Didn't Romney go back ahead in the Ohio after their call? That one seemed early. Others like OR, MT and WI seemed like very late calls. IA doesn't really have many one-sided areas, so I guess it's easier to know what is happening there sooner. When VA goes D, it always does it at the last minute, so no surprise there.
They made the Ohio call in line with the other networks. Romney did briefly gain the lead at about 11:47 because a whole bunch of the remaining republican vote came in all at once. But by 12:05 it was back to a 20,000 vote lead for Obama and it just kept going up. IA counted its votes really quickly, and the most democratic votes come in first there too. Their OR call was only about 15 minutes after the other networks. Let's talk about WI for a bit, as call times there varied widely between networks.
In Wisconsin, the most republican votes come in first, just like in VA (for what its worth, AP called VA at roughly the same time as CBS, CNN, and I think ABC. FOX called it between Romney's Concession (12:55) and Obama's Victory Speech, and NBC/MSNBC called it after the Victory Speech). However, at 2% in (in WI), Obama took the lead very briefly, and based on where that came from, three networks called Wisconsin for Obama (FOX, NBC/MSNBC, and CBS). But the others decided to wait just a bit longer, and Romney took back the lead at 3% in, and at 4% in the Romney lead was 56-43, so the other networks, losing confidence in the direction of WI, just let things come in for a while. Obama gradually caught up, and ABC called it for Obama at 10:23 when the Romney lead had gotten small enough for them to feel confident in doing so. CNN waited until 11:02, when it was at 36% in and Obama had just taken the lead. However, the state stayed at 50-49 until a few minutes before AP called it. The Obama lead started to widen at about 11:45, and AP called it a few minutes after that.
AP wasn't confident about MT at all...wow! The most democratic votes come in first there, yet at 5% in (about halfway through the 10 o'clock hour) it was already 51-46 Romney (Romney won it by 14 points at night's end). Should have made it a quick call for them. Most networks called it immediately, CNN called it at 11:00.
I'm really surprised at how late they called the election. If you compare it with the other networks, it is in last place by a long shot.
placing: Network (time they called the election; state that put Obama over 270)
1st place: MSNBC (11:12; Ohio)
2nd place: NBC (11:13; Ohio)
3rd place: CBS (11:14; Ohio)
4th place: ABC (11:15; Ohio)
5th place: FOX (11:17; Oregon)
6th place: CNN (11:18; Ohio)
7th place: AP (11:48; Colorado)
