At 4:35 am ET, it looks like a Republican sweep of the Presidency, the House and the Senate.
The much-vaunted 18-29 vote turned out to be a dud for the Dems. Virtually all of the so-called “moral” propositions – from legalizing medical marijuana to prohibiting gay marriage – passed in favor of traditionalists.
Nader was irrelevant in all but one state, New Mexico, with 5 electoral votes. If NM goes for Bush, assuming he won Ohio, that would, at this hour, put him over the 270: a largely symbolic possibility, given the way the vote is looking in Nevada, which also has 5.
As of 3 AM, projected electoral votes for Bush ranged from 249-269; for Kerry, 211-242. These projections were from ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, NBC and the New York Times.
Other big news: triumph for centrist Republicans and the biotech industry in California, with the voters agreeing with the Governator and approving a $3 billion bond issue for stem cell research. And Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota loses to Republican John Thune.
I’ve heard no accusations from the Dems of voter harassment or nullification, at least not so far. On the other hand, FOX reported belligerant, obnoxious behavior directed against Republican voters by some MoveOn members.
Sadly, in Massachusetts, the Libertarian party is no longer an official political party, with a scant 1% of votes being cast for Michael Badnarik.
Cape races went pretty much as expected, the good news for Mashpee being that the Prop 2 1/2 override to construct a new library was approved. My state rep, Jeff Perry, skunked his opponent by a margin of 2:1, no suprise; all in all, our State House delegation remains pretty much the same.
The good news about a Kerry defeat is that the voters of Massachusetts will not be subject to the awful spectacle of Stephen Lynch, Ir’nworker, running for Senate.
FOX just announced that overseas market futures are up, with the possibility of TRIPLE-digit gains in the Dow later today.
Some mysteries to be unraveled:
– Why did Edwards, and not Kerry, make that brief 2 AM speech about not conceding?
– What would have happened if the Dems had nominated Gephardt?
– Will the Dems finally learn their lesson and become a more centrist party?
– Is Osama bin Laden rejoicing in his cave at the apparent Bush victory?