CNN has an interesting post-election interview with Colin Powell, whose endorsement of Obama grabbed headlines a few weeks ago. Keep in mind that this is a man who has been to war, who broke barriers of his own as a general, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Secretary of State. His public persona, even in politics, has been that of a stoic warrior. But upon hearing that Obama was the president-elect of the United States, he reacted the way many Americans reacted last night: He wept. Video...

With Obama having an incredibly strong polling day and FiveThirtyEight now projecting his win percentage at 98.1% today, perhaps we shouldn’t be asking if Obama will win tomorrow, but when. Nate Silver, Doug Mataconis at Donklephant, and the Swing State Project have all provided useful guides for hour-by-hour poll closings. Here’s what you should watch for (all times Eastern, and although there are some very interesting Senate races, I only focused on the McCain-Obama match up): 6:00...

Here’s Palin defending her attacks on Obama’s associations with Ayers, Wright, etc., and blaming the media for portraying comments like “he pals around with terrorists” as negative: “If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations, then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the...

When Obama hit his peak numbers a week or two ago, conventional wisdom said the race would tighten somewhat as we got closer to the election. But as has happened so many times this year, conventional wisdom has turned out wrong, so far. Above is an aggregate of all national polls taken this year. While McCain seems to be improving from his nadir of two weeks ago, we haven’t seen a corresponding drop in Obama’s numbers. They remain steady above 50%, and if anything continue to improve....

John McCain is apparently set on continuing his current socialism-themed attack on Obama based on “newly-discovered” comments Obama made in 2001 while discussing the civil rights movement on NPR. The line of attack can basically be summed up with the headline Drudge is running right now: “2001 Obama: Tragedy That ‘Redistribution of Wealth’ Not Pursued By Supreme Court.” Now, there’s taking quotes out of context, and there’s just making stuff up, and...

Whether you’re voting for McCain or Obama, stories like this have got to make you proud of what this election represents for those Americans who fought and died for civil rights not that long ago. A story from an African-American early voter: For me the most moving moment came when the family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old...

Sarah Palin and John McCain elaborated on their definition of “elitist” in an interview last night with Brian Williams: WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite? PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they’re better than anyone else. And– John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America’s starting to reach...

Sarah Palin doesn’t seem to be coping very well with the idea that people in some parts of the country don’t think she’s qualified to be VP and, quite frankly, don’t like her very much: “We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe” — here the audience interrupted Palin with applause and cheers — “We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets...

Pretty good performances by both, and it’s refreshing to see them roast each other lightheartedly the day after a heated debate. My favorite line was from Obama: “Most people don’t know this, but Barack is Swahili for ‘that one.’” Watch them both if you have a few minutes. Obama: McCain:

Which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives? Who is the current Secretary of State? Who is Great Britain’s prime minister? Only 18% of people answered all three of those questions correctly when they were posed in a survey by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. That so few people would get answer all three correctly sadly isn’t that surprising. We’ve seen surveys before suggesting most Americans can name more American Idol judges than rights guaranteed...

If this debate proved anything, it’s that most political pundits don’t have the foggiest idea what they’re talking about. I popped over to Politico’s roundup of reactions, and the consensus is that McCain did great, even if it wasn’t a game changer. But look at the post-debate snap polls: Mediacurves: 60% of Independents say Obama won; 30% say McCain; 10% called it a tie CBS: 53% of voters say Obama won, 22% say McCain CNN: 58% of voters say Obama won, 31% say McCain We’ve...

Observers who claim Obama’s success is only because of luck and a bad economy are seriously underestimating his skills as a politician. What Democrat, other than Obama, could have turned one of the most successful Republican talking points of the last 30 years completely on its head. Take a look at this nugget from the latest CBS poll showing Obama with a 14-point lead: Which candidate will raise your taxes? Respondents, by 51% to 46%, say it’s McCain. Now compare that with a Gallup poll...

Nate Silver points to a recent survey suggesting Obama is well ahead in the early and absentee votes cast so far in five states polled: New Mexico (+23%), Ohio (+18%), Georgia (+6%), Iowa (+34%), and North Carolina (+34%). For a little historical perspective: “Early voters leaned Republican in both 2000 and 2004; with Bush earning 62.2 percent of their votes against Al Gore, and 60.4 percent against John Kerry.” There’s obviously a large enthusiasm gap between the two parties, and...

I’ve got to say, Campbell Brown has impressed me with her willingness to say what other journalists have only been thinking this election season. First, she called out the McCain campaign for shielding Palin from the press “like a delicate flower who will wilt at any moment.” And her latest commentary addresses the bigotry against Arabs and Muslims popping up at McCain rallies. Last week a supporter told McCain she didn’t trust Obama because he was an Arab, to which McCain...

Remember earlier in the year when Obama was accused of playing the race card for predicting Republicans would try to scare voters into thinking “he’s not like us.” A lot of people are now giving him credit for his prescience, but honestly how hard is it to predict McCain’s game plan when he’s relying on the same playbook that Republicans have used the last two elections? McCain has one last Hail Mary option that might work. He can fire Steve Schmidt and all other reminiscences...

Absentee ballots mailed out this weekk in Rensselaer County, New York gave voters the option of voting for “Barack Osama.” Both Democratic and Republican election officials insist that it was simply a typo.

The latest McCain ad ignores Wright, Rezko, and Ayers and instead accuses Obama of a single, supposedly disqualifying, grievance: Being liberal. But I argue over at Ablogistan that this assumes too much and, after this election (assuming Obama holds onto his lead and wins), Republicans are going to finally come to the realization that “liberal” isn’t the dirty word it once was. It may just be a generational thing. Being liberal picked up a very negative connotation from “culture...

We seem to be seeing the same trend as after the first presidential debate and the VP debate: Pundits and political junkies saw it as a tie, but voters in snap polls give the edge to the Democratic candidate. The results from about 500 uncommitted voters surveyed by CBS: Who won the debate? 39% say Obama, 27% McCain, 35% rate it a tie. How did the debate impact vote preferences? 15% say they are now committed to Obama, 14% to McCain and 70% are still uncommitted. Candidates rated – would...

This is the only town-hall style debate where audience members are allowed to ask questions, so some are wondering how the audience members were selected. Mark Blumenthal has the answer. Participants were selected with the help of Gallup based on the pollster’s criteria for “likely voters” and with the intent of finding people who mirrored Nashville’s undecided voter population. Gallup’s Frank Newport explains what that means for the final result: This is a population...

The conservative blogosphere gave us a preview today of what tomorrow’s post-debate talking points and spin will sound like. The short version: It’s Gwen Ifill’s fault. The problem, apparently, is a “pro-Obama” book she plans on releasing on Inauguration Day that led Matt Drudge and other bloggers to question her objectivity as the moderator of tomorrow’s VP debate. I skeptically use quotations because the book is about how the black political structure of the...