From my dad, an advertisement for Canal + Plus:

I'm in the Illinois 5th, which has had quite some turnover in the past 15 years: Rostenkowski (1994), Flanagan (1996), Blagojevich (2002), and now Emanuel. Emanuel was by far the best of the bunch, and I'll be sorry to lose him in Congress—but he's the right guy to be Obama's Chief of Staff.

In other good news, Obama officially won North Carolina, bringing his total electoral votes to 364.

The Chicago Tribune has a photo essay on what Obama's victory may mean to Chicago. Key points (to me, anyway): The unfair outflow of state resources to the Fed (we get about 70c of every Federal tax dollar we pay, compared with, say, Alaska that gets about $2 back), our Olympics prospects, and what happens when Air Force One lands at O'Hare.

Another Democratic pick-up: Oregon Senate to Merkley.

Via Talking Points Memo, Newsweek found that the $150,000 estimate of Palin's spending spree may have been, ah, conservative:

One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

The same article notes another gift Sarah "Real American" Palin's bestowed on the world:

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied. Michelle Obama was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. "Why would they try to make people hate us?" Michelle asked a top campaign aide.

Why, indeed?

We didn't hit the record for warmest November 5th today, but it did get within 1°C, to 22°C. After the euphoria (and, frankly, Champagne) of last night, I couldn't prevail against the weather, so Parker and I went to Wiggly Field with a Chuck-It:

Not all election-related (corrected):

• California Proposition 8: The Wall Street Journal reports the referendum passed, meaning more than half of Californians believe it's still 1957.
• Minnesota Senate: State law requires a recount after the offical tally shows Franken less than 600 votes (of 3 million cast) behind Coleman. Franken released a statment a few minutes ago. (I originally said Franken requested the recount; apparently Minnesota law requires one with a margin this small.)
• North Carolina President: State officials report a margin of 12,000 (in favor of Obama) out of 4.2 million votes cast, but say it will take days to count all the provisional ballots.
• Chicago weather: Truly, this is a golden age here, as we're once again flirting with record warmth and sunny skies. Yesterday we hit 22°C, just shy of the record (24°C); right now it's already 20°C, again just shy of the record (22°C).

Updated.

I cared about some other races last night. First the good news:

Illinois 5th: Rahm Emanuel got re-elected handily, but it appears he may resign today to become President-elect Obama's chief of staff. That means two major vacancies in Illinois: our junior senator (our senior one got 74% of the vote for his own re-election), and my congressman. Rumors are that Gov. Blagojevich will appoint my former congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky (Ill. 9th), or Illinois Attorney General (and Blagojevich's most dangerous foe in the 2010 Democratic Primary) Lisa Madigan, to Obama's Senate seat, and who knows to Emanuel's House seat.

I've had a lot of Champagne, more than a lot of pizza, and way too much of this election season. But we won. And even Parker knows how happy I am.

By "we" I mean every American who thinks losing 25% of his retirement savings happened because the governing party made out like bandits. By "we" I mean every American who thinks having a competent President is better than having one who doesn't waver in the face of insurmountable evidence. By "we" I mean every American who thinks.

American Airlines has a $200 fare to Dublin next weekend, which I'm sorely tempted to take, just to be in a foreign capital and exclaim loudly that we Americans aren't stupid. We Americans aren't ignorant. We Americans know, in our hearts and minds, that we're part of the world. We're connected. We're all in this together. We need each other.

And we've elected someone who demonstrates that. Who shows us clearly, unequivocably, that it's important. That the United States isn't an insular, 19th-century Empire, blundering around the world with more power than sense, with more arms than heads. That the United States can pull together, that a majority of us, a significant majority of us, can agree: we're part of the world, and it's important our President reflects this.

President Obama will make mistakes, he'll adovcate policies I oppose, he'll annoy our closest allies. I don't think that can be helped, given the reality of the world. But I can scarcely imagine a moment in the next four or eight years when I'll doubt his ability, or his competence, or his humanity. And even those allies he annoys, those policies I oppose, those mistakes that make me cringe, even then, I'll know it's a reasonable disagreement between people who think, between people who balance the interests of some against others, between different parts of the government.

Because what President Obama will bring is that: government. Bush sought to rule; Obama understands that a republic can't be ruled, only governed, and then only by the consent of the governed.

We won. You won. Everyone, even those who voted against Obama, won.

We won. We f**king won.

You know, 100 years for the Cubs vs. 232 years for America? Fair trade, I think.

My friend Gina is yelling "it's not for real yet!" Well, I'll wager money it'll be real within the hour via live feed from Phoenix. And we don't even know North Carolina and Indiana yet.

Ever notice, when the country really needs someone, they elect a President from Illinois?

Update, 10:19 CT: Not a dry eye in the house as McCain concedes. It's over.

"The Pennsylvania Polka."

MSNBC calls it. More as the situation warrants...

I'm heading up to the Rogers Park neighborhood to watch the returns come in with some friends. Rogers Park has an old-leftie vibe to it (in parts). I expect the place I'm heading, the Morse Theater, will have a friendly crowd. (I hope they have food, too, because I'll be starving.)

Polls already closed in Indiana and Kentucky; several more states hit in half an hour. I'm always excited on election day, but never quite like this.

I mentioned our weather today? Here's my polling place a little while ago:

Polls close in Indiana and Kentucky in a little more than three hours. Big news starts to come at 6pm CT with Florida, Georgia, and Virginia; and at 7pm CT with Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. I'll also be watching the Minnesota and New York results closely when they come in at 8pm CT: New York because it's kind of big (lots of blue Electoral Collegians) and Minnesota because I'm supporting Al Franken against Hofstra alumnus Norm Coleman.[1]

TPM Media has a cool interactive map showing the rest of the poll-closing times. (The Daily Parker just has that silly countdown in the upper-right corner.)

The Chicago Breaking News consortium reports that people really, really want to see the Obama rally tonight:

Twelve hours before the gates were to open, about 30 people, mostly college students, were forming a line about 8:30 a.m. on Congress Parkway for the Barack Obama Election Night rally.

chicagobreakingnews.com will have updates all day, so I don't have to.

It took me a few minutes to get through my 12-page sample ballot (Cook County has a bizarre judicial election scheme), but I've just finished voting in my sixth Presidential election. I'm 2-for-5 (or 3-for-5 depending on your interpretation of the late unpleasantness in 2000) so far; I'm thinking this will even the score.

I actually voted against two Democratic candidates, too. We have some real winners in local offices, and while they're sure to get re-elected despite my votes, perhaps a few votes against them might get them to reform.

OK, back to work. I need to get something done today before 7pm.

I should add, the weather in Chicago today couldn't be better for election day. It's 17°C and sunny; it may even hit the record (24°C) before Obama's rally tonight.