Election Time Is Here. Si Se Puede!

There's no doubt that the upcoming 2008 Presidential Election is a truly historic one- which is why R and I decided to invite our friends to celebrate by coming over and watching the returns with us!

MENU: Chicago Favorites (for good luck!!)
Chicago style pizza!Chicago hot dogs
Chili—Obama’s favorite food!!
Drinks
Desserts

SCHEDULE: The first round of polls close at 7 p.m. ET. Six states' polls close at this time, and we’ll be paying particular attention to Indiana and Virginia. If NBC News projects that Sen. Barack Obama has won Indiana and Virginia it’s going to be a good night!!! If Obama wins Virginia while losing Indiana (and later, Florida), it will suggest a pretty tough road to 270 electoral votes for Sen. John McCain. Without Virginia’s 13 electoral votes, McCain would almost certainly need all of these states to have a chance of winning 270:
• New Hampshire (four electoral votes)
• Ohio, (20)
• Iowa (seven), and
• Colorado (nine). At 7:30 p.m., North Carolina and Ohio polls close.


At the simplest level it’s hard to devise a plausible scenario in which McCain loses Ohio and still manages to win the presidency. Similarly, an Obama victory in North Carolina would seem to seal McCain’s fate.At 8 p.m. we’ll be watching Mississippi!! A big African-American turnout could be the key to Democrat Ronnie Musgrove winning. If Musgrove beats Wicker, then a 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate majority looks quite feasible for the Democrats!!!

At 8 p.m. it is also time to watch Florida! The goal for Team Obama in Florida, as in some other GOP-leaning states, it not necessarily to win, but to make the state a sinkhole for McCain in terms of money…and Pennsylvania polls will close too!!

Wisconsin closes its polls at 9 p.m. Also closing at 9 is Colorado. If the presidential race is still up in the air, the outcome could hinge on Colorado.

And then---we’ll have answers to the question: Can Coleman survive in Minnesota? 9:00PM is also time to check in on Nebraska. In Nebraska, where polls also close at 9 p.m., we’ll be watching anxiously because Nebraska and Maine are the only two states that split their electoral votes, allotting them to the winner of each congressional district!!

Tired yet? Polls close in Alaska, Colorado and Montana at 1 a.m., followed by the final state to wrap up the night, Nevada, at 2 a.m.--and we'll be watching with bated breath!