Cheat Sheet

The western states’ results are in … and Barack Obama is projected to be the next president of the United States. After projected victories in California, Oregon, and Washington, Obama has surpassed the 270 threshold. He is now the first African American president in American history.

Marc Ambinder on the key to Obama’s Ohio Victory: “He went to places that John Kerry couldn’t afford to go.” Obama campaigned in twice as many counties as Kerry, opened twice the number of field offices, and employed three times as many staffers. And the economy crushed McCain—Obama won whites making less than $50,000.

Barack Obama’s victory in Florida is particularly satisfying for Democrats, considering all the grief it caused them two elections ago. How’d he do it? Ben Smith flags a startling stat: Obama carried Hispanic voters in Florida by 55 to 44 percent. In 2004, Bush won 56 percent of Florida’s Hispanic vote. In light of the fact that, a few months ago, many wondered whether Hispanics nationwide would defect to McCain, his victory among Florida’s largely Cuban, particularly conservative Hispanic population is all the more noteworthy.

The election is not quite over, but Bill Ayers has broken his long silence. There's no 25th hour confirmation of conservative insinuation about his relationship with Barack Obama, however. In an interview with David Remnick, Ayers says "I think my relationship with Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago and, like millions and millions of others, I wished I knew him better." He bemoans his treatment during the election: "They made me into a cartoon character, they threw me up onstage just to pummel me." And, he insists, contrary to many reports, that he has not said that he wishes he committed more attacks. "I wish I had done more, but it doesn’t mean I wish we'd bombed more shit. ... I wish I had been wiser," Ayers says, "I wish I had been more effective, I wish I’d been more unifying, I wish I'd been more principled."

The TV networks have called Pennsylvania for Barack Obama. John McCain increasingly placed his bets on Pennsylvania in the closing weeks of the campaign. A loss there greatly diminishes his chance of victory.

The Democratic challenger Kay Hagan has defeated Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole in the race for North Carolina’s Senate seat. Democrat Jeanne Shaheen has also defeated the incumbent Republican Senator, John Sununnu, in New Hampshire. And Democrat Mark Warner has beaten Republican Gilmore for John Warner’s vacated Senate seat in Virginia. The Democrats need six more Senate victories to reach 60 seats.

Marc Ambinder has a boiler room update: “I've checked in with the boiler rooms in both campaigns; they're doing they're own very sophisticated exit polls... Here's what I'm hearing: FL -- both sides say they're hitting their turnout goals...Obama may be exceeding his... in North Carolina, Republicans concede that Democratic turnout appears very high.... the same goes for Virginia.... in Pennsylvania, Democrats are confident that they're meeting their goals...Republicans are waiting for data.”

Are you getting impatient waiting for election updates? Go to Twitter's election page and watch the presidential Tweets filter in at a blistering pace. People are excited and mad and nervous and depressed and they're alerting the world with fascinating sub-140 character messages. Xeni Jardin, co-editor of Boing Boing, is a perfect example: "Is anyone else physiologically hyper today because of elections? I feel like a 5 yr old who just ate a bowl of Froot Loops & red bull." Her frantic psyche is a microcosm of the whole twitter world, with its short, constant, unfiltered updates. Make no mistake though—Twits have no facade of objectivity. They love Obama.

The next president’s off to a fine economic start, and he hasn’t even been elected. The Dow rose 305.45 points today, and some investors attribute the bounce to stockbrokers’ eagerness to get past the endless election and to anticipation of an even bigger post-election surge on Wednesday.  The International Herald Tribune reports: "Historically, Wall Street has enjoyed a bounce in the fourth quarter after an presidential election as investors breathe a sigh of relief that the long election cycle, with its accompanying uncertainty, has ended. Analysts said investors seemed to be trying to get a jump on the expected rally by buying on the morning of Election Day.”

The economic crisis may have wiped Iraq clean off the front pages this month, but that doesn't mean the next president won't have a complete mess on his hands to confront on Day 1. At least fifteen people were killed today and dozens more hurt after a series of bombings in Baghdad targeting markets and convoys. These new attacks came after a relative period of calm, a grim reminder that the country's celebrated security gains still remain fragile. How the president extricates our troops from Iraq (or doesn't) may be the signature test of their administration, whether we're paying attention to it now or not.

The election is not over, but Democrats can at least breathe easy about having avoided a dreaded October Surprise. The most likely “surprise” was an Osama bin Laden tape, similar to the one that surfaced in 2004 and which John Kerry has blamed for his loss. “[E]ven if a bin Laden tape would have narrowed the margin, it probably wouldn’t have made a winner of McCain,” Noam Scheiber writes on The New Republic’s website. “In which case it would have exposed bin Laden to be kind of impotent.” He continues: “Which is to say, bin Laden’s probably more a validator of trends than an initiator of them. Think of him as the Colin Powell of Waziristan.”

First call of the day: Cuba has gone for Obama. According to El País, Obama is supported by the majority of ordinary Cubans not only because of his race but because he could change American relations with the island nation. Dissidents like him because they think that the elimination of the embargo will weaken the regime’s justifications for restricting civil liberties. And inside the government, although not too loudly, many support Obama for his promises to enter into a dialogue with Raúl Castro (with or without preconditions). Mauricio Vincent writes that even though Cubans have said that “there is nothing so similar to a Republican than a Democrat,” this time it’s a different story.

Omar Osama bin Laden, the Qaida leader’s self-styled “pacifist son,” landed in Madrid yesterday en route to Morocco and immediately applied for asylum. The merits of his case are being investigated, and a decision should be made within 72 hours, according to the Spanish minister of interior. Bin Laden, who travels with a Saudi passport, had previously sought asylum at the British Embassy in Egypt, but was denied on the grounds that granting the benefit would cause “considerable public concern.” He is currently being detained at Barajas airport.

Are Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, and Ben and Jerry’s committing felonies by giving away free treats to voters? According to the state of Georgia, yes. Georgia Code states: “Any person who gives or receives, or offers to give or receive, or participates in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for the purpose of registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate in any primary or election shall be guilty of a felony.” But fret not Georgian voters, you won’t be deprived of your freebies: The stores have found a simple way around the law—give free stuff to everyone and call it a customer appreciation day.

If Google searches are any indication, Chick-fil-A looks poised for a big night. According to Politico's Jonathan Martin, the top ten fastest-rising Google searches as of noon today included "exit polls 2008," "voting results," "election update," and...the popular fast food chain. No word on what this might portend for tonight’s results, other than that 65 percent of voters like their sandwiches dressed only with a pickle.

Actress Jennifer Hudson leaned over her mother’s casket and kissed her for the last time in a moving ceremony in Chicago yesterday, a day after her brother and nephew were buried, all three victims of an unexplained shooting spree. American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino took Hudson’s hand as she sang the gospel classic “Your Grace and Mercy.” The service was attended by many of Chicago’s most prominent citizens, including Oprah Winfrey, as well as Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah, and record producer Clive Davis. Mayor Richard Daley and the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke at the service.

He’s not yet been chosen, but the European Union is ready for the new president. The EU’s 27 foreign ministers have drawn up a road map for its relationship with the new leader, The Washington Post reports, laying out “a unified platform in a domain traditionally dominated by nation-to-nation relationships.” Priorities include reinforcing the UN, solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and Afghanistan. Also important: diplomacy with Russia, not a new Cold War. Wonder who the EU hopes will win?

Say goodbye to gridlock, the flying car is coming. Announcing the Autovolantor, an adapted Ferrari 599 GTB that can take off when the traffic gets too heavy. “To hop over a roadblock, the driver would pop open four small wings that help propel and then stabilize the vehicle in midair. The car can hover above ground for 15 minutes or so, reaching up to 100 mph and 2,500 feet,” writes the New York Daily News. It’s a snip at $3 million. The company was commissioned by a Russian oligarch who was fed up with being stuck in Moscow’s jams. "Since the vehicle is so stable, a 10-year-old can fly this machine," said Paul Moller, chairman of the company that made the breakthrough. Which parent would be rash enough to entrust a 10-year-old with a $3 million flying Ferrari he didn’t say.

Thirty-three Dominican migrants got on a boat destined for Puerto Rico. The captain abandoned the ship, which relatives reported missing in mid-October. When the US Coast Guard rescued the ship last Saturday, only five survivors remained. They had stayed alive by eating from the freshest corpse available and throwing the other bodies into the sea, The Daily Telegraph reports. The only woman from the group the Coast Guard rescued has since died in the hospital. According to the Dominican minister of tourism, “The other four are dehydrated and have swollen legs but are expected to recover.”

Joe Roth, the producer of Tim Burton’s upcoming Alice in Wonderland, and who joined David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg in organizing Obama’s first major Hollywood fundraiser, has spotted a trend. “If you took a map of America where Obama is strongest and laid it over a map of where soccer has its biggest appeal, you’d see an incredible overlap,” he told LA Times blogger Patrick Goldstein. “The blue states on both coasts are very soccer friendly as well as huge areas of support for Obama, where as the center of the country is full of people who are the enemies of soccer and Obama—white, 50-and-over guys who listen to talk radio and only care about football or basketball.” Roth, owner of the Seattle Sounders FC soccer team, hopes Obama in the White House will boost soccer into the big league.

Remember when everyone was supposed to be famous for 15 minutes? Nowadays, you can pay just for the illusion of that quarter hour. Celeb 4 a Day sells the “celebrity” experience—a limousine, a publicist, a bodyguard, and a handful of paparazzi who follow you around, shouting your name and asking intrusive questions. Packages range anywhere from $730 (four paparazzi for 30 minutes) to $3,000 (six paparazzi for two hours). The company has offices in Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.

Asked by MTV about laws aimed at fashion victims who think it’s cool to wear their pants around their knees, showing their underwear and often a lot more, Obama said they were “a waste of time.” But he added a reprimand to African-Americans who have led this fashion. “Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants,” he declared. “You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What’s wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. I’m one of them.”

Contradicting an earlier verdict by a bipartisan legislative panel in Alaska, a report by the Alaska Personnel Board says Palin did not violate state ethics laws when she fired her public safety commissioner and that she did not apply improper pressure to try to dismiss a state trooper who was her former brother-in-law. The controversy concerning her sister’s state trooper husband and alleged threats made to her father’s life provided alarming insights into the closed world of Wasilla and cast doubts over her sense of fairness and judgment.

Rupert Murdoch has been visiting his native Australia, but the homecoming wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy. The man they call “The Dirty Digger,” for his fondness for bare breasted women in his British tabloids, infuriated Australians when he renounced Oz to become a U.S. citizen in 1985. Now he is lecturing them on working harder. He said they should be careful not to become a nation of “bludgers” —Aussie speak for someone "who doesn't pull their weight, or pay their share," according to The Independent. "We must avoid institutionalizing idleness," the Fox boss said in a critique of Australia's growing welfare system. "The bludger should not be our national icon." He'd prefer to stick with the kangaroo.

As he signed the lifting of the term limits law so he can run for a third term, Mike Bloomberg was given an earful by angry New Yorkers, who are entitled to attend bill signings. “To hell with your agenda,” thundered David Tieu at the startled mayor, who sat just 15 feet away. A nurse accused Bloomberg of “plantation politics,” while a writer challenged his “strong-armed knuckle-busting” tactics. This was a new experience for the widely praised and popular mayor. “It was a singular moment in the Bloomberg era of government,” reports The New York Times. “For much of his tenure, the mayor has been showered with accolades and surrounded by friendly crowds that have treated him like a head of state.”

Rock star Bono was carried away with the moment when he won a Golden Globe in 2003, and, as rock stars do, let his tongue rip. “This is really, really fucking brilliant!” Trouble was, the event was on live TV and the broadcast watchdog the FCC jumped on the network that let such an obscenity slip. The ruling led to a succession of other finger-wagging fines to shows including NYPD Blue, the CBS News Early Show and a PBS documentary on blues musicians. Five years on, the Supreme Court must now decide whether the FCC was within its powers or whether naughty words constitute free speech under the First Amendment. It makes for a fascinating, and expletive ridden, argument. Bono got things into perspective when he told The Wall Street Journal, “It’s an uncool thing to do. I genuinely blew it,” adding, “I still think freedom of speech is more important than the risk that some idiot—i.e. me on that occasion—might abuse it.”

A Baltimore-area technology developer named David Troy has created Twitter Vote Report, a service that allows voters across the country to complain about situations at their polling places. Of course, that’s not the only high-tech way to complain. In this election, voters who don’t want to tweet can upload videos of their polling place to YouTube. Or hook into an iPhone ap. Or call a hotline. As Paul Logan, CEO of Contact Solutions, which developed 1-877-GOCNN-08, puts it, “What this technology does is give the chickens a microphone.” We chickens are grateful.

The head of the Blackstone Group offers his seven-step program to ensure the financial crisis is solved quickly and does not return. It boils down to imposing the same financial regulations across the globe, sterner and more rational and comprehensive regulations at home, and transparency, transparency, transparency in accounting. But he adds a warning: “We must not create a new system of regulation that throttles innovation through the ever-increasing complexity of its rules. Sarbanes-Oxley…has not made American corporations any more stable or profitable, but it has damaged our competitiveness and weakened our domestic financial markets. We must not make the same mistake.”

McCain has found his voice on the stump in the final days of this election but his campaign has continued to blunder painfully toward the finish line. This Saturday, writes Roger Simon at Politico, it introduced an endorsement by Dick Cheney. “Here is John McCain struggling to demonstrate to the voters that his election will not represent four more years of the George W. Bush administration, and so who does McCain’s campaign trot out? The leading architect of the George W. Bush administration!” In his appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, McCain showed flashes of his humorous, easygoing side that captivated the press for years. But more than anything, writes Simon, the show was a kind of eulogy—the last gasp of a candidate who knows the joke is on him.

Poll guru Nate Silver has a Letterman-style countdown today: the top ten reasons why you should ignore the exit polls. Sure, they give the networks something to talk about as the election night tension starts to build, but according to Silver they have a large margin of error, overstate the Democratic share, and were particularly bad in this year’s primaries. Exit polls tend not to adjust for early voters, miss late voters, and in the case of “leaked” results, may not even be the genuine article. Silver cites an independent study commissioned by CNN following the disastrous 2000 election: “News organizations staged a collective drag race on the crowded highway of democracy, recklessly endangering the electoral process, the political life of the country, and their own credibility, all for reasons that may be conceptually flawed and commercially questionable.” Whoa.

“Fair and balanced” Fox News, which has been the Republicans’ best friend in these trying times, has reached a fork in the road and must decide on its general attitude toward a new administration. Looks like it’s going to change. With a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress likely lurking on the horizon, Isaac Chotiner of The New Republic took a look at how the right’s favorite network is handling the change. Not well, by all accounts. With Fox busy patting itself on the back, “it’s hard to imagine that the movement will re-emerge stronger for its time in the cocoon.”

News broke yesterday of Barack Obama’s grandmother’s death the day before his potential election to the United States presidency. Today, the Honolulu Advertiser fills out her biography. Born in 1922, Madelyn Payne Dunham worked on an aircraft assembly line during World War II, then moved to Hawaii in 1960 and took a job with the state’s largest financial institution, the Bank of Hawaii. Dunham, who never graduated from college, was named one of the bank’s first female vice presidents in 1970. She died of cancer a month after she was hospitalized for breaking her hip. “She was like a mother to him,” said State Senator Sam Slom. “There’s no question that the greatest of his influences was his grandmother." Dunham was able to vote by absentee ballot or early voting before her death, and her vote will be counted.

It’s the Republican Party’s ultimate nightmare—an ascendant Democratic Party re-enacts the long dead “fairness doctrine” on radio, which for decades required stations to provide equal amounts of time to liberal and conservative viewpoints. In an interview on Fox News yesterday, Chuck Schumer said, “I think we should all be fair and balanced, don’t you?” and suggested that conservatives who oppose the fairness doctrine while calling for stricter controls on adult content on TV were hypocritical. Since the doctrine was abolished in 1987, right-wing radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage have built broadcasting empires while liberal shows have struggled to stay afloat. A push by Democrats to return to the old days would spark an apocalyptic battle in Congress, potentially slowing an Obama administration’s ambitious legislative agenda to a crawl.

Nate Silver has written up an hour-by-hour guide of what to look for tonight. The first polls close at 6 p.m. in parts of Kentucky and, more important, the conservative southern and eastern parts of swing state Indiana (the liberal northwest closes at 7). “If for some reason the state is called before 7 p.m. for John McCain,” Silver writes, “that probably means we’re in for a long night.” A pre-7 call for Obama, on the other hand, would signal “that McCain is in for a catastrophically poor evening.” After Indiana, keep your eyes on the 7 p.m. closing of Virginia, which Silver calls “the most important state in this election. If John McCain loses it, his path to victory is exceptionally narrow…Barack Obama has considerably more ways to win without Virginia, but a failure to close out the state would suggest at best a more circuitous route to victory.”