Thus spake John Edwards, not one minute ago.
Jesus… It hangs in the balance… Not a nice way to wake up of a morning.
At the time of writing, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico and New Hampshire are still to be called – 78 electoral college votes between them (assuming my maths is right at this God-forsaken hour), and Bush is currently ahead by just 38.
Bush is on 249
Kerry is on 211
Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota and New Hampshire should break for Kerry. This would leave him with 249 electoral college votes.
Nevada will go to Bush, leaving him with 254.
Wisconsin (10 votes), Ohio (20 votes) and New Mexico (5 votes) I haven’t got a clue about.
Either way, it seems that Bush may well have won the popular vote this time around. Even if Kerry does hang on – as he should – hoping these final states all swing his way, he could face the same accusations of not being duly elected as Bush has for the last four years. A certain divine justice, perhaps, but why couldn’t Florida have gone Kerry’s way?
In other news, the Republicans look to be gaining control of both the House and the Senate – if Kerry gets it, he’ll not be able to pass any legislation; if Bush holds on to his lead, look out for “The Patriot Act II: This Time We Get Nasty On Yo’ Ass”… Not to mention a conservative Supreme Court.
Any rays of hope?
Well, the future first black President – Barak Obama – has been elected to the Senate in Ilinois.
Edit: Who am I kidding? Bush is ahead in Ohio. He’ll get it. The final tally will be something like Bush 274-289, Kerry 249-264.
Update: For those wondering why Steve’s post (below this) and mine have different tallies, he’s been going with The New York Times, I’ve been going with CNN.