Nov 5, 2008 10:23am
Loose Ends: Obamaha
EmailHe didn’t need Nebraska’s one electoral vote, because the feared 269-269 electoral tie didn’t happen (remember the "Obamaha" strategy?), but the unofficial results have President-elect Barack Obama losing the race for Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district by 569 votes.
Unofficial results have Sen. John McCain winning 126,303 votes to President-elect Obama’s 125,734.
But not so fast.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that Douglas County election commissioner David Phipps says that "more than 9,000 early votes and provisional ballots still need to be counted" and the official results won’t be known until next week."
- jpt
Can Mitt Romney Win Conservatives Back? 
Possible Contraception Compromise in D.C.
When are you going to call North Carolina? 100% of precincts are reporting. Oh, and does Sam Donaldson know we exist?
Posted by: Mortimer Snerd | November 5, 2008, 10:35 am 10:35 am
What’s funny is that I told my wife that McCain would sweep all the racist southern states…and he damn near did! With the exception of Florida. But Florida is mostly hispanics, retirees, and rich folk.
Posted by: Independent Fighter | November 5, 2008, 10:41 am 10:41 am
Early voter turnout for Obama was huge here in Omaha so I can’t wait for the final tabulated results. What a great day!
Posted by: arainey-Omaha | November 5, 2008, 10:41 am 10:41 am
harry,
In 2010.
This race wasn’t even close. North Carolina 15 electoral votes are likely to go Obama. This was a landslide. I can not gloat anymore then I have since last night.
I wonder where the “PUMAs” are and “geevil”.
What ever happened to “Obama is unelectable”? What happened to “don’t believe the polls”?
The polls were right on.
Posted by: Vanessa | November 5, 2008, 10:45 am 10:45 am
Jake Tapper is well on his way to self induced obscurity.
Congratulations America!!! Congratulations World!!!
We did it, despite incoherent barbs & jabs from know nothing pundits like Jake Tapper.
This is a Great day to be an American!!!
Posted by: Chapman | November 5, 2008, 10:49 am 10:49 am
Communist T-shirts and flags to celebrate our new leader.
The new generation of Americans that Obama and Ayers were hoping for.
Posted by: sam | November 5, 2008, 11:03 am 11:03 am
hahahahahahahahaha, Chapman and Sam, you lose, we win. Your guy got crushed by our guy. hahahahahahahaha.
Posted by: DKNY | November 5, 2008, 11:09 am 11:09 am
NO MORE SARAH PALIN!!!! YEAH, THIS IS TRULY A WONDERFUL DAY :)
Posted by: lisa | November 5, 2008, 11:19 am 11:19 am
to all of you obama haters,
you must have been living in a different world that the rest of us
under george bush.
george bush and cheney’ rein must have been good for you
Posted by: so sad | November 5, 2008, 11:20 am 11:20 am
Congratulations to Obama, ACORN, and the media. Well done!
Posted by: sally | November 5, 2008, 11:20 am 11:20 am
I think the country has breathed a sigh of relief. Some have a misgiving about how far left we will go, but the net is that we and the world can give up any pretext for hating America. That is a good thing.
Hopefully the hatred will ease and we can move on.
Posted by: etothex | November 5, 2008, 11:21 am 11:21 am
Obama is a socialist ! Obama is a wealth distributor ! Obama is a terrorist ! Obama is inexperienced ! Helloooo ??? He is a persident of America…. Republicans….get over it. You are sore loooooser
Posted by: MacGoneBack | November 5, 2008, 11:24 am 11:24 am
tina–what’s your point? it was a dress. no hidden agenda. good grief, just how far are you all going to take your conspiracy theories?
Posted by: antijake | November 5, 2008, 11:25 am 11:25 am
obama is going to be the new president.
and this morning george bush had a press conference, said he was happy for obama, and said the keys to the wh are under the mat. bush is going home.
laura has already left. and all bush wants to do is get out of washington.
he says to all of you mccain supporters
SO LONG, SUCKERS!
Posted by: so sad | November 5, 2008, 11:26 am 11:26 am
Ryan: Don’t waste your time explaining to these mouth breathers. Today is a day for celebrating Obama’s victory.
PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA!!!
Posted by: DKNY | November 5, 2008, 11:27 am 11:27 am
The best thing about this Historic Glorious day is;
NO MORE SARA PALIN! CAN I GET A WAHOO YAHOO HER BROOM WILL BE LANDING IN WASILLA SOON
NO MORE JOE THE PLUMBER! CAN I GET A WAHOO, YAHOO I BELIVE HE WILL GO BACK TO BEING AN UNLICENSED PLUMBER NOBODY
OH HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!
Posted by: Angie in PA | November 5, 2008, 11:30 am 11:30 am
Memo to Republicans: As a white woman and Christian from the Midwest I am ecstatic that Barrack Obama won. Please take note that ” real America” will no longer vote for divisive, and fear mongering candidates. You had better wake up and start talking about policies and solutions the next time or you can forget about winning that one too. As for myself and many of my fellow Independents the Republican brand will be tarnished for years to come.
Posted by: Teri | November 5, 2008, 11:34 am 11:34 am
Why hasn’t ABC given Obama the votes for Indiana. Fox and CNN have both given awarded the votes. I know we already won, but the it just makes me feel good to see all of the blue!!
Posted by: lisa | November 5, 2008, 11:34 am 11:34 am
Might as well give North Carolina too. Blue is such a pretty color.
Posted by: lisa | November 5, 2008, 11:34 am 11:34 am
I agree, one of the best things about this victory for Obama is that we don’t have to see that stupid Sarah Palin person on tv every day anymore. I was so sick of seeing her stupid face on CNN’s homepage too.
Posted by: Paul | November 5, 2008, 11:38 am 11:38 am
RIGHT HERE AND NOW,
I WANT TO SALUTE THE WHITE PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF SIXTY, WHO WENT INTO THE BOOTHS WITH NOTHING BUT THEIR CONSCIENCE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDER AND
THEY HAVE SAID ENOUGH WITH THE RACIST,
ENOUGH WITH THIS COUNTRY BEING DIVIDED
AND THEY PULLED THAT LEVER FOR OBAMA.
TO THE WHITE PEOPLE OVER 60 WHO VOTED FOR OBAMA
SALUTE!
Posted by: so sad | November 5, 2008, 11:39 am 11:39 am
antijake,
don’t encourage tina, by asking her
what is your point?
let her rest
her question is pointless
Posted by: so sad | November 5, 2008, 11:43 am 11:43 am
Sam -
I’ve seen photos of people from all over the world waving flags and celebrating. They were all American flags.
It’s a proud day for America and the world. God keep him and his family safe.
Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | November 5, 2008, 11:48 am 11:48 am
Obama supporters bit the apple–he was way too tempting.
They fell for the conman from Chicago.
Enjoy the honeymoon phase-reality will hit soon enough.
Posted by: riley | November 5, 2008, 11:50 am 11:50 am
In response to Obama Land (bad winners) still whining—
Jake is great and one of the most observant “pundits.” We need more like him.
RACE was NEVER an issue except when invoked by the Obama campaign and the race-obsessive MSM. Way past time to drop the race-blaming game.
Several of the polls were very WRONG, e.g. Georgia, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota.
North Carolina TOO CLOSE to call. Look at the numbers (only 12K difference) Always more ballots to count, which can make the difference.
———–
Curious, with 97% reporting, Obama 63 million votes to McCain 55.8 million… total 118.8 million. Extrapolate out to 100% = 122.5 million (Obama 65 million/McCain 57.5 million).
Compare to 2004: Bush 62 million and Kerry 59 million for total 121 million votes.
So it looks like the 2008 electorate did not exceed 2004 numbers by much (+1.5 million voters/+1%). What’s going on here?
Posted by: Ninch | November 5, 2008, 11:52 am 11:52 am
riley,
i guess you bit the bush apple, and wanted more?
of the mcbush apple.
Posted by: so sad | November 5, 2008, 11:55 am 11:55 am
It won’t be long now–the BO supporters can throw their arms around Ayers and Wright and give them a big hug.
No more hiding.
Posted by: sam | November 5, 2008, 11:56 am 11:56 am
I am thrilled Obama won.
I don’t look at Obama as a Muslim, a socialist, a liberal, a black man, or any of the negative terms that people ignorantly used as an excuse not to vote for someone who is intelligent, philosophical, informed, well educated and a pragmatist.
Unfortunately, all the above labels or qualities, (including intelligent) sometimes do not appear to be ones many Americans like in their leaders. “We want one of us in the White House” – which is sadly why Sarah Palin brought in a few votes from these people who “cling to guns or religion…” for the Republicans when common sense would ask what is appealing about someone who is so clueless about the world.
Ok, I suppose clueless is a label, but it clearly describes what she is. How many people really know what a liberal is? Or a socialist? Or any of the other names that have been demoted to school-yard nah-ni-nah-nah status?
It’s amusing to see how virulent and hot under the collar people get using these labels. And the more uneducated and closed minded, the louder they are. Especially the religious nuts.
I am happy labeling Obama a gentleman, and thrilled he has won, because being a gentleman, he will bring a level of civilization to the White House and international politics that has been sadly lacking the last eight years.
Posted by: Timothy Holt | November 5, 2008, 11:57 am 11:57 am
Jake,
How about Missouri!?!? The Stl. Dispatch reports only a 413 vote margin for McCain (as of 2 a.m.) with an unspecified few thousand provisional votes.
Can you imagine what would have happened if this had been a really close race. We had not just one close state – like Florida 2000 – but 3 (and a third); Missouri, Indiana, and North Carolina.
Can you imagine if we had to do 3 recounts in 3 different states. Thank goodness for the woeful McCain campaign.
Posted by: Bud | November 5, 2008, 12:06 pm 12:06 pm
AGAIN to Obama Land… Quit playing the race card. It is irrelvant.
And quit spewing misogynistic B.S. about Palin. You hated Hillary and now you hate Palin. Obama won. They cannot threaten your chosen one any more.
You guys sound like a cult movement and not informed voters.
Posted by: Ninch | November 5, 2008, 12:16 pm 12:16 pm
My congradulations to Mr. Obama on running a tremendous campaign. I am first & foremost an AMERICAN. Even though I do not agree with his policies…
I will do what most of you libs refused to do for Bush…I will support him as my President.
There is much work ahead and the new president is going tohave a huge task. It starts by ending all this foolish back & forth BS. I ask my fellow conseravtives to show more class and pride in our country than libs did after both the 2000 & 2004 elections.
John McCain said Country First and I beleive that is the way to move forward. It does not mean walking in lock-step, or agreeing with everything from the left. Let us also hope that Pelosi & Reid understand its time to stop the partisan bickering. We do not need anymore speech such as her’s before that first bailout package vote.
It is time to see if Obama, Pelosi & Reid can actualy DO what they talk about – Reach across the aisle and work together. The last 8 years were not a disaster because of GWB. It became a mess because the liberals were too bitter and vengeful about losing to work together and get the job done. It’s now our time to show them how good things can get accomplished.
God Bless America!
Posted by: Mike_C | November 5, 2008, 12:25 pm 12:25 pm
Folks,
This is Kay, Ipredicted before that Obama will win the presidency, if you all can remember during the primary, I said that Obama movement was moving train and no one can stop it. After winning the primary I said that I will not post anything till today after the result is known.
I am happy my prediction comes true.
This is my another prediction again Chelsea Clitton will be the first woman to win the presidency of US. Hillary and Bill have made this possible by helping Obama to make history.
Note
Posted by: Kay | November 5, 2008, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm
Sam
I saw the video as well. Those people that stormed the White House were waiving the communist soviet flag. In the celebration videos that were coming in, there were people wearing the soviet tee shirts.
What is up with that???
Just what kind of change were these people told?
Posted by: start asking | November 5, 2008, 12:27 pm 12:27 pm
Kay and others,
Please, no revisionist history here. Bush and his administration had no interest in working with the opposition and excluded them as much as he could. This was after years of watching Republicans in Congress do the same thing. So there is no high road for you take now.
As a “Lib” all that I can say is that payback hurts. For years the conservative machine has portrayed libs and everyone else other than them as villians and evil doers. You and others who supported that machine would do well to just sit back and take it as we have had to do for most of the last 30 years. Only, this time the gloating won’t last long because we libs are anxious to get to work to begin repairing the extreme damage done to this nation over the last 8 years.
Like you, I am an American before all else. The difference is that I share the vision of my president and no longer have to wonder why anyone voted for him.
Posted by: Darryl | November 5, 2008, 12:45 pm 12:45 pm
Sorry Kay. My diatribe was directed at Mike_C.
Posted by: Darryl | November 5, 2008, 12:46 pm 12:46 pm
McCain lost the election because of the rationale of the some of those who comment here on Jake’s blog. McCain and Co. ran a campaign that was 30 years old, and, they tried to ‘demonize’ the opposition as if he wasn’t an American.
Instead of debating issues, Republicans ranted about ‘associations’, instead of getting a pulse on current day America, they relied on the tactics that worked in the past.
Bush, Cheney and Co. traveled down a path
most Americans rejected.
America lost faith with Republicans as crisis multiplied in our country. The country felt that republicans had no answers.
All things, eventually change….. Republicans did not
These are still difficult times we live in and only
time will tell if he is successful. There is a sense that something good has happened in America, as if most folks have taken their first deep breath in a long while.
There is something to be said for hope, and a man like Obama who seems to be secure and smart enough to try something different and conduct himself in a different way.
I truly hope he is.
Posted by: Blue | November 5, 2008, 12:48 pm 12:48 pm
Anyone else notice the style of paintings of Obama look eerily similar to paintings of Che Guevara?
These artists who try to deify politicians need to update their style palettes.
Posted by: OBAMANATION [uh-bom-uh-NEY-shuhn] | November 5, 2008, 1:23 pm 1:23 pm
Did we ever get clarification that Obama was in fact born in the United States?
Posted by: Susan B. | November 5, 2008, 2:01 pm 2:01 pm
“Did we ever get clarification that Obama was in fact born in the United States?”
Yes.
“State officials say there’s no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.
Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said Friday that she and the registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama’s original birth certificate.”
Posted by: Ryan C | November 5, 2008, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
I was beyond excited by 8.30pm last nite. I knew Obama had the election and was going to be the next president elect. But then the next issue came in my mind: “Does he really know what mess he is about to inherit and can he handle it?”…Also, I wonder if some people out there are planning another presidential assasination. I hope not..all we can all do is hope and pray that he and his family are kept safe and that the American people start to think and operate with one mind.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL!!!
Posted by: Babygurl | November 5, 2008, 2:50 pm 2:50 pm
McCain lost because he chose Palin and she is stupid. Once that became clear with the economy going to the toilet, McCain lost the confidence of voters who may have still supported him.
I think I could have a beer with Obama–I once saw him drink a PBR on TV and even I could afford that.
I don’t really want him in office so I could feel like I could have a beer with him because I want somebody who is smart and looks for solutions. They may be a little more liberal than I would like but I bet McCain-Palin would have picked stupid solutions for the most part.
I believe in free markets but I also realize as one economist said “In the long run, we’re dead” and to me that means that we need laws that promote competition–it may not be perfect competion but as I said we don’t have that long to fix things.
On health care and the environment, again if we could prolong somebodies life so that they or their relatives could learn the correct decisions or gain the proper skills to provide for them in competition with the world, I would be all for free market environment and health care.
The problem is that if we screw up health or the environment we often do not get a second chance to make sure the long run solution is optimal.
I will be voting against Obama if he increases protected government jobs or encourages a true “welfare state” but if he can make healthcare and protection available for the school age young and the old with a security social security system, then I will gladly vote democratic for the second time in my many decade long life.
As somebody said on radio today, Obama’s problem may not be the republicans but the democrats.
Posted by: Mr. Coffee | November 5, 2008, 2:55 pm 2:55 pm
Posted by: Susan B.
“Did we ever get clarification that Obama was in fact born in the United States?”
re: The 44th President elect of the United States
It was proven without doubt that Obama is a marxist, leninist, terrorist, manchurain candiate,
muslim, arugula & granola eatin’, no birth certificate havin’, arab, socialist, communist,
democrat with a messiah complex.
did I miss anything Susan?
;-)
Posted by: Blue | November 5, 2008, 3:44 pm 3:44 pm
Blue – great observation – I doubt Susan B. even really understands what those labels mean – see my earlier comment.
But, they are convenient tools to assuage ones guilty conscience for not be able to vote for the best candidate by far.
Posted by: Timothy Holt | November 5, 2008, 4:39 pm 4:39 pm
Blue,
You are right about McCain’s campaign, but it’s a style that was highly effective as recently as 4 years ago. But a) they didn’t execute it very well and b) Barack Hussein Obama and his team figured out how to counter it.
Not to mention c) Palin, d) the campaign suspension and e) the economy….
Posted by: BCC | November 5, 2008, 4:58 pm 4:58 pm
suspended campaign, what suspended campaign? oh, you mean when he lied and said he had suspended his campaign to make a publicity stunt by going to dc, and his campaign continued absolutely un-suspended??
Posted by: jake | November 6, 2008, 12:25 am 12:25 am
I find it strange that there was such a last minute surge for McCain. When I went to bed well after midnight, Obama was still ahead by a comfortable margin. I’d like for someone to compare the final results with the scanner printouts. Is that going to happen? Doubtful huh?
Posted by: TinFoilHat | November 6, 2008, 7:58 am 7:58 am
You right wingers crack me up! And they call me a conspiracy theorist. Sheeesh!
Posted by: TinFoilHat | November 6, 2008, 8:05 am 8:05 am
So if there’s over 9000 votes yet to be counted, how can we call the Terry / Esch race? According to Douglas county, he’s only ahead by 2813 votes.
Posted by: TinFoilHat | November 6, 2008, 6:12 pm 6:12 pm