begin.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099486545257345702004-11-03T07:49:00.000-05:002004-11-03T07:55:45.256-05:00

Best part of the day after, regardless of which candidate you supported: No more TV ads!

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099485489469189152004-11-03T07:33:00.000-05:002004-11-03T10:18:54.633-05:00

Our colleague on Ohioblog, Steve Love, was busy Tuesday night and signed off at 6:20 a.m. All along he's been saying Ohio would be the next Florida and, whaddya know, he was right. From July 22: "By any definition, Ohio is the heart of the 2004 presidential campaign. No one thinks otherwise, especially not the candidates - Republican President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099484822413900412004-11-03T07:16:00.002-05:002004-11-03T07:40:30.883-05:00

Morning shift reporting for duty! Looks like that might be the closest we'll get to another salute.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099476639077581852004-11-03T05:03:00.000-05:002004-11-03T05:10:39.076-05:00

So it's down to Iowa and New Mexico, where the final results won't come until later this morning, and Ohio, where heaven knows what all is going on, and it's getting late even for a night owl on the Pacific side. The morning crew will be signing on in a while, and I'll be back to help sort through the entrails in the afternoon.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099474034519926542004-11-03T04:26:00.000-05:002004-11-03T04:27:14.520-05:00

If anybody feels worse than the Democrats this morning, it's the pollsters at Zogby International. In fact, one of the reasons some Democrats feel so bad is the early euphoria stirred by Zogby at 5 p.m. Eastern Tuesday, when it summoned all its resources and expertise and made its final call on the electoral vote: Kerry -- 311 Bush -- 213 Nevada and Colorado, too close to call

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099471924581097762004-11-03T03:49:00.000-05:002004-11-03T03:52:04.580-05:00

From AP: "President Bush will declare re-election victory, aides said Wednesday morning, as Democratic rival John Kerry refused to concede linchpin Ohio or the presidency."

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099470897183199272004-11-03T03:34:00.000-05:002004-11-03T03:34:57.183-05:00

In case there was any doubt, John Edwards made it clear that if it comes down to it, the Democrats are prepared for hand-to-hand combat, legally speaking. "John Kerry and I have made a promise to the American people that with this election every vote would count and every vote would be counted," he told supporters in the wee hours. "Tonight we are keeping our word and we will fight for every vote

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099465641966618792004-11-03T01:53:00.000-05:002004-11-03T03:59:37.816-05:00

Well, CNN has invented a new color for the electoral map and painted Ohio green, for too close to call. The buzz is growing over the potential importance of provisional ballots, which by law will not be counted for 11 days. Time to add an election law site to the bookmarks. The network is also reporting that because of mechanical problems and "fatigue," some vote counters in Iowa have called it

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099461709882245472004-11-03T01:13:00.000-05:002004-11-03T01:14:10.880-05:00

The call hasn't been made yet, but the rumblings out of Ohio are favoring Bush and the TV talking heads are already doing postmortems on Kerry's campaign. Ballgame?

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099459014865407162004-11-03T01:10:00.000-05:002004-11-03T01:15:16.556-05:00

Florida makes itself reasonably clear reasonably early this year and lines up with the president. All eyes now on Ohio, where you can watch the raw numbers pile up here.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099456374589092032004-11-02T23:31:00.000-05:002004-11-02T23:32:54.590-05:00

Through the mists of uncertainty that remain tonight shines a beacon of clarity: The tyranny of the minibottle is over in South Carolina. For about 10 years, the Palmetto State, in an effort to make getting a drink in public as annoying and expensive as possible, has banned bars and restaurants from pouring out of anything but the minibottles you see on airlines. This requirement inadvertently

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099454048353717752004-11-02T22:52:00.000-05:002004-11-02T22:54:08.353-05:00

Flash: CNN calls Pennsylvania for Kerry.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099452988121483102004-11-02T22:35:00.000-05:002004-11-02T22:36:28.120-05:00

After a comprehensive survey of broadcast media and the Web, I can give you this up-to-the-second report: We know nothing. All the states getting filled in with red and blue are doing exactly what they were expected to do. On the critical races, there are numbers, but you can't put any stock in them. The blogosphere is churning in place. The best thing on TV at the moment is the Rev. Al Sharpton

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099448879567407672004-11-02T21:27:00.000-05:002004-11-02T21:27:59.566-05:00

As you're listening to the networks' references to polling data, exit and otherwise, and find you need some perspective on how the numbers are gathered and what they mean, check Mark Blumenthal's excellent Mystery Pollster site.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099447880276798152004-11-02T21:10:00.000-05:002004-11-02T21:11:20.276-05:00

If you're interested in first-person accounts of voting across the country, more than 300 people have posted their experiences under How'd Your Vote Go? at kottke.org.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099445821063197702004-11-02T20:36:00.000-05:002004-11-02T21:13:38.020-05:00

Welcome Barack Obama to the halls of the U.S. Senate. The rising star from Illinois who created a sensation at the Democratic Convention easily beat Republican Alan Keyes and becomes only the third black senator since Reconstruction.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099444689613703412004-11-02T20:17:00.000-05:002004-11-02T20:18:09.613-05:00

Steve "Captain Steve" Soboroff, obligatory wacky DJ at KCJJ in Iowa City, playfully told listeners today that because of the record number of voters, Democrats will vote on Tuesday and Republicans on Wednesday Thursday and Friday. "It was said in jest; it was very apparent that it was said in jest. I also said that Republicans were charging 5 and a quarter at the polls for the pencils to fill in

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099442787875637472004-11-02T19:52:00.000-05:002004-11-02T19:46:27.876-05:00

New voters got a warm welcome at New Avenues to Independence, a sheltered workshop that housed the polls for three precincts on Cleveland's East Side. Every 20 minutes or so, a poll worker would call out, ‘‘We have a first-time voter,'' drawing applause from the crowded gymnasium. -- Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder Washington Bureau

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099443105947691052004-11-02T19:50:00.000-05:002004-11-02T19:51:45.946-05:00

The networks may be gun-shy (with good reason) about running with exit-poll data, but Slate has no compunctions about posting them as they arrive, trusting readers to bring their own grains of salt.

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099441441975305982004-11-02T19:23:00.000-05:002004-11-02T19:36:29.076-05:00

From our Ohio sources comes word that filmmaker Michael Moore created a stir by showing up at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday. Moore, engulfed by reporters as he tried to make his way through the lobby, said he was in the Cleveland area in a watchdog role. He had marshalled a crew of about 1,200 people -- about 300 in Ohio, 600 in Florida and the rest

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099440576105331802004-11-02T19:05:00.000-05:002004-11-02T19:09:36.106-05:00

Even that segment of the electorate that proudly wears the Anybody But Bush label probably has its limits. Not being George Bush has probably done nothing for the campaign of candidates like Jack Grimes, who proposes to establish a fascist dictatorship based on the teachings of Benito Mussolini and Saddam Hussein and would rely on telepathy and astrology to help him make his decisions. Or

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099439808301773942004-11-02T18:52:00.000-05:002004-11-02T18:56:48.300-05:00

The St. Paul Pioneer Press' Megan Boldt offers this touching Election Day story: Susan Raffo sought help for a voting demographic Tuesday that doesn't get a lot of attention: The young and homeless. Raffo, development director of YouthLink, a Minneapolis-based group that provides services for homeless and at-risk youth, said she had an overwhelming response to an e-mail sent out earlier in the

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099438050623791052004-11-02T18:24:00.000-05:002004-11-02T18:28:13.786-05:00

Voters at a precinct in northwest Charlotte, N.C. waited patiently and good-humoredly for an hour-plus to vote today. Once the line snaked its way to the actual voting machines, the action sped up considerably: A sign announced that each voter had up to 5 minutes to fill in the four-page ballot.

lkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10560447260367570291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099434206497649012004-11-02T17:21:00.000-05:002004-11-02T17:38:37.736-05:00

Jeanny House, President Bush's second cousin, is busy working the polls in her home town in Wisconsin today. She wants her cousin out of the White House. She appears to have company. House and seven other second cousins have a Web site - www.bushrelativesforkerry.com - touting their opposition to a Bush second term. They are all descendants of George W.'s great aunt, Mary Bush, who is the

Jim Kuhnhennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08212975642685111341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099434085566373272004-11-02T17:20:00.000-05:002004-11-02T17:27:02.896-05:00

Joining you for the duration from the Left Coast, I'm John Murrell from SiliconValley.com, fresh from doing my civic duty at the rec hall of a nearby mobile home park here in lovely Milpitas, Calif., where there was a line for the first time I recall. At my precinct, poll workers did offer the choice of paper or plastic (the card that you slip into an e-voting machine), and even being steeped in

John Murrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099433419187039152004-11-02T17:07:00.000-05:002004-11-02T17:10:19.186-05:00

Got a few dollars burning a hole in your pocket? Wanna support your favorite presidential candidate? It's not too late ... Just in case we don't have a winner tonight and the country enters the recount zone -- you can donate some cash (they'll take credit cards too) to the campaign defense funds. On the GOP side, it's the Bush/Cheney '04 Compliance Committee; for the Democrats, it's the

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099431510446350602004-11-02T16:33:00.000-05:002004-11-02T17:13:01.976-05:00

Not that we can get into exit-poll.net - it's either pummeled by traffic or downright down - but rumor has it that its early exit polls slightly favor Kerry. Exit polls are notoriously not very accurate and we still have a couple of hours until the polls close, but it just shows how close the candidates really are.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099430883503884292004-11-02T16:22:00.000-05:002004-11-02T16:30:04.500-05:00

Ohio voters who did not receive absentee ballots on time can cast provisional ballots at the polls, a federal judge in Toledo ruled Tuesday. The decision by U.S. District Court Judge David Katz reverses an earlier directive by Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell who said the voters could not cast provisional ballots despite not receiving their absentee ballots. This means that some

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099429209638492132004-11-02T15:48:00.000-05:002004-11-02T16:11:23.366-05:00

All this watching and waiting and wondering if we'll have a president-elect today - or this week - is reminiscent of an old Mary Tyler Moore election episode. "The snow must go on" originally aired on Nov. 7, 1970 - election week - and has Mary and her newsroom pals working on a mayoral election night. The teletype machine types goes out the first results of the evening - Turner 85, Mitchell 23

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099429011806709572004-11-02T15:39:00.001-05:002004-11-02T15:56:51.806-05:00

There's the New Year's Eve countdown clock, then there was the deficit clock ... now -- especially for Election Day 2004 -- meet CNN's "1st poll closing" clock. Those tuning in to the cable news giant will be able to see exactly how much time before the first polls close. And if you're a procrastinator, this will give you the opportunity to wait until the VERY last minute ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ...

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099428098805693132004-11-02T15:39:00.000-05:002004-11-02T15:41:38.806-05:00

During an interview this morning on CNN, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft acknowledged provisional ballots cast by people whose voting rights are questioned by poll challengers could delay the results of the election. ``It is possible we won't know the outcome in Ohio for a period of 10 days,'' he said. For more details, click here

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099425456794545332004-11-02T14:54:00.000-05:002004-11-02T15:05:28.420-05:00

The Electoral College is a mysterious system. Theoretically, there can be a tie. We could, potentially, wind up with a president from one party and a vice president from another. And of course there's that whole popular vote vs. electoral vote thing. Want to learn more? Check out the National Archives and Records Administration's FAQ.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099425226883832682004-11-02T14:46:00.000-05:002004-11-02T14:53:46.883-05:00

We already have one state, umm ..., territory reporting and Bush won it. The president took Guam with 17,264 votes vs. John Kerry with 9,540. Ralph Nader had 153 and Campagna Badnarik 53. Apparently, though, it doesn't mean much. The Electoral College system only counts the votes of states, not territories.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099423671423859432004-11-02T14:25:00.000-05:002004-11-02T14:27:51.423-05:00

The Campaign Extra! blog is running a contest to predict the winners of the swing states. Just copy the list of states into a window and put a R or D (or B or K, if you prefer) next to each state. The winner gets a T-shirt and a mention in the Philadelphia Daily News.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099422754911637692004-11-02T14:09:00.000-05:002004-11-02T14:13:11.556-05:00

The Florida Poll Watch is reporting that many people are voting for the first time, especially after the debacle of their state in 2000. "I never thought that it mattered, when I seen in 2000 that it does matter," said Derrell Davis, 24, a Duval County customer service representative who cast a vote for Democratic candidate John Kerry. "I feel like I was one of the victims," Davis said, despite

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099421009882100012004-11-02T13:38:00.000-05:002004-11-02T13:43:29.883-05:00

We're seeing evidence that Florida and Ohio are as problematic as we hoped they wouldn't be. In Broward County, Fla., problems include malfunctioning polling machines. One of the five voting machines at Precinct 31-E in Coral Springs was shutdown at about 10:30 a.m. because of calibration problems. "What that basically means is that when a voter presses the box next to a candidate the machine,

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099417269272735162004-11-02T13:33:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:46:01.936-05:00

It's like waiting for a ride at Disney World. That's how one woman described the long wait in the cold and rain to vote in St. Paul, Minn.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099420292960967952004-11-02T13:28:00.000-05:002004-11-02T13:31:32.960-05:00

Call off the anthrax-sniffing dogs (if such dogs exist). The cops in Mount Laurel, N.J., say the white powder someone threw in the school/polling place really was salt. Voting was disrupted at 9 a.m. and resumed two hours later.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099420103560312212004-11-02T13:26:00.000-05:002004-11-02T13:28:23.560-05:00

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham refuted Drudge Report reports of 2,000 bonus votes in voting machines.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099416486062751292004-11-02T13:25:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:45:19.233-05:00

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a great photo (registration required) of two men waiting in the wee hours for the polls to open. The punchline: They thought they were first on line, but it turned out they were waiting at the wrong entrance.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099416469332801742004-11-02T13:23:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:34:58.220-05:00

This from the Associated Press: Space station astronaut Leroy Chiao became the first American to vote for president from space, casting an encrypted ballot via e-mail and urging fellow countrymen to go to the polls Tuesday. "It was just a small thing for me, but it is important symbolically to show that every vote does count," said Chiao, 44, from the international space station a few hours

Lori Aratanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14202004186984826093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099416116708144562004-11-02T13:21:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:21:56.706-05:00

We hear it's salt. So says Philly's NBC 10. Don't see it on their Web site yet, though. One question: Is salt a powder?

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099419584424858072004-11-02T13:16:00.000-05:002004-11-02T13:19:44.423-05:00

On Michael Moore's Election Watch 2004 blog, "Mike's Keyboard Army," can post incidences of voting irregularity they've witnessed. Click on any state - color coded much like the terror alerts as far as severity of problems - to see what readers are reporting.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099415896361971672004-11-02T13:09:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:18:16.360-05:00

According to the Campaign Extra! blog, the Drudge Report was wrong about voting hanky panky in Philly: Dep. City Commissioner Ed Schlugen stood up just now and announced that there were NOT votes on the machines. The poll workers were looking at a counter on the back which tallies the total number of votes cast - ever - on the machine. It's called a "protective counter." He said there were no

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099414836580190752004-11-02T11:49:00.000-05:002004-11-02T12:01:17.476-05:00

The lines are long, and not just at the polling places. In Camden County, N.J., the lines are long at court, where people are standing up for their right to vote. Between 7 and 10 a.m., 50 people stood up before Superior Court Judge Frederick J. Schuck to prove they were registered. Among them were nuns Kathleen Aherne, 64, and Judith Terrameo, 55, who planned to vote this morning in Haddonfield

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099413684892831182004-11-02T11:36:00.000-05:002004-11-02T11:41:24.893-05:00

No one likes waiting on line to vote, but it's even worse for older workers. In Miami, some voters showed up with walkers and some couldn't make it through the lines, according to Miami-Dade Poll Watch. In some cases, portable voting machines were taken to a an elderly person's car so they could vote.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099413010775279652004-11-02T11:25:00.000-05:002004-11-02T11:30:10.776-05:00

In North Carolina, reader Jon Goldberg showed up at the polls at 6:15 a.m. and was number 11 when voting started at 6:30. Polling workers told him it was unheard of to have people waiting on line before the polls open. Hourlong waits are commonplace among his friends in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099412247582535882004-11-02T11:17:00.000-05:002004-11-02T11:22:52.206-05:00

Long lines, kids in school, passions are high. To add to that, this morning someone threw a white powder into Fleetwood Elementary School in Mount Laurel, N.J., and then fled. Needless to say, the school was evacuated, the polls were closed and a hazmat truck, several fire trucks and police cars showed up.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099412014489151232004-11-02T11:11:00.000-05:002004-11-02T11:13:54.293-05:00

On Tacitus.org: If John Kerry wins, I will happily join the band of Republicans opposing him at every turn. If the President wins, I will happily join the band of Republicans opposing him at (nearly) every turn.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099411267197430092004-11-02T10:56:00.000-05:002004-11-02T11:34:46.806-05:00

Philadelphia reader Marc Butakis reports that he was met with an hourlong line when he showed up to vote at 7:15 a.m. - 15 minutes after the polls opened. At 8:15, when he signed in to vote, he was number 76 out of approximately 1,000 potential voters in his district. "When I left, I would estimate that there were at least 150 people waiting in line behind me," he said. "My best guess is that

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099410592690900972004-11-02T10:43:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:49:52.690-05:00

Kerry and Bush, both hoping for that Hispanic vote, tested their language skills on Sabado Gigante (registration required), a popular Spanish-language show. The results were ... umm ... interesting.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099410090101660012004-11-02T10:37:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:41:30.103-05:00

The Drudge Report is reporting that before the polls opened in Philadelphia this morning, 2000 votes were already found in the voting machines throughout the city. Pennsylvania does not have early voting.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099409676962072332004-11-02T10:31:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:34:36.963-05:00

Fifteen minutes before the polls opened, at 5:45 a.m., 30 people in one Kansas City, Mo., location were waiting outside to vote. At 6:17 at another polling place, the line was out the door. "Hey," said a woman arriving at the end of the line, "this is what democracy looks like."

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099409113969058392004-11-02T10:21:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:25:13.970-05:00

Yes - $4 billion. That's the price of the 2004 elections, and not the final price either. That's not even counting the ballots, poll workers and lawyers. Congressional and presidential candidates alone devoted at least $1.8 billion to their primary and general election campaigns, with about one-third of that spent by Bush and Kerry. It also went out in dribs and drabs, often large dribs and

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099408405328198812004-11-02T10:04:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:54:41.420-05:00

The Miami-Dade Poll Watch reports that some voters have been turned away at the polls. And, yes, the attorneys are already on the case. In Broward County, people says voting is worth the wait.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099406262623798952004-11-02T09:32:00.000-05:002004-11-02T10:02:54.520-05:00

Someone we know voted this morning in Old City Philadelphia, where the line at the polls was FOUR BLOCKS LONG! Another person was number 200 of 900 registered voters at her Philly polling place - at 9 a.m. Two volunteers from moveon.org - one from New York State, the other from Washington State - stopped by to ask if voters needed help and to make sure the voting machines were OK. A colleague

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099405918268507182004-11-02T09:25:00.000-05:002004-11-02T09:31:58.266-05:00

The Red Sox, i.e., Kerry's team, broke the curse of the Bambino and won theh 2004 World Series. The Redskins lost to the Packers this weekend. Apparently, if the Redskins win, the incumbent president does as well. The Kerry-Edwards blog points to an impressive history of that phenomenon. Hard to know what this means. Will Kerry win because the Packers won? Or if the Red Sox broke the curse, can

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099404917911049552004-11-02T09:08:00.000-05:002004-11-02T09:15:17.910-05:00

Lost Remote reports that for a change, no one wants to be first to call the presidency. No newspaper or TV station wants to have to retract their announcement, a la Bush vs. Gore in 2000. See also: Dewey beats Truman, the Chicago Tribune's famous blunder in 1948.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099403902913206472004-11-02T08:55:00.000-05:002004-11-02T09:02:14.196-05:00

Another one of our colleagues, in suburban Philadelphia, voted at 8 a.m. The polls had been open for an hour and already 10 percent of her precinct had voted. Democratic poll watchers were taking the names of Dems who had voted so they could call the missing people and get them to the polls later in the day.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6408450.post-1099401108051325352004-11-02T08:09:00.000-05:002004-11-02T08:11:48.053-05:00

Steve Love said he's closing up shop at Ohioblog today so he can do some investigative voting. "Someone has to see what's going on at the polls since U.S. District Judge Paul Matia of Cleveland denied the media access," he says.

Ellen Dunkelnoreply@blogger.com