My predictions - terribly unscientific and relatively brief

The election is maddening, and I can't wait for it to be over. I'm going to post up my prediction that got me to 269-269... son of a bitch! And then also my Senate count.

Swing States (as stated by RCP):

• Virginia - McCain +2
• North Carolina - McCain +4
• Florida - McCain +2
• Missouri - McCain +1
• Indiana - McCain +1
• Georgia - McCain +5
• Montana - McCain +7
• Arizona - McCain +4
• Ohio - McCain +1
• Colorado - McCain +1
• Nevada - Obama +4
• Pennsylvania - Obama +5
• New Mexico - Obama +7
• South Dakota - McCain +8
• West Virginia - McCain +8
• Aransas - McCain +9

So that makes it a tie. Fucking A. Although I have PA for Obama, it might swing if Mac is having a good day - maybe my other predictions suggest it, just naturally, by demographics. But I have no idea. I think Nevada is still possible as well, but I feel the rest are definitely going blue. Here's to hoping the bankrupting coal comments by Barry mean something to Ohio, PA and others.

Senate

• AK - D Beigich over Stevens (idiots up there nominating that guy while he's facing charges - good call morons)
• GA - R Chambliss holds
• CO - D Udall
• KY - R McConnell holds
• LA - D Landrieu holds
• MN - R Coleman holds (they may be silly enough to vote for a wrestler for governor, but no way people walk into that both and pull the lever for Stuart Smiley)
• NH - D Shaheen takes out Sunnunu (sorry pal, you're not your dad. Get your shit together, come back for the next one)
• NC - R Dole holds (despite her inept, defeatist campaigning and seeming inability to function, people in NC will play it safe)
• OR - D Merkeley by a hair over Smith
• CT - Lieberman will grow a pair and caucus with the Republicans

If I missed any let me know and I will update. I have no idea what it adds up to but I think under 60 for Dems. I'm too stressed to do math (hence, I attend law school).

Overall, I would be happy with a McCain win and less than 60 in the Senate, but no matter what, the right is going to need to take control of the Republican Party again, or jump ship for another. The worst part is (and Matt Beato agrees with this, so don't let him tell you otherwise) that if McCain loses, the biggest conservative victory of the year is Nichol's ouster. I brainstormed the other day and asked around and sadly, we can't find much of anything else besides that and a handful of other campus triumphs. Clearly, that means they shoudl put me in charge of this thing.

Am I losing my mind? Only slightly more than the usual pace. With my Adult ADD in full swing today, I shoudl be back to check for more posts from Jenn - and maybe I will actually take 10 minutes and read one of them and respond (sorry!)

Polling, exit polls, turnouts etc

I think its all a bunch of bull. How can one poll give Barry 11 points and another give McCain 1? With margin of error, that could be a swing of 16-18 points. That's nonsensical.

The cynic/hater of the leftist media in me wants to say that CBS News and NY Times are so shameless that they would outright lie about their numbers in order to pump up Obama, which could mean that outlier is bull and the range of Barry +3-7 is accurate.

But once again, on the other hand, Gallup's traditional and expanded are both showing Barry +10 which makes ZERO sense. Either youth and minorities are matching up with the mainstream or none of these pollsters have a clue.

Which begs the question: Jenn-- do you think maybe you got into the wrong field?

And so it begins...

I love Bob Schieffer. There is something about Texans, seeing as how I identify as one, that I love. I subscribe to the Face the Nation podcast and still make a point to switch over to his final comments (and lately, most of his show). There's something about Texans. Just look at the dominate figures in US government in the past half-century. Rayburn, LBJ, Speaker Wright, Tom "The Hammer" DeLay, and even Rove and Dubya. Texans dominate the political processes. We are badasses.

I do hope Schieffer acts like a good Texan tonight. And by that I mean brash, blunt, and brazen. I hope he calls both candidates out for not answering questions. I hope he asks real questions and not just segues for talking points. I hope he forces the two to interact with one another and address the real issues.

I hope he makes it interesting, for lack of a better expression. I'm hoping that this Texan doesn't disappoint me and manages to bring a more intellectual dimension to this.

And so it begins now... I'm on MSNBC.