MISSOURI (Jim Hoft) — 9:13 pm PST: It looks like Obama had enough votes from the big cities to overtake Hillary. It is very close but with 97% reporting, Obama leads Hillary by 4,000 votes.
TENNESSEE (Bob Krumm in Nashville)
— 9:00 pm PST: With 91% of the vote counted NBC and Fox have declared Mike Huckabee the winner in Tennessee.
Mitt Romney can’t seem to win in the South while Mike Huckabee can’t win
anywhere but there. John McCain is the apparent beneficiary. I say
“apparent” because the delegate count is what really matters.
TENNESSEE (Bob Krumm in Nashville)
-8:35 pm PST: During the past hour it has been Middle Tennessee’s turn . . . the Krumm family just spent about 20 minutes in the basement while the storms rolled through Davidson County. It sounds like some areas of the state were hit
pretty hard. The local television stations have discussed nothing but the
weather for the past 90 minutes even though the GOP result is still
undetermined. But now that the storms are gone, back to the election . . .
CNN’sexit polling shows an interesting result. On the Democratic side the twelve
year cohort from ages 18-29 made up 13% of the Democratic vote while the
fifteen year group from 30-44 doubled their vote. Baby-boomers 45 to 59
nearly tripled their vote making up fully one-third of the Democratic
electorate.
This isn’t surprising. The youngest voters almost never vote in the same
numbers as their elders, although they tend to make a lot more
noise–especially on the internet. Obama’s disappointing showing tonight
brings to mind the old adage that there’s a name for candidates who depend
on new voters to lift them to victory: Losers.
MISSOURI (Jim Hoft) — 8:54 pm PST: Missouri is coming down to the wire…
Huckabee and McCain are battling for the pot of delegates and only a few hundred votes separate the two candidates.
The Missouri Secretary of State’s website is tracking the totals tonight.
The Post Dispatch is also tracking the results.
This one looks like it will be another win for John McCain. Drudge already put the state in the McCain column. CNN has McCain ahead by nearly 3,000.
Also- Hillary took the state from Obama. In Missouri, 700,000 voters turned out for the Democrats. Just over 500,000 voters turned out for the Republican Party.
GEORGIA (Kyle Godfrey) — 8:20 pm PST: Mike Huckabee is projected to win GA with 85% of the precincts reporting shortly after 11pm.
TENNESSEE (Bob Krumm in Nashville) — 7:10 pm PST:
Returns are spotty but Mike Huckabee is surprisingly over-performing in
Tennessee. That brings to mind a question: most everyone agrees that Fred
Thompson entered the race too late; did he also exit too early?
Also, Huckabee’s current one-point lead is without the benefit of Shelby
County votes, which haven’t yet been tabulated. Nor is Hillary’s current
61% to 32% lead over Obama taking into account the state’s largest, most
Democratic, and most minority county. Both Obama and Huckabee will likely
benefit from the addition of Shelby County’s votes.
MISSOURI (Jim Hoft) — 6:55 pm PST: This was good…
The St. Louis Post Dispatch was not very pleased that Senator Lieberman was traveling with Senator McCain today:
The Post Dispatch has Senator Lieberman listed as a “Republican”– Lieberman is, of course, a Democrat who ran as an Independent candidate in Connecticut.
As far as the Missouri vote goes…
The Missouri Secretary of State’s website is tracking the totals tonight.
The Post Dispatch is also tracking the results.
It is still too close to call in this bellwether state.
The first Exit Polls that were reported by Jim Geraghty had Romney at 34 percent followed by McCain at 32 percent and Huckabee at 25 percent.
This would be a BIG win for Romney.
CONNECTICUT (Roger Kimball in Norwalk) — 6:36 pm PST: Well, according to RealClearPolitics, only 27% of the vote is counted in Connecticut. Obama is leading Hilary 51% to 47% and I’m calling it: Obama wins! I’ll check in tomorrow to see if my sixth sense needs sharpening.
NEW JERSEY(Fausta Wertz) — 6:34 pm PST: With 31% of the precints reporting, McCain has 55% of the vote compared to Romney’s 28%. McCain gets all 52 delegates.
Clinto has 57% of the vote compared to Obama’s 41%. The Democrats will divide 107 delegates in proportion to the votes they receive.
TENNESSEE (Bob Krumm in Nashville) — 6:00 pm PST: All the media organizations are calling Tennessee for Hillary. Who “won” is actually irrelevant here since the Volunteer State is not winner-take-all. You can watch a live feed from Nashville’s CBS affiliate here.
The grey-haired gentleman on the right is Pat Nolan, one of the most
knowledgable political commentators in the state.
CONNECTICUT (Roger Kimball in Norwalk) — 5:58 pm PST: This just in: with 10% of the vote counted, McCain wins Connecticut handily (51% to 33% so far, even a bigger spread than most of the polls predicted). RealClearPolitcs calls for McCain. On the Democratic side, with 11% of the vote counted, Obama is ahead 50% to 47%, but the race has yet to be called.
ARKANSAS(Jim Hoft) — 5: 56 pm PST: Huck & Hill Take Arkansas!
No surprises in Arkansas… Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee won their prospective primaries. FOX News reported the results as soon as the polls closed at 7:30 PM CST. The local news is more concerned tonight with the tornadoes than the elections. 4 people were killed in Atkins, Arkansas this afternoon. Tornado warnings continue in Cross, Lee, Randolph, Mississippi, Poinsett and St. Francis counties.
CONNECTICUT (Roger Kimball in Norwalk) — 5:29 pm PST: Your man in Fairfield County, CT, just returned from the polls. Connecticut is a closed primary–Democrats can vote for the Democratic candidates, Republicans for the Republicans, but the “independents,” Jedi Knights (they are officially recognized in England and elsewhere), and other such stalwart souls are out of luck.
Actually, if you are Republican round about where I live, you are more or less out of luck, too. Yes, Norwalk has a Republican mayor, but when I went to polls, the stolid citizen invigilating the proceedings cast a jaundiced eye on my fedora and bow tie as I entered and gestured gruffly: “Republicans over there.” I didn’t have long to wait. The line at the table for Democrats boasted a swelling multitude. A forlorn-looking lady with rubber boots and a headscarf (but not one of those headscarves) and I were the sole acolytes at the Republicans’ table. I wonder, though, whether the Democrats had such a rich offering of candidates. Not only could I have voted for John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, or Ron Paul, all of whom are actually running for their party’s endorsement, but also for Fred Thompson or Rudi Guiliani, who are not, as well as several chaps I’d never heard of. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer: I voted for Mitt, but I knew then what I know now: it was a merely symbolic gesture. McCain has Connecticut sewn up. The latest polls had him ahead 22 points.
And the other side? Well, that’s a bit more interesting. My predication is that Obama wins. Ask yourself this: who is the candidate most likely to flatter a liberal’s sense of superiority? Why, Obama, natch. Hillary has the sex card, but these days race trumps sex and, anyway, Hillary is much too overt about wanting to run your life. (What was it she said the other day during her first tear-up: “I have so many opportunities for this country”?) Obama’s great strength is what we might call the Vacuity of Hope. What is it he offers? Change. Do not ask what change can do for you, ask what you can do for change, the more amorphous the better.
You might think such lo-cal, no-content nostrums would fall flat among a sophisticated elite bunch like us gold coasters but you would be wrong. From Greenwich to New Haven and beyond, we like our clich√©s completely purged of complicating intellectual or political scruple, untroubled by unpleasant realities. Obama furnishes such clich√©s in grateful abundance, and he does so charmingly. This particular entertainment doesn’t work everywhere, but it is a powerful sedative in places like Fairfield, CT. I bet he wins here. I’ll check in a bit later to see how my reliable predication turned out to be.
TENNESSEE (Bob Krumm in Nashville)-5:20 pm PST:Much as Pajamas Media is doing on the national level, the Knoxville News Sentinel is using Tennessee bloggers to aggregate Tennessee-related election news.
BTW, tornadoes have struck Arkansas and Tennessee today. While storms may
impact vote totals in both states, the possible loss of life puts all this
politics into perspective: whoever lives in the White House next year isn’t
that important when you have a family member who isn’t coming home.
NEW JERSEY(Fausta Wertz) — 5:18 pm PST: The polls just closed eight minutes ago.
Based on exit polling, Fox News has announced that they project that John McCain will be the winner in the NJ Republican primary. He would then get all 52 delegates.
The Democrat primary is still too close to call since exit polls show only a one-point advantage between candidates.
MASSACHUSETTS (Jules Crittenden) — 5:13 pm PST: 8 p.m. Polls closing, and the Secretary of State projecting that … despite what appeared to be light turnout in this morning’s rain, that Massachusetts its headed for a heavy 1.3 million turnout, the top primary vote since 1980.
Exit polling (NRO’s Horserace, Suffolk University via Boston Herald) indicate Romney will carry his home state in a big way, while Clinton also appears to be set to benefit from the loyalty of the party apparatus … never enamored of Obama ally Deval Patrick … and a Clinton-happy electorate both now apparently ignoring Ted Kennedy’s endorsement.
So Romney, who’s job today is staying alive, looks to walk away with some face from what otherwise may be shaping up to be a McCain trouncing. The Romney campaign schedule reportedly is light over the next few days, raising questions about his own confidence in today’s results.
So what’s like in a metro newsroom on election night? Not as exciting as the political junkies might hope. Relatively quiet, with revelations, theories, etc., offered up in lowkey conversations. The big concern at this point in the night is making sure all the back pages are out of the way. The other big concern is about 20 pizzas that just arrived. Ix-nay on the eer-bay these days. It’s early yet and most people are staring at computer screens, yapping on phones, half an ear on the TV. Scribblers are heading out to the campaign parties. California, three hours behind, will make it a long night.
ARKANSAS (Jim Hoft)– 5:06 pm PST
Tornadoes Strike in Arkansas- Clinton, Arkansas!
Tornadoes touched down north of Memphis this afternoon! FOX 16 reported that 4 people were killed after another tornado touched down in Atkins this afternoon. Atkins, a city of about 2,800 people, sits along Interstate 40 about 60 miles northwest of Little Rock. The entire state is still under a tornado watch.
Drudge is reporting a landslide for the former First Lady of Arkansas: Clinton 72, Obama 26
GEORGIA (Kyle Godfrey)– 4:50 pm PST: Exit polls show Obama wins Georgia
Exit polls are giving the Peach State to Barack Obama, no word yet on the Republican side yet. The polls have closed here in Georgia and only about 1% of precincts are reporting as of now.
My nightmare has come true. It will be Huckabee or McCain taking the Peach State. FoxNews is preparing to call it. Romney has already fallen far behind. McCain has also been declared the winner in Illinois, Huckabee has been declared the winner in Alabama.
NEW JERSEY (Fausta Wertz)– 2:10 pm PST: Large turnout in Mercer County, while Hillary’s troops are ready to push in Newark
My own district here in Princeton reports turnout as large as for a national presidential election.
I talked to the workers, who this morning were encouraging people to ask their friends to come and vote. They all agreed that the turnout is exceptionally large for a primary. They could not confirm if this was the case elsewhere in Princeton Township and Borough.
Max Pizarrro reports that Hillary volunteers are ready to go door-to-door in Newark this evening to bring after-work voters to the polls.
Today’s weather has been mostly clear with few scattered showers and temperatures in the fifties, unlike other states where bad weather has been a factor.
ARKANSAS (Jim Hoft) — 1:25 pm PST: This doesn’t sound very good — The entire state except a tiny portion in the northwest is under a tornado warning until 10PM tonight. KATV reported that the storms will include tornadoes and “supercells”- Sounds serious. I’ve never been in a “supercell” but it does not sound pleasant. Severe thunderstorms, too… all day. Despite the ugly weather no problems were reported in early voting. Huck voted today at noon in Texarkana. About 37,000 democratic and 20,000 Republican ballots have already been cast in the state. State officials are more concerned about the weather than voting machines at this point.
ILLINOIS (Rick Moran) — 12: 55 pm PST: I stood for half an hour outside of my polling station talking to people going in and coming out from voting. Every once and a while, I’d glance upwards at the church-like steeple that tops the 120 year old former City Hall building that gives our little downtown such a distinct look and wonder about all the history that building had seen. The Algonquin Village Hall has been a polling station for more than 100 years. During that time, it had witnessed triumph in war, the tragedy of the depression, and the endless parade of politicians large and small, both serious and buffoonish, who had asked people to place their faith in them to continue this experiment in self government.
Some had surprised our forefathers by becoming more than was expected. Others no doubt disappointed either through incompetence or sheer skullduggery. But what had me thinking was that the faith of the people remained constant regardless of whether they sent a saint or sinner to represent them.
It is said that people are more cynical about politics and politicians today but I don’t buy it. Just listen to or read some Will Rogers jokes if you don’t believe me. Or find some old Thomas Nast cartoons on Tammany Hall. The American people have rarely had stars in their eyes when supporting a politician for office. It is only after they leave and history gets a hold of them do we recall them with much fondness.
So too our current crop of office seekers. From presidential aspirants down to the race for County Coroner, we have choices placed before us. Perhaps we would prefer that we had others from which to choose but for better or worse, the candidates before us are the ones we must entrust with our destiny. Somehow – no matter how brave or cowardly, brilliant or ignorant, law abiding or crooked – we manage to muddle through with the choices at hand. And somehow, after their allotted time in office, the nation emerges relatively unscathed, the republic standing tall.
The people I talked to who voted today don’t expect miracles. They don’t expect much at all. On the national level, they are tired of the bickering, the gridlock, the name calling that passes for politics in Washington these days. And if you’ve heard it once this campaign season, you’ve heard it a million times, the people really do want change; they want the “mess” cleaned up or they want someone to “clean house.” And this desire for change is manifested quite clearly in the person of the junior senator from Illinois Barack Obama.
The story from my tiny corner of Super Tuesday is that Obama is a politician who may have made the leap and transcended party and ideology – at least for the moment. His name is on many voters’ lips today. Where it will be next November is up to the rest of the country.
NEW JERSEY (Fausta Wertz) — 12:50 pm PST: Who are the NJ bloggers endorsing?
While North Carolina blogger Sigmund, Carl and Alfred asks who would Abe vote for and gives a most insightful answer, here in New Jersey we’re more hands-on and actually endorse candidates:
TigerHawk (probably the only other Princeton Republican other than myself) can’t vote today because of work commitments, but is endorsing Romney. Parkway Rest Stop and The Coalition of the Swilling also favor Romney.
Buzz Machine and Gigglechick endorse Hillary.
Riehl World View is an independent against McCain.
So far no NJ blogger has endorsed Obama.
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