Check out B&C’s Election 2012 Live Blog of election TV coverage below and keep refreshing for constant updates. All times ET. For earlier posts, click here.
(12:10) CNN: EXPLAINS WHY OHIO PROVISIONAL BALLOTS WON’T COME INTO PLAY
Wolf Blitzer has finally brought up the provisional ballots, which CNN earlier said could come into play and take 10 days to count. John King says their team has taken those ballots into account when making the call that Ohio would go to Obama.
(12:03) CBS: SCHIEFFER — CHRIS CHRISTIE EARLY 2016 FRONTRUNNER
Bob Schieffer commended New Jersey governor Chris Christie on his willingness to put party politics aside and work with Barack Obama on Hurricane Sandy relief. He said he thinks that will make Christie in early frontrunner for the Republican nomination for 2016.
“I would put Chris Christie right out there in front right now”
(12:01) CNN: WHAT IF ROMNEY DOES NOT CONCEDE?
CNN panel talks about what happens if Romney does not concede, does the President give a speech anyway. David Gergen says Romney will need to come up with some justification for not conceding within the next half hour or so.
(11:59) CNN: ROMNEY CAMPAIGN STILL NOT CONCEDING
Candy Crowley reports that Romney folks are still running the Ohio numbers, but are not yet conceding the election. So, it did move past midnight.
(11:57) CNN: CARVILLE SAYS ELECTIONS COUNT FOR SOMETHING
James Carville: The man won reelection. That counts for something. The Republicans are going to have to do soul searching. The Tea Party cost them five Senate seats.
(11:52) CNN: MITT ROMNEY IS NOW LEADING IN OHIO
As John King was discussing Ohio, Romney suddenly took the lead in the vote count, but John King says Romney will wind up running a close second given that Ohio votes still to be counted skew Obama. Makes me wonder about those provisional ballots. Wish CNN had made clear that they were taking that into account, since they made such a big deal of it earlier in the night.
(11:49) CNN: PREDICTS NEVADA GOES TO OBAMA
Wolf Blitzer says Obama continues to build up electoral college cushion with Nevada win. John King says Obama may win north of 330 electoral college votes and that President will make history by winning re-election with unemployment rate over 7.1%.
(11:45) FOX NEWS: ROVE MAINTAINS THAT REELECTION STILL UNDECIDED
With the banner above Baier and Kelly’s proclaiming that Obama had indeed won the reelection, Baier reiterated, “That’s our call form the decision desk,” despite continued resistance from Karl Rove.
“Let some more Hamilton [County] come in, and see some of that validation.” He said it was a “very early call, with 991 votes separating them.”
Though Kelly, who had just returned from her trip to the decision desk at the request of Rove, ticked off the names of those who had all agreed on the call, Rove maintained his stance.
“And they’re very smart guys. I’m just talking terms of public perception,” he said.
(11:45) CNN: JOHN KING SAYS WARM UP THE FAT LADY
John King suggests Republicans are clinging to straws after a long campaign, but adds: “Warm up the Fat Lady.” Wolf Blitzer says another electoral vote is coming to President from Maine. Romney is still ahead slightly of the President in the popular vote.
(11:44) CNN: KING DEFENDS PRESIDENTIAL CALL
John King: Romney camp says they still think Florida and Ohio are still in play. King says he is sticking with Ohio prediction, thinks Florida will not go to Romney either, and Obama has moved ahead in Virginia.
(11:42) NBC: CHUCK TODD EXPLAINS WHY THEY CALLED OHIO FOR OBAMA
Brian Williams asks Chuck Todd to walk us through why he’s calling Ohio and the Presidency for Obama. “I’ll just make it simple for folks,” he says pointing to a graphic with stats on Cuyahoga County, Ohio that has Obama with 68% of the vote to Romney’s 31% with the exact vote totals beside the percentages. “This is Cuyahoga County right now.”
This is with 60% votes in, he adds. Todd then points out that Obama is up in Florida, Colorado and Nevada, so “even if there is some sort of shock in Cuyahoga County, which we don’t expect, the map doesn’t work anymore for 270, Brian.”
(11:42) FOX NEWS: KARL ROVE INSISTS THEY CALLED TOO EARLY
Megyn Kelly visited the decision desk in the Fox News studios - unfortunately located pretty far from her desk, making for a long walk and losing audio — but interviewed those in the room who said that they expected Obama’s margin to rise, securing Obama’s reelection (much to the chagrin of Karl Rove, who had insisted earlier that they were calling much too early).
When they returned to Baier, Rove was still “crunching numbers” and pointing furiously to Bill Hemmer before breaking for commercial.
(11:41) CNN: JIM ACOSTA SAYS ROMNEY NOT READY TO CONCEDE
Jim Acosta: As of 5 minutes ago, Romney campaign was not prepared to concede the election to President Obama. Romney campaign says it still has a shot in Ohio, says John King.
(11:39) CBS: ROMNEY CAMPAIGN ‘MISJUDGED’ ENTHUSIASM, DIDN’T PROPERLY LOOK AT INDEPENDANTS
Jan Crawford, from Romney headquarters in Boston, after having some audio problems, said the Romney campaign told her they ‘misjudged’ the enthusiasm for their campaign and didn’t look properly at independent voters. She again mentioned how Romney didn’t even write a concession speech.
(11:37) CNN: Oprah For President
Obama supporter-not quite of voting age-interviewed by Brianna Keilar, says she is happy but hopes next time a woman will be elected: “Oprah!”
(11:35) COMEDY CENTRAL: COLBERT STUNNED
After an opening showing an elephant beating a donkey, until the donkey pulled a gun, Stephen Colbert opens his live show saying that the top story of the night is his mother Lorna’s 92nd birthday.
Then, Colbert is passed a napkin stained with liberal tears, meaning that Comedy Central is ready to project that CNN has projected that Animal Planet has predicted that the winner of the election is Barack Obama. The audience cheers and Colbert claps his hands begrudgingly. “America has elected its first Black president for a second time,” Colbert says. Since he’s half Black, it’s possible that in his second term, Obama will be white.
Colbert says he’s stunned by the outcome. “Fine America. It’s your funeral,” he says, for electing an American hating, socialist, wealth distributor who is possibly lying about his birthplace and his religion. Colbert says he and his fellow job creators are going John Galt and leaving the parasites behind and relocating to an island where only rich people can live: Manhattan.
(11:35) ABC: BIG PARTY IN NEW YORK
Deborah Roberts’ reporting from Harlem drowned out by cheers and revelry, and Josh Elliott amidst “complete pandemonium” in Times Square.
Crowd shot in Washington, then the jubilant crowd at Obama HQ in Chicago as they await victory speech.
Barbara Walters offers insights on what’s going through heads of Mitt and Ann: “The political career is finished.”
(11:35) CNN: ON CALLING OHIO
I assume that they called Ohio because they were sure the margin would be larger than the provisional ballots that have to be counted 10 days after election day, because otherwise the state might be in dispute. Of course, if Obama wins Florida that would be mute.
(11:33) CNN: TOWER OF TALKING HEAD BABBLE
Not sure what is going on with audio at CNN, but there is a muddled background of ambient sound that is “tower of babble” annoying. Some of it is cross talk, but I think that is the delay from the audio on crowds of viewing parties they are showing at the same time their talking heads are talking.
(11:32) PBS: FIRST ELECTION RESULT REACTION FROM OBAMA IS A TWEET
With several networks predicting that the President would be re-elected, PBS reports that Obama had tweeted thanks to his followers. Politics has changed forever, Judy Woodruff notes, “when the first communication we have from a President is a tweet.”
(11:30) MSNBC: ‘ABSOLUTE SILENCE’ AT ROMNEY HQ
“It has been absolute silence here,” Chris Jansing said from Romney headquarters in Boston about 15 minutes after NBC called the election for Obama.
Jansing said Republican starategists she spoke to believed three things were mostly to blame for Romney’s loss: his infamous “47%” comment, which they called “nearly fatal,” the strategic decision by the Obama campaign to define Romney early in the race before he could define himself, and Hurricane Sandy stopping Romney’s momentum.
“The mood here is completed deflated,” Jansing said. “Except for televisions blaring behind me, you can hear almost nothing.”
Worth noting, the TV’s at Romney HQ have been seen tuned to Fox News tonight, as seen in the background of other networks’ live shots.
(11:27) CNN: ROMNEY STILL LEADING IN THE POPULAR VOTE
Mitt Romney is still leading in the popular vote, Anderson Cooper points out.
James Carville on meeting in the middle: President should get more of what he wants than Republicans because we just had an election.
Van Jones: President got a mandate for his vision, which means the rich will have to pay more in taxes.
Gloria Borger: I am not sure either candidate laid out a true vision.
(11:26) CBS: SCHIEFFER — IT ALL CAME DOWN TO OHIO
Bob Schieffer just reiterated what they have been saying all night, that Ohio was going to be the state that was going to decide the election.
(11:24) CNN: TIME TO COME TOGETHER
CNN analysts: Alex Castellanos: “Boy that hurts,” but adds: “Republicans should be as gracious as they were passionate and go sit at the table.” Democrat Van Jones agrees. Margaret Hoover sees some Republicans descending into “warlordism.” David Gergen: There were an awful lot of people who voted today who want to see a lot more moderation. I think there is a chance for them to come together.
(11:21) COMEDY CENTRAL: THIS IS NO JOKE
Jon Stewart reports that “we are projecting that Barack Obama is the President of the United States.” The audience cheers. But then Stewart recaps that the House stays Republican, the Senate stayed Democrat and Obama stays in the White House. “Two years, three billion dollars and we are still in the same f**king place we were when we started.”
(11:20) FOX NEWS: OBAMA WINS OHIO, REELECTION
Juan Williams was interrupted as Fox News broke in to announce that Obama will win the crucial battleground of Ohio. The panel looked around for a moment before Megyn Kelly asked, “So what does that mean?” to which the panel replied, “That’s the presidency.”
(11:19) CNN: LET THE WORLD KNOW WE REPORTED OBAMA VICTORY AT 11:18
Wolf says: Let the world know that we predicted it at 11:18. Obama wins and Mitt Romney Loses. By my estimate, it was at exactly 11:18 and 25 seconds, if it gets down to hair splitting. Wolf says let’s just listen to all the cheers, which CNN does for a minute or more.
(11:18:25) CNN PREDICTS OBAMA WINS REELECTION
CNN has projected Obama wins reelection, giving him Ohio and the race. Cuts to top of Empire State Building, which has turned blue.
(11:17) ABC NOT CALLING IT FOR PRESIDENT…YET
WCBS, WNBC and WNYW calling an Obama re-election, but ABC sticking with local news. Jen Maxfield reporting from Newark bar, people going crazy in background celebrating Obama announcement on other networks. Jen says they’re awaiting word from ABC.
11:22 commercial break. A movie ad. A car ad. Still no call from ABC. Wow.
11:23, Bill Ritter says Obama has tweeted “four more years.” WABC goes live to Chicago for about five seconds. Nothing happens, then to Lee Goldberg for local NY weather.
11:23, weather is cut off to go back to network studio.
11:24, Diane Sawyer says, Ohio is in, Ohio to Obama, “which means you are looking at the president of the United States. Barack Obama has been re-elected.”
(11:16) TWITTER: OBAMA APPEARS TO CALL THE RACE ON TWITTER ALONG WITH NETS
A tweet from the POTUS @BarackObama reading “Four more years.” And linking to a photograph of him embracing the First Lady was posted at 11:16 according to the time stamp on the account.
By 11:34 it had been retweeted 186,564 times and favorited by 58,698 tweeters.
(11:15) PBS: REPORTS 3 NETWORKS GIVE OHIO TO OBAMA
Shortly after a showing the crowd at Obama headquarters react to screens showing that CNN is predicting the president will be re-elected, PBS NewsHour reported that three networks have put Ohio in the Obama column. “This is the beginning of a historical problem for the Republicans,” David Books noted later at 11:27 ET. He was referring to the demographic changes that had fueled the projected Obama win.
(11:15) CBS: CBS SWITCHES BACK TO ELECTION COVERAGE TO ANNOUNCE OBAMA WINS RE-ELECTION
WCBS in New York, which stopped airing Election coverage at 11 p.m., suddenly switched back to Scott Pelley to announce that Barack Obama has won re-election. It caught Pelley in mid-sentence.
(11:15) CNN PREDICTS OBAMA CARRIES OREGON
CNN has projected Obama wins Oregon, with 256 electoral votes. Obama predictions of early and victorious night look to be right.
(11:13) NBC: CALLS OBAMA PRESIDENT
“Hang on Chuck. Hang on Chuck,” Brian Williams says to Chuck Todd, who is talking about the Obama campaign being the “Moneyball” of politics. “We’ve got some critical calls.
Williams calls Ohio for Obama.
Then a blue screen shows up with stars on the lower half followed by a blue graphic background that says President of the United States, followed by a screen that has an image of Obama and the words “Barack Obama Elected 44th President of the United States.”
(11:13) COMEDY CENTRAL: RESULTS FOR 2016
Daily Show isn’t content to report the 2012 election results. Instead it’s jumping ahead to 2015. Correspondent Wyatt Cenac says Nate Silver is projecting a 68% chance that Hillary Clinton will beat Jeb Bush in a divided country, with the red section, “New Real America, ” and the blue section called “That’s not funny Jon.” It’s going to come down to Ohio,” correspondent Cenac says.
(11:12) MSNBC: OBAMA WINS OHIO, RE-ELECTION
As goes Ohio, so goes the country. Rachel Maddow said NBC News is now projecting Obama will win Ohio and therefore re-election.
Just before, they put Oregon in Obama’s column as well as Iowa at 11:09.
(11:12) CBS: CBS STILL WITH LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE IN NEW YORK
WCBS in New York appears to have switched exclusively to local news coverage. They did report that Obama is now leading Romney in the Electoral College 243-203.
(11:11) NBC: OBAMA CAMPAIGN THE ‘MONEYBALL’ OF POLITICS
As NBC projects Iowa going to Obama, Chuck Todd says a Republican consultant just emailed him tipping his hat to Obama advisor David Plouffe saying this is the “Moneyball” campaign of knowing demographics and margins.
Todd notes the Obama campaign was advertising on the Big 10 Network five weeks before the Romney campaign started advertising on the network, “which has got high viewership only one day a week but they knew they were talking to working class Midwestern white guys, part of that Midwestern firewall.”
(11:09) CNN: PRESIDENT WILL WIN IN IOWA, NEW MEXICO
CNN says Obama wins Iowa and New Mexico, which puts him within one good-sized state of being reelected. It appears to be almost over, and it is not even midnight (my observation). Obama 249 electoral votes to Romney’s 191.
(11:05) CNN PREDICTS DEMS WILL HOLD ONTO SENATE
CNN says Tim Kaine will win in Virginia, and Dems will retain control of Senate. That means that if the election continues on this track, it will essentially be status quo.
(11:05) CBS: LOCAL NEWS COVERAGE BLEEDING INTO 11 P.M. HOUR
CBS has given the last few minutes of each 1/2 hour to its affiliates local coverage, but sure to switch back to CBS News’ election coverage at the top of each hour. That has changed as WCBS has taken its coverage into the 11 p.m. hour, with reports on Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
(11:04) CNN: JOHN KING SEES NO PATH TO PRESIDENCY FOR ROMNEY
John King says Republican plans B, C and D are gone, and he does not see a plan F. He outlines path to Obama victory even if he lost Ohio, Florida and Virginia. Republican strategist Alex Castellanos says: “I am going for the hemlock.”
(11:04) KMGH Denver — LATINOS PREFER OBAMA
Over 70% of Latinos in Colorado voted for President Obama, which could be the difference in giving the state’s electoral votes to Obama.
(11:03) CNN FINALLY GIVES PRESIDENT WISCONSIN
CNN projects Paul Ryan’s home state, Wisconsin, goes to Obama, North Carolina goes to Romney. Appears to be close to the end of the night, suspense-wise (my observation).
(11:01) COMEDY CENTRAL: WHY ISN’T JON STEWART SMILING?
Comedy Central kicks off its live coverage of Democalypse 2012. In the open, announcer Patrick Stewart claims that news personalities ranging from Edward R. Murrow and Tom Brokaw to Hoda and Kathie Lee will be participating in the show. Though on other networks, things look positive for President Obama, Jon Stewart isn’t smiling. He announces some preliminary results: Mitt Romney has won most of the Confederacy and Obama has won Michigan, one of Romney’s home states.
(11:00) ABC: NOW WITH YOUR LATE LOCAL NEWS
ABC goes local with WABC’s 11 p.m. news. Long lines at polling places in DMA No. 1, and a noreaster on its way.
Diana Williams elevates Obama’s electoral vote total on her magic board to 244 with California and Washington State, among others, in his column. Idaho to Romney, at 178. Key states still outstanding.
Speech from Chris Murphy after his win over Linda McMahon for a senate seat in Connecticut. NJ Burkett covering Sen. Gillibrand’s win, and Phil Lipof on Sen. Menendez’s win.
Coastal flood warnings from Lee Goldberg.
(11:00) MSNBC: OBAMA WINS CA, WA, HI
As polls on the West Coast closed at 11 p.m. ET, Rachel Maddow said NBC News is projecting Obama to win California, Washington, Hawaii and Romney to win Idaho.
Oregon remains too early to call, as do Iowa and Nevada.
Swing states Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Colorado are still too close to call.
At 11:04, NBC News called North Carolina for Romney.
(11:00) CNN PROJECTIONS
As West Coast polls closed, CNN projects that California and Hawaii go to Obama. Romney projected to win Idaho and Montana. Obama now takes big lead in electoral college. Exit polls say Obama is leading in Oregon.
(11:00) KDVR Denver: DENVER POST PROJECTS OBAMA WIN IN COLORADO
Newspaper tweets out early call.
(10:59) NBC: MAKING THE TRANSITION TO LOCAL NEWS
“We are going to wait a few seconds here until the 11 o clock hour arrives. We want to let you know some of our local stations will be breaking away for local news. We want to put them on alert to come back to us should we have to break in with national news.”
(10:58) NBC: ALEXANDER SPEAKS!
Nice save, BriWi. Goes to Peter Alexander at Romney’s camp, with apologies. Again, Williams displays grace.
“You can hear the silence in this environment right now,” Alexander says, noting it was fitting that Williams just came from Warren’s speech as Scott Brown’s campaign has much overlap with Romney’s. “In the words of one source close to the Romney campaign, ‘So far this night is stinging.’”
(10:55) CNN: OBAMA FOLKS SHOULD BE WATCHING US MORE CAREFULLY
Jessica Yellin: Obama folks want to remind us that our popular vote total does not include California. Wolf: They should be watching us more carefully because I have pointed that out.
(10:54) NBC: FREE PETER ALEXANDER
The reports from the POTUS candidates’ HQs just got interrupted for the second time, by B&C’s count, before Peter Alexander got to give his report from Romney’s camp in Boston.
Earlier, BriWi interrupted Kristen Welker’s report from Obama’s gathering in Chicago to project New Jersey going to Obama. This was before Alexander got to give a report from Boston.
BriWi just interrupted Welker’s report this time to hear Elizabeth Warren’s acceptance speech for Massachusetts Senator, again before Alexander got to report.
(10:52) FOX NEWS: BAIER GIVES BILL’S BILLBOARD A WHIRL
Bret Baier took over Bill Hemmer’s beloved billboard, explaining that “behind the scenes,” Bill Hemmer is also contributing to the Fox broadcast reporting with Shepard Smith. Kelly (who said she was jealous that Baier got to move about the studio) went over to Chris Wallace, who read an email from a Romney campaign rep, which said that the race was “tight. Very tight. Ohio is closing. We’ll be within one point. Florida will be less than 10,000 votes either way. Virginia will be a point or two. Too early to tell about Colorado, but our path is getting narrow.”
(10:50) ABC: THOSE AREN’T IPADS
ABC just ran a promotional announcement that the multi-touch screens being used on the network are courtesy of Microsoft. Microsoft has been spending close to $100 million to launch both Windows 8, which incorporates touch-screen technology, as well as its new Surface tablet computer.
(10:50) CNN: NEW PROJECTIONS
CNN projects Minnesota for Obama, Arizona for Romney. Romney has 169 electoral votes, 157 for Obama, but look for the flood of electoral votes for Obama when West Coast polls close at 11 p.m. NYT. That will power that Empire State Building mast’s blue (Obama) column above Romney. You heard it here.
(10:49) ABC: ROMNEYTAKES ARIZONA, BUT NEEDS MORE
Arizona to Romney, reports ABC News, but the big states-Ohio, Virginia, Florida-still unprojected.
Jesse Jackson wins race in Illinois, despite not campaigning.
Romney HQ increasingly glum. “The room here has grown quieter and quieter,” says Sandra Bookman in Boston.
(10:45) CBS: ROMNEY CAMPAIGN REFUSING TO GIVE UP
Jan Crawford, reporting from Romney’s campaign headquarters in Boston, says that while the former Massachusetts governor’s chances are dwindling, the campaign is refusing to give up on Ohio.
“They’re looking for these rays of sunshine”
(10:44) CNN: KING AGAIN MAKES POINT THAT OUTSTANDING VOTES ARE OBAMA-FRIENDLY
John King has been doing great reporting, but CNN remains conservative in its calling of states. King explains that even though Ohio looks close, the outstanding votes there are also from heavily Obama-centric areas.
(10:43) MSNBC: OBAMA GRABS MINNESOTA
Rachel Maddow interrupts Chuck Todd’s deep-dive on Florida demographics to announce NBC News projects Obama will win Minnesota.
(10:36) CNN: RACE MAY NOT GO AS LATE AS WE THOUGHT
Anderson Cooper: This thing may not go as late as we thought. David Gergen agrees. If Florida goes for Obama, I think this is basically over, says Gergen. But all agree that the country remains divided and will be tough to govern.
(10:36) CBS: ROMNEY WINS ARIZONA
Pelley announced that Arizona is projected to go to Mitt Romney, which was also as expected.
(10:34) CBS: ROMNEY HAD WORST PERFORMANCE AMONG HISPANICS SINCE DOLE
Norah O’Donnell said Hispanic’s were 10% of the electorate this year, with 69% breaking for Obama. For Romney, that is the worst performance for any Republican candidate since Bob Dole in 1996.
“There’s going to be some soul searching among the Republican party”
(10:31) ABC: WISCONSIN IS OBAMA’S
ABC News projects Wisconsin to Obama, and Romney’s path to the presidency shrinks some more. Jon Karl offers county level voting trends in Virginia and Florida, which favor the incumbent.
It’s 172-163 to Obama, says ABC.
Diane and George speak with Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago and not Rahm’s big grin. Rahm passes on George’s offer to call it. “But I’m ready to part when you do,” he says.
50,000 vote lead for Obama in Florida.
(10:30) CBS: MINNESOTA GOES TO OBAMA
Another projection in as Pelley said Minnesota will go to Barack Obama, narrowing Romney’s lead in the Electoral College 173-167.
(10:29) CNN: MAST STILL FAVORS ROMNEY
Amazing that CNN commentators have essentially given it to Obama yet the top of the Empire State Building mast continues to favor Romney. Does the mast know something they don’t?
(10:28) KUSA Denver: OBAMA LEADING IN KEY COLORADO COUNTIES
Obama up by 4% in Colorado’s Arapahoe, Jefferson County — two bellwether counties for the state. With 64% reporting in Arapahoe, Obama up 52% to Romney’s 46%. In Jefferson County, Obama up 51% to 47% with 43% reporting.
(10:27) MSNBC: CHRIS MATTHEWS’ HOT MIC
For the second time tonight, Chris Matthews still-hot mic caught an aside comment as the network cut to a commercial break. As RachelMaddow teased an upcoming speech from Elizabeth Warren, who just won a closely watched Massachusetts Senate race over incumbent Scott Brown, Matthews could be heard saying “Why are we hearing from these people before the concession speeches?”
Back from break Maddow, let Matthews comment on-air.
“It’s a tradition to wait for a concession before you can claim victory,” he said.
“Television coverage has affected that,” Lawrence O’Donnell argued. “Warren wants to give her speech before the 11 p.m. news, if she waits for Brown she may not get to do that.”
“I think its very bad form to go out and give a victuiry speech before the other campaign concedes,” Steve Schmidt agreed.
“You don’t need to be on before 11 once you win the race, you know,” Matthews added.
(10:23) CNN: WOLF TALKS ABOUT STATES STILL TOO CLOSE TO CALL
Wolf Blitzer, the voice of “let’s continue to report the election” says there are still states too close to project, including Florida and Ohio. In essence breaking into the post-mortem of the panel on what they are now assuming is a victory by President Obama.
(10:17) NBC: THERE’S SO MUCH ATTENTION ON OHIO
BriWi says “There’s so much attention on Ohio” then goes to John Yang in Ohio who is going through the various regions in this too-close-to-call state. But all we can think about is: Why is NBC not including the name and title of its correspondents’ names among the copious graphics on the screen? Sure I’d like to know some of those latest voting stats, but I’d also really like to know who is talking to me right now.
None of this, however, is as bad an infraction as Time Warner Cable, which just decided to freeze up on a shot of Yang.
(10:17) FOX NEWS CHANNEL: SARAH PALIN PERPLEXED
Interviewed by Greta Van Susteren from Wasilla, Alaska, former governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin seems incredulous at the way momentum appeared to be building for President Obama. “I cannot believe that the majority of Americans would believe” that it’s a good thing to run up the national debt, to not follow the constitution and not have a budget or to rely on foreign energy rather than rely on domestic resources.
“It’s a perplexing time for many of us,” Palin said.
Asked whether a tight election would leave Obama without a mandate, the hockey mom replied: “A win is a win.”
(10:17) CNN: CARVILLE, CASTELLANOS AGREE IT LOOKS LIKE OBAMA WINS
Democratic commentator James Carville says that it looks like Obama is going to win Florida and presidency, and Republican Alex Castellanos says “I hate it when he is right.” Castellanos says that the silent majority he predicted would come through for Romney proved to be invisible as well.
(10:16) MSNBC: ‘TOUGH PATH’ FOR ROMNEY
Math is starting to work against Mitt Romney’s chances to win the presidency. Chuck Todd, playing around with his virtual Electoral College map, notes that Romney would have to win five of the remaining battleground states (Colorado, Iowa, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia) to earn the required 270 votes.
“At this point it’s a tough path,” he said.
(10:15) FOX NEWS: SARAH PALIN LIVE FROM ALASKA
Megyn Kelly introduced the guest of the hour (or night, depending on your perspective), Sarah Palin, who spoke live with Greta Van Susteren from Wasilla, Alaska. Palin, bedecked in red, said that she “could not believe that the majority of Americans believe that incurring more debt is good for our children.”
Palin, asked by Van Susteren to explain a candidate’s state of mind on Election Night, said that “at this point, it’s not in your hands, and you’ve asked the voters for that sacred trust, which is their vote. You leave it all out there on the ice and you do your very best and things unfold as they should.”
(10:15) CNN: NOW MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBE FOR REPUBLICANS TO WIN SENATE
CNN’s Dana Bash reports that with a couple more Democratic pickups, it is now impossible for Republicans to retake the Senate.
(10:14) ABC: THINGS LOOKING DOUR FOR ROMNEY
Nicolle Wallace says GOP insiders told her Obama ground game working well in Florida; sounds as though they may be abandoning hope. ABC News Pundits note upbeat mood in Obama HQ, and glum faces at Romney camp in Southie. Remind viewers that Ann Romney is not up for another campaign if Mitt loses.
Jake Tapper looks at Ohio: 131 Obama field offices to Romney’s 40, and 100,000 Obama TV ads, to 40,000 from Romney. Ohio is a “40,000 square foot skinner box”-how much negative messaging could state residents take?
After break, Diane misidentifies Josh Elliott as Josh Edwards. Hey, it’s a long night.
Elliott cuts off Wisconsin man in Times Square talking about Sandy efforts to throw it to the studio, where Diane gives New Mexico to Obama, and Claire McCaskill wins in Missouri.
(10:14) CBS: IOWA LEANS TOWARD OBAMA
Pelley just said that CBS has moved another battleground state, Iowa, into the ‘lean Obama’ column. Romney has yet to be favored in any of the battleground states.
(10:10): KUSA Denver: OBAMA LEADING IN COLORADO
With 18% reporting, Obama leads Romney 45% to 41%.
(10:08) CBS: MISSOURI GOES TO ROMNEY
Pelley just announced that Mitt Romney is projected to win Missouri. The Electoral College now stands at: 173-157 towards Romney
(10:06) CNN: KING VS. WOLF
John King goes to the map and continues to demonstrate that the President is doing well in lots of places, while Wolf Blitzer continues to be a governor on that, pointing out that not all the votes have been counted, and suggesting it is still a close race. Bottom line is that CNN seems to be going out of its way to make the point that the Dems appear to be headed toward victory, without calling races early or suggesting it is all but over. Seems a wise strategy to me.
(10:04) CNN: CNN PROJECTS MORE STATES
CNN predicts New Hampshire for Obama, which means 4 more electoral votes. In Florida, John King says that if you are a Republican you are saying: “Find me some votes, please.”
(10:03) ABC CALLS MASSACHUSETTS SENATE RACE FOR WARREN
ABC playing it safe in Massachusetts, giving Senate race to Elizabeth Warren 21 minutes after CBS did. Donnelly over Mourdock in Indiana.
Utah and Montana to Romney, while Nevada and Iowa are too early to call.
George Will detailing Congressional makeup in light of recent projections.
(10:03) FOX NEWS: HEMMER PLAYS THE “WHAT IF” GAME
Bill Hemmer demonstrated the magic of his touchscreen billboard by highlighting the “What Ifs” of the night - what if, perhaps, Obama wins Florida? What if Romney wins Ohio? There was a lot of math and states turning blue and red in this segment, but the touchscreen billboard was a helpful reminder of how the swing states can affect the outcome of a close race.
“The point is,” Hemmer said, “at this point in the race, it is much easier for Obama to get to the White House than Romney.”
(10:00) MSNBC: ROMNEY WINS UTAH, MONTANA
Of the states with polls closing at 10 p.m. ET, NBC News has projected Romney will win Utah and Montana with Iowa and Nevada too early to call, though both leading Obama, Rachel Maddow says.
The latest projections put Obama and Romney in a 162-162 Electoral College tie.
(10:00) CBS: OBAMA ONLY NEEDS FLORIDA TO WIN ELECTION
Pelley just said that, if current projections hold, Barack Obama only needs to win Florida, which is still neck-and-neck, to win re-election. Battleground state Nevada was also put into the ‘lean Obama’ column.
A few more projections for Romney: Utah and Montana, both expected. Romney holds the lead again at 162-157.
(10:00) CNN: CNN PROJECTS MORE STATES
CNN is projecting that Romney will win Utah, no surprise there. CNN can’t project Iowa, Montana or Nevada, where polls have just closed. Wolf continues to tell people that every vote counts.
(9:56) COLORADO POLLS SHUT PROMPTLY AT 7 PM
Unlike Virgina, Denver stations report that anyone who didn’t get their ballot in by 7 p.m., faced lockouts at the polls. Reporters make the (valid) point that the state has been accepting mail-in votes for weeks now.
(9:56) CNN: ROMNEY CAMP STILL OPTIMISTIC…IN PUBLIC
In Boston at Romney headquarters: Candy Crowley says that, “in public,” Romney camp is still optimistic.
(9:55) WBBM-TV CHICAGO TECHNICAL WOES AND RAW MEAT
During a report on the Tammy Duckworth-Joe Walsh congressional race in Chicago, the reporter at Walsh HQ had some trouble hearing the Channel 2 anchors. “Are you going to be able to cue us or what,” he asked. “Should we just kill it?” There’s nothing like live TV. Meanwhile reporter Jay Levine at Obama headquarters sees the mood improving after carrying Wisconsin. “I think they smell the meat a-cookin’,” he says.
(9:53) CBS: ROMNEY STILL LEADS IN POPULAR VOTE
Even though Barack Obama has taken a 157-153 lead in the Electoral College, Mitt Romney still holds a slim lead in the popular vote, 22,579,767 to 21,797,311. Though, as Al Gore can attest to, the popular vote is not where it matters.
(9:52) PBS: “TRENDING TO A DEMOCRATIC NIGHT”
“There has been a lot of good news for the Democrats,” PBS NewsHour commentator David Brooks noted after being asked about New Hampshire being called for Obama. “For the Republicans to have a good night tonight the polls were going to have to start being wrong. So far we have not seen that…That seems to suggest that so far it is trending to a Democratic night.”
(9:52) CBS: WHAT WOULD LINCOLN THINK?
The folks marketing Steven Spielberg’s new movie about Abraham Lincoln bought ads during the debates and now are blanketing Election Night. Another one just aired on CBS. What do you think Honest Abe would make of this campaign?
(9:51) CNN: JOHN KING SAYS FLORIDA IS LOOKING GOOD FOR OBAMA
While Florida remains close, John King says outstanding votes are in strong Democratic counties.
(9:50) ABC: New Hampshire and Minnesota to Obama
Couric with the Twitter update. Top 5 Twitter trends: #stayinline, Linda McMahon, #IfRomneyWins, #ivoted, and FloridaandOhio.
Matthew Dowd cut off by the clarion call, New Hampshire goes to Obama, a minute later, Minnesota does too. Pundits down, way down, on Romney’s chances. Nothing breaking GOP’s way in presidential race.
(9:50) MSNBC: NEW HAMPSHIRE GOES OBAMA
About 20 minutes after CBS News called it, NBC News calls New Hampshire for Obama.
“It’s astounding,” Chris Matthews said of the win for the Democrats. “That was a state that was going right to the nail.”
(9:49) ED ROLLINS ON FOX: ‘IF WE DON WIN FLA., VA., OHIO AND N.C., WE’RE NOT GONNA GET THERE’
Veteran Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins said on Fox that Romney is now in a must-win scenario in four remaining battleground states. “If we don’t win Florida, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina, we’re not gonna get there” to 270 electoral votes, Rollins said.
(9:47) CBS: OBAMA ‘SLIGHT LEAD’ IN COLORADO
Pelley reporting that with 49% of the vote counted, Obama has a 51-47 lead.
“Colorado used to be a reliably Republican state” Pelley said to Barry Petersen, who’s stationed in the battleground state.
(9:46) CNN: PROJECTS TWO SENATE DEM WINS
CNN projects that in Senate races, Dem Elizabeth Warren unseats Scott Brown in Massachusetts and Dem Joe Donnelly beats Richard Mourdock in Indiana, the Republican who said that a child of rape was a gift from God.
(9:42) FOX NEWS: CONNECTION’S A LITTLE FUZZY, ROB PORTMAN
Ohio Senator Rob Portman called in via Skype - and phone, apparently - to Romney HQ in Boston for an awkward few minutes of fuzzy video and sound as the Senator held a phone to his ear throughout the update. Though Megyn Kelly did remark that it was “unusual,” it was an informative few minutes for Republicans at the headquarters.
“I’ve never seen that happen before,” Kelly said. “A Skype from one of the state campaign chairs, giving folks an update on the counties. It’s quite helpful, actually.”
(9:42) NBC: NOW WE’RE CALLING THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE RACE
NOW we’re calling it. “We have a big call,” Brian Williams says. “And this was rumored to have been a call we made earlier. We did not because we did not know until this moment Elizabeth Warren (Dem) is being projected as the winner of the Senate race in the Bay State, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is the Ted Kennedy seat.”
(9:42) CBS: WARREN WINS SENATE RACE IN MASSACHUSSETTS
CBS projecting that Dem. Elizabeth Warren to win the Senate race in Massachusetts.
(9:41) CNN: CALLS PENNSYLVANIA FOR OBAMA
Wolf Blitzer came out of a commercial to report that Pennsylvania goes to Obama, and crowd at Obama headquarters watching CNN breaks out in cheers, says Jessica Yellin, who is there and should know.
(9:38) NBC: BRIWI CALLS OUT ‘ROGUE RETWEET’ ABOUT MASS. SENATE RACE
BriWi says “To Twitter users: There’s a rogue retweet going around that we somehow called the Massachusetts Senate race. We did nothing of the sort. No one has. No one’s going near it. It’s too early yet.”
(9:35) KWGN Denver: OBAMA OHIO CALL COULD RENDER COLORADO IRRELEVANT
Anchor Jeremy Hubbard notes that should Ohio be called for Obama, joining Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all of that fuss about Colorado as a swing state might be for naught.
(9:35) ABC: DID WE MENTION WE ARE PARTNERING WITH UNIVISION?
ABC News threw it to Jorge Ramos, anchor at Univision, for an update on immigration issues and the election. Sawyer prefaces the toss by mentioning “our great joint venture with Univision,” taking pains to pronounce “Univision” the way Jorge Ramos might.
Barbara Walters gives an update on how the business community views the candidates. That community says president needs to attend “ego-stroking 101″ to get back in favor with big business, says Barbara.
(9:32) CBS: OBAMA GRABS NEW HAMPSHIRE
Another battleground state New Hampshire is projected to go to Obama, giving him a 157-153 lead in the Electoral College. In reporting the projection, Pelley seemed to forget that they already called Wisconsin, another battleground state for Obama.
(9:31) CBS: WISCONSIN GOES TO OBAMA
Pelley just announced that key battleground state Wisconsin is projected to go to Barack Obama. The Electoral College is now an even 153-153 tie
(9:29)NBC: MELVIN CALLS WISC FOR OBAMA
Much smoother transition this time. Or does it just seem that way because B&C knows what Craig Melvin is doing in the anchor chair instead of Brian Williams. Either way, Melvin is in the anchor chair as NBC News calls Wisconsin for Obama at the end of his segment. He tosses to “continuing coverage.”
At 9:30 The national feed returns with BriWi pointing out that Wisconsin, GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan’s home state, is being turned blue on the skating rink map at “Democracy Plaza.”
(9:29) CNN: WOLF: IS THIS A REPEAT OF 2000?
Florida remains a nailbiter, separated by only a few hundred votes. “Is this a repeat of 2000,” says Wolf, citing Al Gore’s loss in the state by only a few hundred votes
(9:25) CNN: ROMNEY COLUMN PASSES OBAMA ON EMPIRE STATE
CNN does its second throw to the top of the Empire State Building, where the red (Romney) column inches ahead of Obama. Not sure this is working as a graphic, but maybe it does in New York where you could actually see it live and in person.
(9:23) MSNBC: ANCHORS START SMILING
The MSNBC anchors are starting to get some giddy smiles. After the network called Pennsylvania for Obama and interviewed Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter who predicted a “decisive” victory with no recounts, Chris Matthews and Ed Schultz were visibly smiling at the anchor desk.
“We’ve all interviewed Stephanie a lot and she looks confident,” Schultz said.
Noting the peppy Obama staffers behind Cutter in the live shot, token Republican Steve Schmidt said “Those look like happy people to me.”
Rachel Maddow for her part cautioned about the many swing states still in play that could make a big difference.
At 9:29, NBC News also called Wisconsin for Obama. More smiles for MSNBC.
(9:23) CBS: NEW HAMPSHIRE MOVES INTO ‘LEAN OBAMA’ COLUMN
John Dickerson, who’s manning CBS’ Election Night map graphic, just moved battleground state New Hampshire into the “lean Obama” column, joining Ohio and Wisconsin. Also we just had our first mention of another battleground state, Colorado.
(9:21) CNN CALLS MORE SENATE RACES
CNN calls Senate races for Dems Debbie Stabenow in Michigan, Amy Klobuchar in Minnesota, and Kirsten Gillibrand in New York.
(9:21) ABC: OBAMA SEIZES PENNSYLVANIA
We have a big one, teases Sawyer. The president is projected to win Pennsylvania, reports ABC News, and handily-66% to 33%. With 20 electoral votes moving to Obama column, George Stephanopoulos says “the path is even more slim” for the GOP hopeful.
ABC takes commercial break, I’m taking ice cream break.
(9:19) CNN: KING EXPECTS PENNSYLVANIA TO GO FOR OBAMA
John King: I would not look for Obama’s lead in Pennsylvania to change, but Romney’s “in play” in Virginia.
(9:15) CNN: THAT’S CALLED ‘WOW!’
With 78% of vote, Romney and Obama separated by 300 votes in Florida. Says John King, “In American politics, that’s called wow!”
(9:15) FOX: PENNSYLVANIA FOR OBAMA
Fox projects Obama is the winner in Pennsylvania.
(9:15) MSNBC: PENNSYLVANIA CALLED FOR OBAMA
After leaning Obama but being too early to call, NBC News has projected Obama will win Pennsylvania, says Rachel Maddow.
(9:13) NBC: CLARITY ON CRAIG MELVIN
Mystery solved. B&C’s been impressed but confused by MSNBC anchor and NBC News correspondent Craig Melvin’s stints in the anchor chair each half hour to this point, as he was not included in any of the press release info about the national feed anchor and correspondent lineup.
Here’s why, according to an NBC News spokeswoman, who wrote us right back about our query: The stations get the last six minutes in each ½ hour in order to put in their own local results and reporting. If they chose not to use it, Melvin and other correspondents are providing continuing coverage until Williams and team return to air.
B&C is monitoring NBC’s Election Day coverage from Los Angeles, where the night is still young and polls have not yet closed. Naturally, we will expect to see KNBC’s own news team’s in those slots as the night progresses and info starts to roll in about local results.
(9:13) CBS: BOEHNER TO KEEP HIS JOB, PELOSI UP IN THE AIR
CBS’ Byron Pitts that with the GOP projected to keep control of the House of Representatives, speaker John Boehner is projected to keep his job, while House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is less likely to.
(9:12) CBS: DEAD HEAT IN FLORIDA
With 76% of the vote counted, Romney and Obama are dead even at 50-50 in Florida.
“I think Florida may be keeping us up tonight” quipped Pelley
(9:11) ABC: HOUSE STAYS RED
The GOP will retain the House of Reps, says ABC News, and Diane Sawyer and Jonathan Karl reiterate that this is not a surprise.
Sawyer shares a tweet that says network’s projection jingle sounds just like NFL draft music. Laughs all around.
Sawyer mentions nations around the world watching U.S. election. Stephanopoulos says Florida is 50-50.
(9:11) CNN: FLORIDA FLIP FLOPS IN REAL TIME
As Wolf was reporting that Obama was ahead by only 16,00 votes in Florida, the Magic Wall changed and Romney was suddenly ahead by a couple thousand.
(9:10) FOX NEWS: VIRGINIA VOTERS STILL ON LINE
Mike Emanuel, reporting from Republican headquarters in Richmond, Va., said Democratic officials reported as many as 500 individuals in line to vote at Virginia Beach, and several hundred more in line at Norfolk polling locations, about 2 hours after polling times closed.
(9:09) CNN: DAVID GERGEN: IT IS GOING TO BE TOUGH TO GOVERN WHEN THIS IS OVER
David Gergen says that if billions of dollars have been spent that the result is the same, Republican House, Democratic Senate and Obama, it will be hard to govern. “That is something we should talk about,” he said.
(9:08) MSNBC: VOTING DRAGGING INTO NIGHT ON EAST COAST
The network has been issuing many reminders during itscoverage that any voters in line at the time polls close must be allowed tovote. With thousands still in line to cast ballots in swing states like Virginia, the anchors are preparing for a long night.
“We’re covering an election which is continuing through the night,” Chris Matthews said. “The election, not the count.”
(9:08) CBS: VIRGINIA REPORTING ELECTIONS AGAINWyatt Andrews just reported that the Obama campaign told him that Virginia has resumed reporting election results. Romney holds a 54-45 lead with 41% of votes counted.
(9:07) NBC: BRIWI KNOWS HOW TO CUT SOMEONE OFF GRACEFULLY
BriWi gracefully cuts short a report from Kristen Welker, who is saying how the crowd at Obama-Biden HQ goes nuts every time the President carries a state, to report New Jersey results. “Kristen, forgive the interruption.”
He calls New Jersey for Obama as projected winner; Democrat Bob Menendez returning to U.S. Senate.
Only thing missing: Would have been great to have returned for a sec to that Welker live shot to get the reaction she was just talking about.
(9:07) CNN: PROJECTS REPUBLICANS RETAIN MAJORITY IN HOUSE
CNN predicts that Dems won’t pick up 25 seats in House, which they needed to win back that body. Few outside Dem loyalists expected them to gain enough seats to change that balance of power. Dana Bash says Repubilcans may even have a net gain of a few seats. Senate likely to remain Democratic.
Sadly, the gridlock has probably not been unlocked by this election (my observation).
(9:04) CBS: OBAMA HAS EARLY LEAD IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Pelley announced that with 11% of the vote counted in New Hampshire, another key battleground state, Barack Obama holds an early 57-41 lead.
(9:02) MSNBC: ROMNEY WINS SEVEN MORE STATES
If it’s the top of the hour, that means more poll closings and more projected winners. NBC News has called the following states for each candidate:
Obama: Michigan, New York, New Mexico
Romney: Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Rachel Maddow also says NBC News is projecting the House of Representatives will be retained by the Republicans in overall numbers, though it is not calling individual races.
(9:01) ABC AWARDS MICHIGAN AND NY TO PRESIDENT
ABC gives Michigan and New York to Obama, and Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Arkansas to Romney.
Ed Gillespie from Romney camp remains optimistic. “Our intensity is up and our turnout is high,” he says.
ABC has 55% of Ohio vote to Obama and Romney at 44%.
More Axelrod moustache jokes from Stephanopoulos.
(9:01) CBS: OHIO AND WISCONSIN LEANING TOWARD OBAMA
Pelley just announced that key battleground states Ohio and Wisconsin are ‘leaning’ towards Barack Obama, but said there is not enough information to call.
Latest projections:
Romney: Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Obama: New York, Michigan
Romney still leads 153-123
(9:01) FOX: MICHIGAN GOES FOR OBAMA
Fox projects Obama is the winner in Michigan.
(9:00) CNN: NEXT ROUND OF PROJECTIONS
CNN is projecting that Romney wins Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska (3 of 5 electoral votes), North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Mississippi. Obama wins Michigan, New York, New Jersey. All except Michigan were no surprise, and with bailout, Michigan was a long shot for Romney. Most of these are just waiting for polls to close, then projecting wins of states they were pretty much putting in the relative camps already.
(8:54) NBC: CRAIG MELVIN BACK IN ANCHOR CHAIR
Craig Melvin’s back in the anchor chair out of the commercial break. According to B&C’s count this is his third appearance in the anchor chair, this time doing a six-minute segment. Again, he tosses to a break and the coverage returns to Williams.
Melvin was not mentioned in NBC News’ latest press release today about their lineup. Only BriWi was mentioned as anchor. B&C has asked NBC News PR if he was a late addition….
Melvin updates that with one more poll closing, NBC News projects Romney getting Arkansas, updates other states:
Virginia - still too close
N. Carolina - also too close to call
Ohio - too close to call with about a quarter of the vote in, Obama with about a 197K vote lead
Florida - too close to call
Pennsylvania - too early
New Hampshire - too close to call
(8:52): CNN: LITTLE SIR ECHO
Wolf throws it to commercial by way of “watch party in Times Square,” and audio of that phrase echoes two or three times eerily as it bleeds into the commercial.
(8:51) ABC: AXELROD SAYS THE MOUSTACHE STAYS IN THE PICTURE
Obama-Biden strategist David Axelrod projects confidence. Stephanopoulos says they’ve got a state to call, but first, asks Axelrod if he stands by his claim that he’ll shave his moustache of president loses Pennsylvania. Axelrod quips, first tell me what state your about to call.
Turns out it’s Mississippi, to Romney.
(8:46) NBC: 15% OF VOTERS IN NBC NEWS POLL CALL PRESIDENT’S RESPONSE TO SANDY MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR
Tamron Hall on NBC News’ poll of voters about how President Obama’s response to Hurricane Sandy factored into their voting:
15% most important
27% important
23% minor factor
70% who felt it was the most important element in their vote, voted for Obama.
(8:46) CNN: FLORIDA IS THROWING OUT UNSIGNED ABSENTEE BALLOTS; MCMAHON CAN’T WRESTLE SEAT AWAY
CNN reports that some 900 ballots have been thrown out because they were not signed, including some from Palm Beach County. Wolf Blitzer is exercised. “Why do they always have problems in Palm Beach County counting votes, you would think they could get their act together.” CNN also reports that World Wrestling’s Linda McMahon loses her bid for Senate Seat, which goes to Dem Chris Murphy.
(8:42) CNN: ALABAMA FOR ROMNEY; HOLLYWOOD GOES FOR LINCOLN
CNN projects Romney winner in Alabama. That news came immediately after CNN returned from an ad for the Lincoln movie that ran while Romney and Obama vote tally was on bottom of screen-CNN is running all ads in a window of a screen that continues to show vote tallies and other election info.
(8:40) FOX NEWS: NO COMMENT ON THE SWING STATES
For the second time, the answer to Bret Baier’s question, “Do you have any thoughts on the states that we haven’t been able to call?” was “No.” Mike Huckabee, joining Fox News remotely, echoes O’Reilly’s earlier statement that no, no thoughts currently on the swing states.
Speaking of O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly announced that she had a correction to a comment he made earlier: President Obama is up by 2 points with independents in New Hampshire, not 8 as O’Reilly had stated earlier.
(8:40) ABC: MURPHY PINS MCMAHON IN CT
Chris Murphy projected as easy winner over Linda McMahon and her $100 million spending, says ABC News, and eyes turn north to Massachusetts senate race. “If they lose there…you can pretty much say [Republican senate] takeover is impossible,” says Jonathan Karl
(8:38) CBS: TWO MORE SENATE PROJECTIONS IN NEW JERSEY, CONNECTICUT
Pelley just announced two more Senate projections, giving Dem. Bob Menendez the win in New Jersey and Dem. Chris Murphy winning a “hard fought” election in Connecticut.
(8:37) CNN: VIRGINIA VOTING COULD CONTINUE UNTIL LATE TONIGHT
Gary Tuchman reports that Virginia voting could continue until 11 p.m. even though the polls closed at 7 p.m.
(8:35) PBS: BARE BONES SET BUT GREAT ONLINE MAPS
Compared to the broadcast networks, the PBS NewsHour has a bare bones set. It is a case study in how little funding the pubcaster actually gets from the Federal government. But it has built a very impressive set of over 900 online maps with extensive demographic information. The idea was to put all of the data its anchors would be using throughout the night, online, and it was just showcasing some of that data in its pre-poll closing analysis of Ohio.
Much less impressive is its online poll that allows users to vote for who they think will win the presidency. At 8:47 this showed Obama with 99%. All online polls are unscientific, but this one goes into the realm of science fiction.
(8:35) CBS: VIRGINA SUSPENDS REPORTING OF ELECTION RESULTS
Wyatt Andrews, who is stationed in Virginia, just said the state board of elections has temporarily suspended the reporting of election results because there are “hundreds of not thousands of people” still in line.
(8:33) CBS: GILLESPIE — WE FEEL GOOD ABOUT OHIO
Despite what the early numbers suggest, Romney’s senior strategist Ed Gillespie said they still feel good about his chances of winning Ohio.
(8:32) CNN: ROMNEY LEADS POPULAR VOTE
CNN reports that Mitt Romney leads in the popular vote so far 8,677,027 to 7,892,618, its first reporting of the popular vote total.
(8:32) MSNBC: ARKANSAS GOES FOR ROMNEY
Rachel Maddow interrupted her interview with Obama senior advisor David Plouffe to announce that NBC News has projected Romney the winner of Arkansas.
(8:32) CBS: OBAMA HAS ‘SIGNIFICANT’ LEAD IN OHIO
Scott Pelley just said that Barack Obama has a ’significant’ lead in battleground Ohio, 58-40, with 20% of the vote counted.
Pelley: “Our CBS News exit polling suggest that Ohio is leaning the President’s way”
(8:30) NBC: CRAIG MELVIN UPDATES
Craig Melvin anchors out of a commercial break again, reports that with 17 states’ polls having closed at 8 ET he’s got some results to share. He does so some with straightforward graphics listing states and electoral votes:
Florida with 50% in too close
Pennsylvania too early
New Hampshire too close to call
Illinois Obama projected winner
Mass. Obama projected winner
New Jersey too early to call
So where it stands, Melvin says:
Obama with 64 electoral votes, having won: Connecticut, Delaware, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont
Romney has 82 votes, having won: Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, S. Carolina, W. Virginia, Indiana
Melvin says results so far are essentially as expected.
(8:30) CNN: NEXT WAVE OF PROJECTIONS
CNN projects that Romney will win Arkansas and Tennessee, total 17 electoral votes. Total is now Romney 73, Obama 64. No surprises there.
(8:28) ABC: SNOW IN THE FORECAST
WABC goes live, with Sandra Bookman at Romney HQ in Massachusetts and Dave Evans at Obama’s base in Illinois. Lee Goldberg offers update on the noreaster hurtling towards Gotham: 1-3 inches of the white stuff north and west of the city.
8:30, Diane and George say Georgia and Alabama to Romney, Jersey to Obama.
(8:23) FOX NEWS: ROVE GOES BACK TO THE BOARD
After apparent difficulty with the lighting, Megyn Kelly said what many political analysts are currently thinking: “We’re all in the dark here!”
Fox News also reported that Virginia has extended polling in Fairfax, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Henrico, Loudon and Prince William counties, putting an end to results coming from the state. Karl Rove wrote all this down on what looked like a sheet of computer paper taped to a clipboard, downgrading from his earlier iPad. Again, with all of the technology surrounding them, it might have been easier to throw one up on of their many screens.
(8:22) CBS: EXIT POLLS BODE WELL FOR OBAMA IN NORTH CAROLINA
CBS said we may have our first surprise of the night, as early exit polls show a large African-American voter turnout, which makes up 23% of the state’s electorate, a good sign for the President. Many pundits have thought that Romney would win this battleground state.
Schieffer cautioned: “We must stress it’s early in the evening here, we’re operating on early figures”
(8:22) CNN: FIRST EMPIRE STATE BUILDING RESULTS
Wolf Blitzer throws it to a view of the Empire State Building, whose mast is being used to display the relative electoral count for each candidate. Blue (Obama) is a tad taller.
(8:20) ABC: SILLINESS SETS IN
David Muir reporting at Romney HQ in South Boston, says 16 of 18 Romney grandkids in the house-Tagg’s twin infants the likely no shows. Pasta on the menu, while Romney snacked on peanut butter and honey sandwich.
Sawyer acknowledges the reporting has gotten a bit silly.
Trumpets sound, Connecticut to Obama.
For earlier posts from the live blog, click here.
