The Living Consequences

Major networks are now calling Florida, Nevada, and Colorado for Obama.

These states bring Obama to 338 electoral votes, with 53 electoral votes still up for grabs (in Indiana, Missouri, and North Carolina) and the lingering possibility of a minor upset in Montana.

With the closing of the polls on the west coast, the networks are finally willing to acknowledge that the exit polls in several of those states are enough to easily put Barack Obama over the top, with at least 284 electoral votes.

Separately, Virginia has now been called for Obama, giving him another 13 electoral votes. There are several states still to be heard from, and Obama is probably not done winning states tonight.

The updated election map:

I posted, about forty-five minutes ago, that Barack Obama was going to win the election, based on his win in Ohio.

At that time, I saw him with 272 electoral votes in safe or called states. I now show him with 284 electoral votes, now that New Mexico and Iowa have been called:

The networks have now called Ohio for Obama.

By my count, that puts Obama at 272 electoral votes, enough to win the White House, with states that have been called or are safely Obama’s.

The first meaningful result of the evening is in.

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This post reviews what to watch for on election night.

Presidential election

In all likelihood, this will be a fairly short night. The eastern states where the polls close early will probably deliver the margin of victory.

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This is my final analysis of the state of the presidential election before we begin seeing returns this evening.

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Barack Obama issued a statement a few minutes ago, saying that his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died.

In the statement, issued jointly with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Senator Obama says that their grandmother died peacefully after her battle with cancer.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Mrs. Dunham passed away early this morning, at the age of 86. She was widely reported to have been following the presidential campaign closely on television from her apartment in Hawaii, where she was receiving hospice care.

While this must be a difficult time for Senator Obama to have received such news, Mrs. Dunham no doubt passed away with full knowledge that her grandson is expected to be elected the next president of the United States.

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In a fascinating decision, the Wall Street Journal appears to have all but endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president of the United States.

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It has now been confirmed that Senator Obama’s Aunt Zeituni is living in public housing here in Boston, and that she was ordered to leave the country four years ago.

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