It's Election Day!!

Finally! Two long years of political warfare are over and in less than 24 hours we should have a definite choice for our next President... A couple friends and I are waking up at 5:30am (yes, I do realize that's only in three hours... I'll have to pin my eyelids open) to grab some caffeine and get out to the polls early before the working morning crowd. I'm so excited to be voting for the first time in a Presidential Election-- a crucial and historical one at that. Missouri has determined the winning Presidential candidate for the past century, and so far polls are showing there's a 0.5% lead by McCain. The youth vote is one of the most important factors in this election. Whomever you support, please go to the polls and vote! It's your national right to practice your voice, so take advantage of it!

For you Obama supporters:
here's an easy way of determining results by the hour on Election Day via the ch!cktionary (via Nick Douglas).

1. When the polls close:

2. What states matter:

According to the prediction models at Fivethirtyeight.com, McCain absolutely can’t win without Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Indiana and Montana. He has less chance of winning without taking both Ohio and North Carolina than you do of wearing a condom and getting HIV.

3. What states matter in what order:

I distilled this from 538’s Nate Silver:

At 6 PM EST, most of Indiana’s polls close. An early call for McCain means hold onto your butts (because it indicates unpredicted McCain support); an early call for Obama means pop the champagne (for the inverse reason).

At 7, the rest of Indiana closes and a McCain win isn’t as meaningful. But at the same time Virginia, Georgia, and most of Florida close. If Virginia goes Obama, again, champagne. Same for Florida. If Obama wins his long-shot Georgia because of the record number of black early voters, then call a Republican and do your best Nelson “Ha ha!” because this whole map’s going blue.

At 7:30, Ohio and North Carolina close. Bad voter turnout here actually helps Obama, thanks to his huge lead in early votes. Either way, by now McCain probably has to win both or…finally…champagne.

At 8, Pennsylvania wraps up. But the projections may be off depending on which votes are counted first. Again, if you’re still holding onto your butts, keep a grip.

At 9, if Obama is still struggling, he’d better win Colorado. But not much chance it’ll come down to this.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AT THIS TIME, IF OBAMA HASN’T SWEPT:
6 PM: McCain needs to not already lose Indiana.

7 PM: McCain needs Florida and Virginia.

7:30: McCain needs Ohio and North Carolina.

8: McCain probably needs Pennsylvania.

9: McCain needs Colorado.

Barack the vote!

-Kimberly('s mama's for Obama)