Mourdock going down brings to four the number of Senate seats the Republicans have lost in the last two cycles because of fringe candidates.
CNN's John King says that history favors president in terms of areas of Florida where returns are still out.
It's cool to see cameras focused on Faneuil Hall in Boston on election night, but it kills me that it's for the GOP. Too many Kennedy memories, I guess.
It's an overused joke on the Web right now but still a good one: Mourdock's going down was obviously God's will.
Polls closing at 10: Iowa, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana. CNN is reporting that turnout is so high in Iowa that they've run out of ballots, and are photocopying ballots, which will have to be reviewed by hand.
NBC calls New Hampshire for Obama, making Romney's path narrower and narrower.
Mitt Romney carries Utah. It's pretty encouraging that we had the first major Mormon candidate in 2012, and it didn't become an issue in the election. It makes me wonder if the same would have been true if the Democrat had been Mormon and the heavily Christian / Evangelical GOP had been in opposition.
Only 54 percent of vote in for heavily Democratic Miami-Dade County in Florida and only 84 percent in for heavily Democratic Broward County, at a time when Obama leads by a point in Florida with 85 percent in overall. The roadmap to a Romney win in Florida is shrinking.
CNN calls New Hampshire for Obama now too. That is, I think, the second genuine swing state to go off the board tonight, along with Wisconsin. (I don't count Pennsylvania or Michigan as having been realistically in play.)
And, Paul, without Florida Romney's only road to the White House is by invitation from the Obamas.
NBC projects McCaskill beats Todd Akin. That's a legitimate-ly satisfying win.
Akin's loss brings to five the number of Senate seats the fringe right has cost the GOP in the last two cycles. That's the majority margin.
Oooh Palin's on Fox News. "I'm disappointed" in some of the results of course. Still waiting on Ohio. "The realization at this point is that those Bain Capital ads .. I think really hurt Romney." She's mastered the art of stating the obvious semi-coherently.
Palin on Obama getting re-elected: "This really is a catastrophic setback to our economy." If this is catastrophic how would she describe the Bush years?
Does the Tea Party count tonight as a mixed result? Huge loses in the Senate, but pickups in the House. Does this mean the House will be even less likely to compromise in the next two years?
CNN says it's now mathematically impossible for Republicans to retake the Senate even if Romney wins the White House (making Paul Ryan the tie-breaking vote).
Of course there's a difference these days between having the majority in the Senate and having control of the Senate.
Memo to GOP: Stop talking about rape.
CNN's Carville says Obama likely to carry Florida. GOP operative Castellanos says, "Boy I hate it when he's right."
Alex Castellanos: It's looking really tough right now for Mitt Romney. The silent majority that I hoped would be there isn't just silent, it's non-existant. Romney is just hanging on.
Alex C: This will be a repudiation of the Republican Party, not just Romney. We've got to go back to the drawing board.
Van Jones: This is not just about Republican failure, it's about a new coalition that wants to govern. NAACP President Ben Jealous is a hero tonight: he added a million new African American voters the past four years, and it shows tonight.
CBS calls Virginia Senate race for Tom Kaine. This night just gets worse and worse for them. Buh-bye, Macaca.
OK Paul I hate to break it to you but Obama has not yet won Florida, Virginia, or Ohio, despite what Alex Castellanos is saying.
Paul: What do you make of it that Romney still is 1 million votes ahead in the popular vote, 51-48? I think that makes it difficult for Obama mandate-wise ...
MK: Dems always trail in the popular vote at this point. California hasn't weighed in yet. As soon as it does, those numbers will shift.
MKC: Mandates are no longer operative anyway. He won 53 percent and 300+ EVs four years ago and got zero cooperation or acknowledgement of mandate or legitimacy.
MSNBC calls Minnesota for Obama--another one of the head-fake swing states.
CNN reporting from Boston that the mood in the Romney war room is "very tense," as they watch states they thought they'd carry falling into the Obama column.
In Florida, with 84 percent in, Obama is up by 14,000 votes -- but 100 percent of the vote has already been counted in Republican counties. As CNN just showed, the heaviest Democratic counties -- which are going heavier for Obama this year than they did in 2008 -- are at just 70 percent and 84 percent reporting.
Fox News's Chris Wallace says top Romney aide acknowledging their path to 270 is "tight."
In 2008, Obama's vote popular vote winning margin in California was more than 3,250,000 votes. If that happens tonight -- or anything even close to that tonight happens -- Obama will handily win the popular vote as well.
Team Mitt gets a spot of good news--AP calls North Carolina for him.
With California, Hawaii, and Washington closing and declared for the president, Obama now stands at 228 electoral votes.
CNN gives Wisconsin to Obama and North Carolina to Romney. So, we are where we began: Unless Romney wins Virginia, Ohio and Florida, he's done.
Fox News has Obama at 244 EVs with California having come in. Assuming he holds Oregon's seven EVs, Florida would put him over the top, or Ohio and one other from Colorado, Iowa, Virginia.
CNN projects that Senate will stay Democratic. Huge win, considering that just a month ago, they were projecting the opposite. They also projected Tim Kaine winning in Virginia.
Dems were defending 23 out of 33 seats this year in the Senate. How on earth did the Dems not only hold the Senate, but gain seats? Again: Thanks, Tea Party.
CNN projects Iowa for Obama.
CNN's Castellanos: "I'm going for the hemlock." I feel for the guy. If I had to be on television when my side was having this night I'd want poison too
CNN calls Iowa and New Mexico for Obama. If the president continues to pick up every other swing state, he can win re-election without Virginia, Ohio and Florida -- even though he's ahead in Ohio and Florida, and rapidly gaining ground in Virginia.
CNN now has Obama up at 249 EVs--21 votes away. That's, again, Florida or Ohio and one other.
Iowa goes Obama----the fat lady is about to sing! Not that late a night, not a recount, not a month long game of lawyers' antics. Thank you Lord!
