My election night timeline

[bhouston79]

At 7:00 p.m., polls close in GA, IN, KY, SC, VT, and VA.

Called states for Obama:
South Carolina

Called states for McCain:
Kentucky

Too early to call:
South Carolina & Virginia

Too close to call:
Georgia & Indiana

Here's the map:

Electoral Vote Total
McCain  8
Obama  3

McCain fans better savor this moment because it will be the only time that their candidate is in the lead on this evening.

[bhouston79]

At 7:30 p.m. the polls in three more states close.  Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia are all deemed to be too close to call.  However, at 7:37a bit of good news comes for the McCain campaign as South Carolina is called for the Senator from Arizona, but that is immediately followed by bad news, as Virginia is called for Barack Obama.  Here's the new map as of 7:38 p.m.

Electoral Votes

Obama 16
McCain 16

It's all tied up, but it won't stay that way for long.

[Ronnie]

Virginia won't be called so early.

[bhouston79]

Virginia won't be called so early.

I beg to differ.  Obama is up by either high single digits or double digits in all of the recent polls, and the state has a large African American population, which will allow him to run up the score in a way that isn't even being picked up by the polls.  Obama will win Virginia by a larger margin than he wins Ohio by.  In fact, I could see Obama losing Ohio and still winning Virginia by a fairly comfortable margin. 

[bhouston79]

So back to the timeline.

At 8:00 p.m. polls in 15 states and the District of Columbia are closed, and several states are called.  Meanwhile Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina are all still too close to call.

The following states are called for Obama:

Connecticut, Deleware, Illinois, Maine (including all Congressional Districts), Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and D.C..

The following states are called for McCain:

Alabama, Oklahoma, and Tennessee

The following states are added to the list of those that are too close to call:

Florida and Missouri

Pennsylvania will be listed as too early to call even though the exit polls show Obama leading big there.  Mississippi will also be listed as too early to call due to an extremely high turnout among African American voters.

Here's the map as of 8:01 p.m.

Electoral Votes
Obama 95
McCain 43

[bhouston79]

The only poll closing to occur at 8:30 p.m. is Arkansas, and although it is clear that the state will end up in the McCain column eventually, the state is listed as too early to call for the time being.  However, at 8:36 p.m. the networks make a huge announcement that pretty much makes it clear that this election isn't going to be close.  North Carolina is called for Obama Giving Obama a 110 to 43 lead in the electoral college.  Then as if things couldn't get any worse, at 8:43 p.m., Pennsylvania is called for Obama.  Here's the map at approximately 8:45 p.m.

ELECTORAL VOTES:

Obama 131
McCain   43

[Ronnie]

Virginia won't be called so early.

I beg to differ.  Obama is up by either high single digits or double digits in all of the recent polls, and the state has a large African American population, which will allow him to run up the score in a way that isn't even being picked up by the polls.  Obama will win Virginia by a larger margin than he wins Ohio by.  In fact, I could see Obama losing Ohio and still winning Virginia by a fairly comfortable margin. 

The media is more cautious than you think about swing states.  Don't forget that Kerry was actually ahead in VA's early precincts.  Obama would have to win this election by a truckload to have VA called for him so early.

And come on man, you're really hackish if you believe Obama will win NC by so much that it would be called for him shortly after polls close.

[bhouston79]

Shortly after the devasting calls discussed above, McCain gets a little bit of good news at around 8:50 p.m. as a trio of states, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Mississippi are finally called for him.

Here's the new map:

ELECTORAL VOTES:

Obama 131
McCain   60

[bhouston79]

I've got to get some sleep, but I'll continue this tommorow:)