Greetings and salutations, fellow voters. If you voted today, good for you. If not … there are no words.

Regardless, today the months-long presidential election comes to a close. No longer will ads and debates flood your airwaves. No longer will you have to bite your tongue in conversation when the recent political happenings come up. May the best man or woman win.

11:05 p.m.

In Obama’s speech, it’s evident that the American people want change.

At the risk of seeming redundant by calling the 44th President a beacon for change, his speech

is strikingly similar in meaning to Senator McCain’s concession speech.

Both politicians recognized the journey that lies ahead for America in repairing itself. Both used

phrases describing the might and strength of the American public, voicing confidence that with

this election, that repairing can begin.

For those who feel the country is too partisan, a look at these two speeches might highlight

at least some similarities across the board. Like I said before, it’s not over for the Republicans;

they’re still Americans and this is still their country too.

We fight for democracy with billions of dollars abroad; we should be able to respect the ideals

on which democracy is built.

On Facebook, peoples’ status updates range from blatantly racist to simply ignorant. I wont

republish their words here.

Cut it out, guys. Just stop. It’s disgusting. Progress lies ahead, not regression. “Out of many, we

are one,” said President-elect Obama in his acceptance speech. “Yes, we can.”

On a happier note, since Obama became the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary Clinton

has exhibited unyielding support, as any member of the Democratic party should. She’s been

made fun of and heckled for being a sore loser and for seeming complacent in her comments to support Obama.

But, she did. She just released a statement with regard to Obama’s win. I wont presume to

be able to describe how she was feeling; for a transcript, head here:

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/11/04/1640333.aspx

10:44 p.m.

Well, Tina Fey’s going to have a break.

According to The Huffington Post and CNN.com, Sarah Palin will not address the GOP tonight.

She stood onstage with Senator McCain in Phoenix, but she won’t talk.

I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was just too sad.

Sorry, Governor. Keep trying for 2012.

On another note, according to MSNBC.com, the majorities of the U.S. Senate and the House of

Representatives have both gone blue. Influential senators, such as Elizabeth Dole, were ousted

tonight in favor of more liberal, progressive ideas. For the Senate, Democrats are now the majority with 56 to 40 seats, with four of 35 open seats yet undecided. For the House, the Democrats have the upper hand with 260 over 175.

Some will surely blame it on Barack Obama. The most liberal Senator undoubtedly wooed voters to the point where they want to be blue across the board. Others will say the times have changed and the American people have voted for a new direction for the country.

10:24 p.m.

The reactions outside rival the Chicago White Sox World Series win in 2005.

The booing, however, I expected. McCain supporters don’t want to accept that Obama won,

despite the fact that many things in this country clearly aren’t working. I’ve seen the speeches

McCain has made with regard to how he’s not of the Bush administration.

I still wasn’t buying it.

America has voted for change; we have collectively decided that our country must go in another

direction.

“Believe in the promise and greatness of America. … We never hide from history, we

make history,” said Senator John McCain in his concession speech.

McCain Supporters, this isn’t the end. This isn’t the end of the world. It is, however, the end of the world as you know it; things will undoubtedly change.

Even Jesse Jackson was seen crying on ABC 5 in a rally in Chicago.

History has been made, and it belongs to every American.

10:04 p.m.

And CNN has called it. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is the 44th President of the United States.

As a liberal blogger, this is the greatest moment. After months of endlessly watching debates

and speculating the results, it’s done. No more campaigning, no more polls, no more

fundraising. History has been made.

However, at this point in 2004, there was still another battle to be won, so I’m not jumping yet.

The cheering outside the newsroom, however, sounds like the crowd in an arena after a favorite

team wins a game.

It’s incredible to believe that just two years ago, it was a hot topic whether the Illinois Senator

would even run for the job.

Well, America, we’ve hired a new man for the job.

9:12 p.m.

DeKalb County votes are in: Local voters are in favor of the Obama/Biden ticket and voted no for the constitutional convention. For the U.S. Senate, voters were in favor of incumbent Dick Durbin. For the House of Representatives, 62.70 percent of DeKalbians voted for Bill Foster over Jim Oberweis, 64.48 percent in favor of Donald A. Manzullo, 55.19 percent in favor of incumbent J. Bradley Burzynski, 54.52 percent for Ronald A. Wait, and 74.84 percent for Robert W. Pritchard.

Maureen Josh was elected Circuit Clerk by 62.36 percent, and Ronald G. Matekaitis retained his spot as State’s Attorney with 61.91 percent of the vote.

For more local numbers, visit: http://dekalbcounty.org/Elections/results-1.htm#SEN

In more confusing news, I am confused. Realclearpolitics.com has claimed West Virginia for

Obama, while CNN.com has claimed the state for McCain.

Hey networks: Patience is a virtue!

It’s interesting how quick the major networks have called certain states.

Illinois, for example, was projected for Obama by most stations about 30 seconds after the polls

closed. Not that anyone in Illinois doubted Barack would get his home state, but at least give the Republicans a chance.

Or not. Yeah, that was probably a good call. I just found it funny that not even five minutes were

given to the chance our state might go red.

8:57 p.m.

By 9 p.m., most major networks will start calling the winner.

That’s my bet anyway. Barack is already up to 199 electoral votes, according to CNN.com,

with his opponent trailing with 78.

Also according to CNN, no presidential candidate has ever won the election without winning

Ohio. The coveted state has already gone to the Illinois Senator, a very positive sign for left-

leaning supporters.

8:36 p.m.

CNN and MSNBC have called Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio and New York for Barack, bring his

projected total to 194. The Democratic Senator needs 75 more electoral votes to reach the

coveted 270.

Ohio, as you surely remember, did not go to the Illinois Senator in the primaries. Not sure

whether he would succeed or flop there, it seems voters have changed their minds.

8:20

ABC and MSNBC have called Wisconsin for Obama, bringing his total presumed electoral tally

to 174.

Speaking of Wisconsin, my brother’s polling place in Middleton, Wis. was evacuated due to a

bomb threat. Apparently voters had to go to a fire station to cast their votes.

The crazies just can’t keep themselves in check. At least they got their publicity.

On another note, does anyone else find it irritating that political pundits can’t stop calling people

“folks”? Of all the campaign funds they rake up, they can’t afford a thesaurus.

7:53 p.m.

Neither CNN nor FOX have projected Pennsylvania for Obama yet.

This just goes to show that we can project as much as we want; it’s the numbers at the end of

the night that really matter.

Meh. This is still the fun part. It’s like being in the gossip mill in high school, except none of the

gossip is about you.

On the other hand, if Obama does take Pennsylvania, McCain has to take all the remaining

swing states to take the race. I don’t mean the typically Republican states; they’re fine where

they are. If Obama wins Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio or Florida, that would be huge for the Democrats. In 2004, Bush and Kerry were neck-in-neck in those five states.

I bet the Obama camp is crossing their fingers right about now.

In more certain news, NBC 5 just reported that Obama has taken Illinois, winning the state’s

21 electoral votes.

On another note, some voters are really daft.

According to msnbc.com, several locations across the country have complained of election

pranks. For example, in Fairfax, Va. at George Mason University, students reportedly received

a campus-wide email claiming Democrats were supposed to vote on Wednesday.

It’s not the prank itself that was funny; it’s the fact that some people believe the election date

hasn’t been sufficiently hammered into our brains.

Similar incidents occured in Idaho and Missouri.

Hah! At least there were some good laughs this Election Day.

7:20 p.m.

According to cbs.com, Obama was showing positively among women in Indiana and Virginia exit polls.

While some NIU students call the state home, others tend to clump it in with “the rest of those

Midwestern states.”

This, actually, is pretty neat however. According to msnbc.com, the last time a Democrat took

Indiana and Virginia in a presidential race was in 1964.

That’s, like, a long time ago.

Like the rest of this race, history is in the making.

7:05 p.m.

Just a few minutes ago, Senator Barack Obama is projected to claim Pennsylvania as one of his first election night wins, according to msnbc.com.

After Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia — all the other projected wins for the Illinois senator, the polls are slowly revealing the voters’ verdict.

It’s about time. After months of people speculating who will and wont win, I’m personally relieved that the curtains will soon draw to a close on this election. If the average American isn’t tired of political coverage, I give them the utmost props for enduring this long this intense of coverage.