Yes, apparently we can!

Well, look at what we just did!

I was really too engrossed in the news to liveblog last night, but here's about how my thoughts went:

It did not look particularly good for Obama at first. No one had any illusions about Kentucky, but the speed at which they called it for McCain (along with Vermont, no surprise) was a little unsettling to me.

Then it became abundantly clear that McCain would carry Georgia. The first of the states Obama had outside hopes for, and where stories of massive turnout and African-American enthusiasm were abounding, to be called for McCain (well it is not officially called even now because of masses of absentee and early vote ballots....but it pretty well stated that McCain would take it by a decent margin, though that margin has narrowed a bit since).

The most worrying sign was that for the first couple of hours McCain was leading the count by a wide margin in Virginia. Yes...it's because NoVa and the Tidewater came in last...but it was still worrying to see McCain up 10% in the Old Dominion for the first hour or more. Even Olbermann started commenting on how the expansion of the map Obama had promised was not materializing. Pundits on CNN and Fox were similarly skeptical.

For the next hour there were no surprises....Massachusetts, Connecticut, South Carolina.

But it was immediately apparent this was a different sort of year, as no one was calling Indiana, or North Carolina, or New Hampshire.

Then the nets called Pennsylvania. McCain has practically lived in Pennsylvania for the last three months. The speed at which it was called was as striking as Kentucky had been.

I watched the returns with my father, who was unnecessarily confident at this point. I remained a study in caution...carefully eyeing the numbers in still unfavorable Virginia. Several pundits and pollsters had suggested Virginia (or Indiana) would be the state that would let us all know how this was going to shape up. After all, Obama was supposed to be up 10% there, it should be easy.

Instead.....

The moment the networks called Ohio, I knew it was over. I was so startled by the call, I actually shut the TV off for a second to collect myself. I fully expected it to be close like in 2004, and not be called for some time (it was the next day last time). I had to check Fox just to make sure. But there it was. We now reversed positions as my confidence surged past my father's. I had to walk him through the numbers, to demonstrate that nothing short of McCain taking California would save him.

The rest was icing on the cake. And some icing it was...

By the end of the night the symbolic victories I wanted most had occurred. Indiana rejoined the Union (they've voted with the South long enough). And then my dear Nevada. And finally the old capital of the Confederacy itself, Virginia.

Of all the things I hoped for, the biggest would be that Obama would carry one or more of the infamous 1964 states, the dozen or more states that haven't voted Democratic since LBJ (other than Minnesota and DC, the Democrats have never been able to inspire such loyalty...even Massachusetts went for Reagan). By George, he got two of them. All night I was calling out to the TV, "Flip Indiana....flip! Restore the Union!" and "Come on Virginia! You can do it". No wonder they call campaigns a horse race. Gradually Obama's deficit in Virginia vanished, with Fairfax County and Newport News putting him well over the top. Just before I went to bed, the Hoosiers followed suit.

And in the end, they didn't call it until the West Coast had closed, until our Pacific states had made it official. Florida, once the keystone, was now almost an afterthought. As were hard fought Colorado and New Mexico.

There were minor disappointments. As someone who loves the Great Plains, I had thought North Dakota would be incredibly symbolic (another 1964 holdout). I also had high hopes for Montana. I respect McCain too much to want to see him humiliated, so I was actually pleased that Arizona remained loyal.

Other interesting things:

- California has gotten irritatingly used to being written off. In several of the past elections the thing was called before our polls were even closed. For all of our might as the largest state with the most votes, we are pretty soundly ignored most of the time (Yes I know...it's because we're solid Democratic, so count your blessings). This time, with 2000 in mind, the networks waited until the Pacific closed to announce. CNN was particularly cautious, not calling states for up to half an hour after Fox and MSNBC. I actually think that was good of them. Makes us feel like our votes count.

- Looks like Missouri is going to break its streak. Except for 1956 (when they went for Adlai), Missouri has voted with the winner in every election in since 1908. 100 years. 1908 and 2008, I suppose, are good bookends, with 1956 almost half-way.

- Ohio didn't break its. It remains that a Republican cannot seem to win without it (though they can lose with it).

- Some margins were larger than I expected: Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Dakota. Some were closer: Virginia was closer than the polls predicted, though I thought it would be close. Some were razor close: Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina.

- McCain campaign bluster about Iowa and Pennsylvania proved to be as bogus as most people thought.

- Congress was a different story. The predicted Democratic wave never really materialized, as evidenced by Ms. Bachmann, the Diaz-Balart brothers, Mr. Souder, as well as Senators McConnell, Chambliss, Coleman, and Stevens. Coleman does face a recount. Chambliss faces a runoff he should easily win. And Stevens may yet end up in jail. But it was nowhere near the filibuster ending sweep that many predicted. Personally I think that may end up being good. There is less chance for excess, more need for bipartisanship, and slightly less opportunity for the Republicans to blame everything in the next two years on a runaway Dem Senate. Besides, with the aid of moderates like Lugar, the ladies from Maine, and, dare I say, McCain, the Democrats are going to be able to get a lot done. The wild card is Leiberman. Reid is still going to want his vote in the caucus, and the Republicans are going to woo him like nothin' doin', but no one likes a Benedict Arnold. He may have acted quite bravely, but I suspect he will still end up persona non grata in the Democratic Party. And I suspect he'll need to make some retirement plans in four years.

I have other thoughts as well, but I'll close with this. The Conventional Wisdom has been wrong about everything this election with one massive exception. About the primaries, who was "inevitable", how the conventions were run, and the debates, the ways the electorate would split, and what states would be safe or in play....the CW was wrong on it all. But there has been one overarching assumption that served as a backdrop for all....that this was bound to be a Democratic year.

Still when one thinks about it, its really quite incredible.

President Barack Obama....good heavens what a sound. Who would ever have thought it.

A historic day.