Final US election results
The final electoral college counts looks to be 364 for Obama and 174 for McCain. North Carolina and Missouri are not final but look to go to Obama and McCain respectively. That is around the scale of Clinton in 1996 who won by 379 to 159.
On the popular vote Obama has 63,687,862 to 56,283,891 for McCain – 53% to 46%. Obama got around 1,600,000 more votes that Bush did in 2004.
The states Obama picked up from Bush are Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.
In the Senate the Democrats did quite well but well back on their target of. They started with 51 seats (including two Independents) and now have 56 – picking up North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Colorado. Sadly they did not defeat Ted Stevens in Alaska.
In the House they picked up 19 seats and the balance is now 254 to 174 with 7 undecided.
The exit poll results are quite interesting also:
- Obama vs McCain was 49% to 48% amongst men and 56% to 43% amongst women
- White men went McCain 57% to 41% and white women 53% to 46%
- Blacks went 95% for Obama
- Latinos around 67% for Obama
- McCain won over 65s 53% to 45% while Obama won under 30s by 66% to 32%
- Obama won amongst the 6% earning over $200K by 52% to 46%
- 14% of white Democrats voted for McCain while 8% of white Republicans voted for Obama
- 20% of Conservatives voted Obama
- 11% were first time voters and they went Obama 69% to 30%
And then there were state ballots:
- Arizona voted to bay gay marriage and hiring illegal immigrants
- Arkansas banned gay couples adopting children
- California also voted to ban gay marriage but against for parental notification of teenage abortions
- Colorado voted to end against ending affirmative action and not to ban abortion by defining human life as beginning at conception
- Florida voted to ban gay marriage
- Maryland voted to allow a video lottery
- Massachusetts voted not to repeal state income tax
- Michigan voted to allow medical marijuana and stem cell research
- Nebraska voted to end affirmative action
- South Dakota voted not to ban abortion except for mother’s health, incest or rape
- Washington voted to allow doctor-assisted suicide
Many of the state polls will be found to be unconstitutional and never put into effect incidentally.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Looks like a swing to the right at state level and swing to the left at federal level.
November 6th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Yeh Colardo!
Go South Dakota!
If Helen gets her evil paws back on power we’re off!
November 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
The State ballots are fascinating. Appropriate that Nebraska voted to end affirmative action… surely it must now be abolished across the States. After all, with an African American President, the claim that race is a barrier and non-white applicants need preferential consideration must now be acknowledged as anachronistic in this day and age. Though anti-discrimination laws, to deal with situations where the pendulum swings the other way, are still, sadly, necessary.
Now we’ve got that out of the way – what the hell is a video lottery? Do we take bets on the next waning “celebrity” with no morals to “accidentally leak” their sex tape?
November 6th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
“Many of the state polls will be found to be unconstitutional and never put into effect incidentally.”
What do you base that on?
November 6th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Umm, i think you have it wrong on some of them.
Arizona voted against the ban on hiring illegal immigrants
California voted against abortion limits and parental informing
Colorado is still deadlocked on the affirmative action one and voted against life beginning at conception
Massachusetts failed to vote out the state income tax
South Dakota voted against banning abortion except for mother’s health, incest or rape
Oh and Sherrif Arpaio, got voted back in, wonder how many people on remand before trial he will kill this term.
its odd that a bunch of america is crying out that they now have change and its goingto be better and more inclusive and people will be nicer to each other, and then they go and vote to remove rights from fellow citizens.
nothings changed, they have just replaced the good ol boy figurehead with the vaccuous deamagogue.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
DPF South Dakota voted against the ban on abortion as did Colorado voters on fetus being a full human with rights and the Parental notificational laws were struck out by Californians.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Well done Colorado.
Barack Obama is not pro-choice, he is pro-abortion. There is a difference. I suggest you read an opinion from one of those great bastions of post-modern liberalism – a Professor from Princeton rather than me.
Turning off comments is an attempt to censor and shut down debate, and not something that is even a personality issue. Abortion is an issue that the Western Civilisation is using to ensure that it is killing itself off. I didn’t see the Muslim world participating in such an act of suicide.
This is why I am not voting for National. On the debate last night there was no change in the stance that that this is a law that needs to change. That is what worries me about National so much – I think they are scared to actually say what they really think.
It is more important to have a next generation than to have womens choice because of a perceived inconvenience. Existence for choice, or choice for no existence?
November 6th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Mathew,
Actually Colorado voted against defining a fetus as person by a 3 to 1 margin.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Hi ex-expat.
Then I am wrong and I’ll rescind my “well done”.
The West continues its slide to oblivion.
November 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Ted Stevens’ win may prove fortuitous. It is very likely he will be impeached despite his victory. Prime candidate to replace him? One Sarah Palin of Wasilla, Alaska.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
It’s pretty worrying that when Armageddon comes the Muslims may well outnumber the Christians
November 6th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Another very revealing stat – the GOP stay at home factor was estimated at 1 in 5 of those who voted for Bush in 04. That would cover the lions share of the 7 million drop in the GOP vote.
Until the market meltdown, these were McCain’s Rasmussen poll results (they ended up being the closest this time around – they had the smallest generic Dem vs GOP party indentification margin):
Florida: +8
North Carolina: + 18
New Jersey: – 3
New York: – 6
Michigan – dead heat
Wisc —dead heat
Minnesota — tied.
The market meltdown blew the GOP out of the water. For McCain to claw back to within 6% with a gale force headwind like that was a good effort (and coping with Obama’s stiff tail wind assist from a media that afforded him little effective scrutiny).
Grendel
The AZ ballot initiative you are referring to is Prop 202 and it was an attempt to water down the employer sanctions law that passed a year ago and has reduced the illegal population in the state by 30%. It was voted down which meant the existing law remains intact.
David
There is a difference between ballot initiatives that merely attempt to put the people’s will into law and those that amend a State Constitution. You comments about some being thrown out by the courts apply to the former group – the latter group by their very nature cannot be thrown out by any State Court and are rarely struck down by Federal Courts. The three gay marriage propositions in CA, AZ and FL were all Constitutional amendments. In the case of CA, Prop 8 was put on the ballot because Prop 6 in 2002 (which passed 60/40 which outlawed gay marriage) was struck down by the CA Supreme Court earlier this year thus leading to Prop 8 being on the ballot.
November 6th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
More good news! The Oregon senate seat has been called for Merkel (the Dem): http://www.oregonlive.com/special/index.ssf/2008/11/senate.html True, only 84% of votes counted, but the remaining ones are in deep blue (Dem) territory.
And don’t count on winning the Georgia senate seat in a run-off. Ground organisation and money for ads will be even more important in a run-off election, and we know who has those.
For those of you thinking of moving to Colorado, remember that this state, heavily Republican just 5 years ago, now has a Dem Governor, two Dem senators, and 5 out of 7 Dem congresspeople. The awful Marilyn Musgrave, a living symbol of the Era of Rove”, is gone. Oh, and the Dems control of both chambers of the General Assembly. Enjoy the fresh air and the Democratic ascendancy. The way the demographics are going, it’s going to last some time.
November 6th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Mmmmmmm – gotta say I’m loving day one of the post-Bush, post-the-Palin-menace world so far!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:22 am
“It is more important to have a next generation than to have womens choice because of a perceived inconvenience. Existence for choice, or choice for no existence?”
Perceived?
It IS an inconvenience, lets get that straight.
Secondly, there is always going to be a next generation. Most people have children because they want them in some way. And as long as most people do there isn’t a problem. Even if our population were to shrink over time, as long as it doesn’t happen rapidly, our infrastructure will cope.
Lets get another fact straight, having a larger population doesn’t mean having a better country.
If you think that’s the case, then you should move to India, or at the very least, the largest city you can find and live in a apartment.
Finally the last fact, if you want to compare us to Muslim nations and suggest their superior to us, I’ll really have to laugh. I’ll continue happily living in my 1st world nation… unless the Greens or Maori get in (then over time I won’t be happy or in a 1st world nation).