LIVE – Election Night Coverage

Welcome to FITSNews election night live blogging … right here.

It’s that time, people … after all the commercials, after getting all that crap in your mailboxes, your inboxes and your voicemails … after all the comedy spoofs, serious commentary, bad clichés, campaign promises and calculated gambles, the hour is finally here.

11:46 P.M. – We’ll be moving on over to the results page for the rest of the night, as well as starting the lengthy and tedious process of analyzing all the results … many of which are still coming in. Thanks to everybody for hopping on FITS tonight!

11:43 P.M. – SC UPDATE – Republican Henry Brown will hang onto his U.S. House Seat for two more years.

11:30 P.M. – SC UPDATE – Two conservative State Senate candidates, Mick Mulvaney and Mike Rose, are pulling away in their respective races … check our results page for details.

11:25 P.M. – With so much focus on the Presidential race, we’ve totally neglected the U.S. House and U.S. Senate “Balances of Power.” At the moment, it’s 55-38 Democrats in the Senate (with 7 races up for grabs) and 177-115 Democrats in the House, with a whopping 143 seats still undecided.

11:23 P.M. – McCain is giving his concession speech now. It’s sad … doddering almost. Classy, to be sure, but doddering.

11:12 P.M. - SC UPDATE – It appears as if Rep. Joe Wilson has hung on to his Congressional seat for the next two years. Yeah, yeah … key chains all around.

11:07 P.M. – Not that it matters anymore, but Virginia came back to the Obama column. He’s now up there by 100,000 votes.

11:06 P.M. – Time to move to Canada … wait a minute … they’re socialists up there, too, aren’t they? Damn.

10:59 P.M. - NBC has just called the Presidential Race for Barack Obama … as has CNN and FOX News.

10:53 P.M. – SC UPDATE – With 56% of the vote in, Mike Rose is up by 6 percent in his battle to reclaim his old State Senate seat.

10:49 P.M. – Obama is the next President of the United States … wait … did somebody just call it? No … but it’s obvious at this point.

10:40 P.M. – Did the MSM call Ohio for Obama too early? Probably not, but it’s closer than it was earlier tonight with Obama only enjoying a 130,000 vote cushion with 42% reporting.

10:38 P.M. - Virginia is 90% in … Obama now up by 48,000 votes. North Carolina is 84% in … McCain up by 10,000 votes. Florida is 79% in … Obama is up by 180,000 votes. Again … McCain has to win all three of these states.

10:34 P.M. – Louisiana, Arkansas and Kansas to McCain … Electoral College vote is now 207-135.

10:30 P.M. – SC UPDATE – Democrat Rob Miller is now up on U.S. Rep Joe Wilson 53-46 in their Second Congressional District slug-fest …

10:25 P.M. – SC UPDATE – State Rep. Mick Mulvaney is opening up a lead on Democrat Mandy Powers-Norrell … it’s 61-38% at the moment.

10:20 P.M. – SC UPDATE – Congrats to S.C. Sen. Shane Massey, who won his reelection fight tonight in Aiken County. Check his race and other SC results by clicking here.

10:17 P.M. – Iowa to Obama … Electoral College Vote now at 207-95.

10:15 P.M. – SC UPDATE – Congrats to S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley, who cruised to reelection over Democrat Edgar Gomez by a whopping 85-15% margin.

10:09 P.M. – SC UPDATE – with 81% of the votes counted, State Senator Shane Massey is up by 10% over Democrat Greg Anderson.

10:05 P.M. - 69% of Florida in … Obama leads by 140,000 votes.

10:03 P.M. – 83% of Indiana is in … McCain leads by just 4,000 votes.

10:02 P.M. – 69% of North Carolina is in … Obama leads by just 50,000 votes.

10:00 P.M. – 82% of Virginia is in and only 10,000 votes separate McCain and Obama. Amazing …

9:55 P.M. – Hey … we’re noticing a trend … with Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee in his column, McCain can lose Virginia and North Carolina and still win the presidency … of the Confederate States of America, anyway.

9:54 P.M. – Mississippi to McCain … no surprise there.

9:50 P.M. – Virginia is 50-50, while Florida and North Carolina are both 51-49 for Obama. McCain’s night keeps getting tougher.

9:48 P.M. – NPR just called Ohio for Obama … if true, that’s the ball game.

9:40 P.M. – SC UPDATE – State Senator Shane Massey is now up 55-44% with 47% reporting.

9:38 P.M. – 58% of Florida is in … Obama up by 3%.

9:37 P.M. – 52% of North Carolina is in … Obama up by 2%.

9:35 P.M. – Time to heat up some leftover lasagna … mmmmm …

9:34 P.M. – 16% of Ohio is now in and Obama is up by 12%.

9:30 P.M. – The first numbers are in from the contentious S.C. Senate race between Mick Mulvaney and Mandy Powers-Norrell … Mulvaney currently holds a 53-47% lead with 18% of the votes counted.

9:23 P.M. – 52% of Florida is in … Obama still up by 4%.

9:22 P.M. – 64% of Virginia is in … and Obama has virtually erased McCain’s early lead. It’s now 50-49% McCain.

9:20 P.M. – 8% of Ohio is in … with Obama winning 57-42%. With Pennsylvania gone, this is a must-win state for McCain.

9:19 P.M. – 39% of North Carolina is in … with Obama still leading by 4%.

9:16 P.M. – North Dakota, Wyoming to McCain … Obama leads Electoral College vote 174-68.

9:15 P.M. – SC Update – Reports are that Mike Rose is up by 2,000 votes in his State Senate race …

9:14 P.M. – SC Update – Shane Massey flips back into the lead in his State Senate race … up 52-48%.

9:12 P.M. – Michigan, Wisconsin and New York to Obama, Texas to McCain … Electoral vote 174-83 Obama.

9:11 P.M. – Rhode Island and Minnesota to Obama …

9:00 P.M. – Florida … with 42% of the vote in, Obama is up 52-48%. Again, McCain must win Florida to have any chance at the White House.

8:58 P.M. – A big “whew” for McCain supporters … North Carolina now has 19% reporting and Obama’s lead has shrunk for 11 to just 5 percent. It’s 52-47% Obama at the moment in a state McCain must win.

8:56: P.M. – First digits in on the contentious State Senate Race between Shane Massey and Greg Anderson over in Aiken County … Anderson holds a narrow 52-48% lead. Still lots of votes left to be counted, though.

8:55 P.M. – Whoa … Gov. Mark Sanford just said tonight will be a “bloodletting” for Republicans. No mincing words there …

8:54 P.M. – 51% of Virginia reporting and Obama has closed McCain’s lead to six … it’s now 52-47%

8:53 P.M. – 13% of North Carolina reporting and Obama is up 55-44% …

8:52 P.M. – Georgia and Alabama to McCain … 103-58 Obama in the Electoral College now.

8:43 P.M. – Congrats to S.C. Rep. Shannon Erickson, who is cruising 63-37% in her re-election bid down in Beaufort County.

8:41 P.M. – Pennsylvania to Obama …

8:37 P.M. – Lots of SC votes now coming in … Lindsey Graham is going to win, probably bigger than expected. Joe Wilson is also up big on Rob Miller, while Henry Brown has opened ahead of Linda Ketner.

8:32 P.M. – New Hampshire to Obama …

8:29 P.M. – We’re hearing rumors of an “anti-Obama” backlash down in Charleston, S.C. … Rep. Leon Stavrinakis is telling people he’s in trouble, and Rep. Wallace Scarborough is telling people he’s cruising. We’ll see if that pans out …

8:27 P.M. – A commenter asked us about where to find the South Carolina election website … you can find it here, but there’s not a lot of info up on it.

8:23 P.M. – 42% reporting in Indiana … McCain is up 52-47%.

8:20 P.M. – Thirty percent of Virginia is in … McCain still up 56-43%. Thirty-seven percent of Indiana is in, McCain still up 51-48%.

8:16 P.M. – Former Sanford Chief-of-Staff Tom Davis is a State Senator-elect. He is currently crushing Democrat Kent Fletcher down in Beaufort County, S.C. by a 70-30% margin.

8:14 P.M. – Indiana is at 33% reporting, with McCain still holding his 51-48% edge.

8:13 P.M. – Virginia’s now at 23% reporting and McCain is still up huge … 57-43%.

8:07 P.M. – Joey Millwood is cruising in his South Carolina House race … outdrawing both his Democratic opponent and the write-in campaign of defeated Rep. Bob Walker.

8:05 P.M. – A whole boatload of states were just called … Oklahoma and Tennessee for McCain, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland and Washington, DC for Obama … Obama now leads in the Electoral College 77-34 …

8:02 P.M. – Virginia is up to 14% reporting … McCain still cruising 56-43%.

7:59 P.M. – Indiana is now reporting 26% with McCain still enjoying a 51-48% lead.

7:56 P.M. - Virginia is up to 9% reporting and McCain is still out front 56-43% … this has to be one of the biggest surprises so far tonight as pre-election polls showed Obama ahead in Virginia by 5%.

7:55 P.M. – Sheez … it’s about time … South Carolina is finally starting to publish its results online. We should be able to bring you lots of numbers soon …

7:53 P.M. – FOX has just called South Carolina for McCain, 21-3 Electoral College lead for the GOP nominee.

7:50 P.M. - FOX has just called West Virginia for McCain, who now holds a 13-3 Electoral College lead.

7:46 P.M. – The AP has called the South Carolina U.S. Senate race for Lindsey Graham … based on no numbers. Weird. We’ll see what’s up with that as the night progresses.

7:44 P.M. – Virginia’s reporting 6% now … McCain’s lead is up to 57-42% … WTF?

7:40 P.M. – A smattering of South Carolina Senate votes are in … less than 1% … Lindsey Graham leads Bob Conley (who?) 53-47% …

7:39 P.M. – Indiana is reporting 19% … McCain up 51-48%.

7:36 P.M. – Unbelievable … all the chocolate iced do-nuts have been eaten from our Election Night stash … and it’s not even 8:00 p.m. yet.

Mande! WTF??? We told you to leave Sic a chocolate iced do-nut!

7:33 P.M. – Virginia’s reporting 4% now … McCain now up 56-43% …

7:32 P.M. – Indiana now has 14% reporting and McCain is up 52-47%.

7:31 P.M. – Early votes starting to trickle in now from all over. North Carolina neck-and-neck …

7:29 P.M. – Virginia’s reporting 3% now, with McCain at 48,993 and Obama at 42,144 – still an 8-point McCain advantage.

7:26 P.M. – Virginia’s got 2% reporting now and McCain is up by 8%.

7:21 P.M. – Still nothing from South Carolina’s election website … hmmmm.

7:20 P.M. – McCain up 11 in Virginia but it is still incredibly early … just 1% of votes tabulated.

7:17 P.M. – Indiana is tight … McCain up by a hair 50-49% with nine percent of the votes tallied. Remember, along with Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, this is one state McCain HAS to win.

7:05 P.M. – Damn that was quick. Kentucky to McCain, Vermont to Obama. McCain up 8 to 3 in Electoral College votes … upset brewing? Um … probably not …

7:02 P.M. – In case you were wondering, there are currently 2,553,923 registered voters in South Carolina. It’ll be interesting to see how many of them turned out. In 2004 it was around 1.6 million.

7:00 P.M. - Polls have now officially closed here in South Carolina and along the East Coast. We’ll now be flipping back and forth between this page and our results page.

6:57 P.M. – Another interest question from reader Katie: “When did McCain lose the race?” In our opinion, McCain lost the second he “suspended his campaign” to go deal with the fiscal crisis and then ended up being little more than a cheerleader for a failed pseudo-socialist solution.

Sure, Obama embraced the same failed solution, but he came off looking better because he didn’t make some grand gesture only to cave into the Washington establishment.

6:56 P.M. – Alright, alight … the most important lesson of the 2008 election is that Republicans – for the second cycle in a row – forgot what it means to be Republicans.

6:55 P.M. – Somebody just texted us asking us what the “most important lesson” of the 2008 election is. We’re honestly not sure … we were staring at Sarah Palin’s legs the whole time …

6:49 P.M. – The lovely Mrs. Sic Willie has just descended the stairs to tell all of us good night. Well … almost all of us. She shot our founding editor a rather uninviting glance, as if perhaps to say that the whole “good night” thing might not apply to him. What’s up with that, Sic? You in trouble again?

6:45 P.M. – Fifteen minutes till polls close here in South Carolina and all along the Eastern Seaboard.

TV people in New York and Washington DC are no doubt in their make-up chairs right about now, looking into the mirror and repeating the phrase “Barack Obama Has Been Elected The First African-American President of the United States” in an effort to say it with some semblance of professional objectivity. Try again, Brokaw … you’re not fooling anybody.

6:32 P.M. – WTF, Chris Cillizza? One of our favorite political websites, WaPo’s The FIx will not be blasting out updated e-mails tonight, choosing instead to stream their updates online instead.

Actually, never mind … we’re getting “blow’d up” with e-mails as it is, so that’s actually pretty nice of Cillizza.

Consistent with the exemplary coverage he’s provided throughout campaign 2008, Cillizza has some great national exit poll numbers, showing that 6 out of 10 voters said the economy was their top issue (surprise). Exit polls also showed President Bush’s approval ratings at 27% (ouch), with 71% of voters disapproving of the job he’s doing (including 52% strongly disapproving).

6:27 P.M. – We’ve gotten a hold of some Republican talking points for tonight and it appears that part of the plan to counter what could be an Obama landslide is to compare his “Electoral College mandate” with that of Ronald Reagan, the last president to come into office under such dire economic circumstances.

Reagan swept to a 489-49 Electoral College victory against President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and then followed that up with a stunning 525-13 Electoral College victory four years later against Walter Mondale.

Prior to Reagan, a bad economy produced a 472-59 Electoral College romp for President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.

Look for Republicans to question why Obama isn’t getting that sort of result (if he isn’t), and to use that as an example of how uncomfortable voters really are with him.

6:10 P.M. – We just remembered that this is going to be the first Election Night in quite some time without NBC’s Tim Russert, who passed away back in June. Which really sucks. We urge all our dawgs to immediately “pour a 40″ over your TV in Russert’s honor, while singing Boyz II Men’s “It’s So Hard … ”

On second thought, televisions and malt liquor probably don’t mix. Better just light a candle and sing some Elton John instead.

You are the treadmill, Tim.

6:06 P.M. - We just got a text message from State Rep. Nathan Ballentine saying that Greenville Republican Bruce Bannister is the new Assistant House Majority Leader (whatever that is). Oh, and here’s the link. Our only question is whether or not S.C. House Republicans will still have a majority after tonight. Our suspicion is that they will, but that they will likely lose a few more seats than their leaders initially anticipated.

Which means that “Assistant House Majority Leader” may be even less important a position than it currently is … if that’s possible.

6:00 P.M. – As we hit T-Minus one hour and counting until the East Coast polls close, pretty much everybody is predicting that Democrats will not only win the presidency, but clean up in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate as well.

So here’s the question … is this going to be a 1992 defeat for Republicans (which paved the way for a so-called “Republican Revolution” two years later) or a 1932 defeat for Republicans (which paved the way to two decades of political irrelevance)? There’s no doubt the GOP is reeling, the question is whether or not the party has what it takes to make its stay in the wilderness a short one.

5:56 P.M. - Everything is going smoothly in North Carolina today, according to that state’s election watchdogs. Considering 40% of the state voted early, that really doesn’t surprise us.

5:53 P.M. – Commenter Natasha wants to know which network we’re watching for our election results. Short answer? None of them … we’re on the computer with about twenty websites open getting ready to click “refresh” on all of them like a bunch of crack-addled lab rats.

And yes, we just love saying “crack-addled lab rats.”

5:42 P.M. - Awww … y’all are so sweet. Today is officially our busiest day ever here at FITS. Our total? Eleventy kabillion and one hits!

5:40 P.M. – Hope springs eternal for educrat-lovin’ trial lawyers … We wrote about soon-to-be-former S.C. Rep. Scott Talley’s write-in campaign up in Spartanburg, and now there’s visual proof of that effort …

Dude … that’s weak.

5:30 P.M. – Not only are their people nowhere near as cute as our official exit pollsters, but SC Hotline’s accuracy is looking a little bit suspect as well. The dean of South Carolina political websites has just released exit polling showing John McCain winning South Carolina by a ridonkulous 76.5% to 17.3% margin … hmmm … did anybody check their editor’s alcohol intake before they published those results?

Because we’re guessing the answer to that question is “No.”

5:23 P.M. – The national experts are speaking … one last time.

In a final analysis of polling data prior to the votes being counted, top national pollster Nate Silver is projecting Barack Obama to cruise to an electoral college victory, 349-189. Silver also predicts Obama will take the popular vote by a 6.1% margin.

That’s consistent with what polls have been saying all along. In just an hour and a half, we’ll find out for ourselves if they were right.

5:12 P.M. – Incompetence reins in Beaufort County, S.C., where local election commissioner Agnes Garvin can’t seem to figure out which State Senate District ballots to give voters. Hopefully, the mistake was caught early, but two of the strongest precincts for GOP Senate nominee Tom Davis (District 46) were handed ballots for State Senate District 45, which is obviously not the race they were supposed to vote in.

We’ve heard from dozens of folks who tried to vote for Davis but were told they couldn’t, and some estimates are that former chief-of-staff to Gov. Mark Sanford may have lost as many as 1,000 votes thanks to the foul-up. That’s huge in a State Senate election.

5:05 P.M. – File this away in the “while NOBODY is looking file.” As election coverage reaches its zenith here in South Carolina and around the nation, our state’s utterly worthless Ports Authority decided to hand out a quarter of a million dollars in salary bonuses to its employees … despite shrinking traffic at our ports and a God-awful state revenue situation.

We’re too busy to cover this tonight, obviously, but rest assured we’ll be on it tomorrow. In the meantime check out SC Biz for the details …

5:00 P.M. – Still two hours before polls officially close in the East. Democrats and Republicans alike are boasting heavy turnout here in South Carolina, and long lines at polling places all over the state certainly vouches for those claims. We’ll see who gets the better of it very soon …

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