Election Night: 7:00
Good evening and we have some states to project at this time: Indiana, has gone to Gov. Perry. We are also giving him South Carolina and Kentucky, which puts him with an early lead.
Obama 3
Perry 28
The President has carried Vermont as expected, but all these states were expected for the candidates. We'll need to see where the big ones. In most of the battleground states Obama has led Perry, and by enough of a margin that it is going to be hard to overtake him.
The question that will come up tonight is did the republicans go with the wrong guy? Should it have been Romney?
I don't know if we'll be able to assess that right off. If Perry is defeated, and soundly then the argument will favor a Romney type republican and the tea party will effectively end. If he loses by a narrow margin, then it's more difficult to read what will happen to the GOP.
In the state of Georgia, a solid republican state, Obama is leading Rick Perry, narrowly.
Obama 48.9%
Perry 48.1%
In Virginia they are dead even.
Obama 48%
Perry 48%
Election Night: 7:30
West Virginia goes into the Perry column, but Ohio and North Carolina remain too close to call at this point. As does Georgia, where Rick Perry is now leading.
With Giuliani on the ticket is Perry electable?
We'll see, but many conservatives despise Perry. Now in order to win over independents and moderates he needed someone who could balance the ticket. Whether he delivers, stay tuned.
Election Night: 8:00
The big push at eight o'clock now and for the President we project the following states:
Illinois
Massachusetts
Maine
Maryland
Delaware
Connecticut
New Jersey
New Hampshire
The District of Columbia
For Gov. Perry we project:
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Mississippi
Alabama
Obama 79
Perry 66
Of all those states what's the most important thus far?
Probably New Hampshire. Yeah, it has only four electoral votes, but Perry and Giuliani both spent a lot of time in the state. It is a swing state and stays with Obama. This could be telling.
Let's turn to Florida where Pres. Obama holds the narrowest of leads over Governor Perry.
Obama 50.0%
Perry 49.4%
Election Night: 9:00
We have more projection to make at this time. For Pres. Obama has carried the following states:
Michigan
Minnesota
Wisconsin
New York
Rhode Island
New Mexico
For Governor Perry we project:
Texas
Kansas
Nebraska
South Dakota
Wyoming
Louisiana
Obama 153
Perry 135
At this time we can project that Pennsylvania has gone to Pres. Obama. This is a major victory for the president and certainly a state he needed to win.
Obama 51.1%
Perry 48.6%
And to add, some good more good news for the President we project that Virginia will stay democratic again tonight
Obama 50.1%
Perry 47.9%
Also we can project that Missouri has gone for Gov. Perry. It was expected to tonight, despite some uncertainty at first.
Perry 51.0%
Obama 46.6%
Obama 186
Perry 145
The two are separated by forty electoral votes, and there still are major states in question. Of those states are: Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado and Arizona. The president leads Perry in North Carolina, Arizona and Colorado. He ties him in Ohio and Florida. Perry leads only in Georgia.
We're now going to project that Georgia for Gov. Perry.
Perry 50.3%
Obama 49.0%
Obama 186
Perry 161
North Carolina:
Obama 49.5%
Perry 49.3%
Arizona:
Obama 49.8%
Perry 49.0%
Colorado:
Obama 49.7%
Perry 48.5%
Ohio:
Perry 48.8%
Obama 48.8%
Florida:
Perry 49.0%
Obama 49.0%
Election Night: 10:00
It is ten o'clock now on the east coat and we have a projection to make for Gov. Perry. He will carry Utah, as well as the state of Montana. Iowa and Nevada are too close to call at this point.
Perry leads in Iowa.
Perry 49.4%
Obama 49.1%
Nevada is too close, with them both essentially tied.
Obama 48.9%
Perry 48.6%
We are now able to make a major projection. North Carolina will go for Pres. Obama. The Democratic Convention was held there. Obama won in 2008 and tonight he does so again.
Obama 49.6%
Perry 49.1%
Obama 201
Perry 170
How does Perry win tonight?
He doesn't. He's got to carry Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and Arizona. He takes all those, plus more traditional republican leaning states he only reaches 259 electoral votes. Now unless he can take Washington I think the Perry express has run out.
We'll to add weight to that thought we now project that Colorado will go for Pres. Obama.
It's over for Perry...
Conclusion:
Obama 358
Perry 180
So, Governor Rick Perry went down in defeat last night to Pres. Obama who won reelection decisively. He carried every state that he won in 2008, save for Indiana, but picked up Arizona. With Obama receiving a mandate for 2008 the question now remains what of the Republican Party. Having won landslide midterm election in 2010, only to lose the presidency in 2012.
Will the Republicans abandon their Tea Party driven platform and return to the more moderatism with the likes of Romney. We will never know if Romney could have beaten Pres. Obama last night, but what we can predict is that this election may have been a lot closer, had the Republican party thought with logic, not stupidity.
