By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian
With the deadline to vote in Oregon just a few hours away, activity at the Obama campaign office at Northeast Killingsworth Street and 15th Avenue is feverish. They’re acting like they’re fighting for a battleground state.
About 15 volunteers are on land lines and cell phones, calling names still unchecked on a voters list. “We can come by and pick it up for it you at your house,” a woman working the phone bank says into her handset. “Yes, we’ll give you a receipt for it. It’s safe. We’ll make sure it gets where it needs to be.”
Meanwhile, some 25 volunteers are still out, knocking on doors, urging holdouts to vote, said volunteer Lulit Mesfin. “They’ll be out until 7,” Mesfin says.
About 200 people shuffle around the tiny building. The place erupts in applause as another voters drops his ballot into the slot atop a wood box reading, “VOTE.”
Outside, Gary Clay Sr. of St. John’s shouts through a bullhorn at passing cars. “Obama!” “Obama!” “Tell a friend! Telle them to get their ballot in!”
Asked how long he has been calling out from his chair on the sidewalk. “A few days,” he says with a smile and horse voice.
“I’ve been in and out of the hospital with a heart condition,” Clay says. “Whenever I got out, this is where I’d come. It’s good for my heart, doing this”
He shouts into the megaphone again: “Change is a-comin'” Garbage men hanging from a passing big rig shout and honk.
(Joseph Rose; [email protected])
Associated Press
7:08 PM WASHINGTON DC – The first results from the election are in: John McCain is the winner in Kentucky, while Barack Obama has captured Vermont.
Obama and McCain split the first two states in which the outcome is known — McCain taking the eight electoral votes at stake in Kentucky, while Obama gets Vermont’s three electoral votes.
Democrats, meanwhile, have taken one Senate seat away from the Republicans, with Mark Warner defeating Jim Gilmore in Virginia to capture the seat that was held by the retiring Republican John Warner. In South Carolina, meanwhile, Republican Lindsey Graham — a leading McCain ally and adviser — was re-elected to his Senate seat.
In Indiana, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has been re-elected.
7:00 PM
The first polls have closed in parts of Indiana and Kentucky, and early indications show Barack Obama leading John McCain in some of the key battleground states.
Exit polls have Obama holding a significant advantage over McCain with new voters in Ohio, Indiana and Virginia and with late deciders in Indiana and Ohio.
Earlier in the day, Obama and McCain joined voters in Illinois and Arizona casting their ballots for president before make one last pitch to supporters in their historic race for the White House.
There were early reports of problems at some of the polling places around the country, including in the battleground states of Missouri and Florida.
– MyFox
6:56 PM
Early results from the polls that have already closed in Indiana show Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 50 percent to 49 percent, at 6:45 p.m. Eastern. This result, which represents only two percent of the state total, comes from rural areas in which the GOP outnumber Democrats by 3 to 1.
If these trends were to continue for the rest of the night, it’s going to be a short evening.
Obama was expected to trail early in Indiana and catch up when polls close in the western portion of the state at 7 p.m. Eastern. McCain was supposed to be strong in the rural areas while Obama was to fare well in Gary.
Los Angeles: Barack Obama has promised to increase taxes if he becomes president of the United States. But the really rich want change and many of them have said they are voting for the senator from Illinois.
Despite the tradition that says the country’s wealthy tend to favour the Republican Party, there has been an unexpected swing ahead of Tuesday’s election that favours the black Democratic candidate.
For starters, the country’s two richest men, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, have already said they will vote for Obama. According to Forbes magazine, Gates – worth an estimated $55.5 billion – contributed $2,300 to the Democrat’s campaign in the primaries.
Like the founder of software giant Microsoft, Buffett – the richest man in the world, worth some $58 billion and who is also an advisor to the Democratic candidate – donated $4,600 to Obama’s campaign, the maximum amount allowed by law.
In an interview with financial news channel CNBC, the investor and CEO of the holding Berkshire Hathaway, confirmed he prefers Obama to McCain because he can identify himself better with the Democrat’s proposed economic policies.
“(McCain) has too many ideas that are different than I do, particular in terms of what I would call social justice,” Buffett noted.
He supports Obama despite the Democrat’s intention, should he become president, to increase taxes on five percent of the richest US citizens. Obama has jokingly referred to his “friend Warren” as someone who can pay a little more tax without it changing his life.
However, the wealthy are not unanimous in their support for Obama.
Forbes list begs to differ
Almost half of those who appear on Forbes’ list – among the 10 richest people in the US – are supporting his Republican rival.
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, three members of the Walton family who own Wal-Mart, and the Koch brothers who are manufacturing and energy tycoons have made donations to McCain.
There are also special cases such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who gave money to Republican Rudolf Giuliani – his predecessor as mayor – in the primaries, but has later shown support for both candidates finally running for the White House.
This independent politician, who has favoured both the Democratic and the Republican parties at various times in the past, seems to prefer Obama’s economic plan to McCain’s.
Bloomberg has said he is looking for someone who is beyond party lines, who can solve complex matters and has thought ahead to the legislative process and how to finance specific programmes. However, he gave no names.
Like Bloomberg, many multi-millionaires prefer to keep their political preferences to themselves.
According to the Huffington Post, only three other people in the list of the 50 wealthiest US citizens have openly revealed their political choice.
Two of them were Republicans and one was a Democrat.
Other sources, however, indicate that wealthy neighbourhoods show a preference for Obama.
According to campaign finance details, it was Obama who raised the most funds on Wall Street.
Before the current financial crisis broke out, investment bankers had already made their contributions to the senator from Illinois, who beat both Hillary Clinton and Giuliani in this fundraising effort.
In Silicon Valley there is a similar dynamic: Big players support Obama. Apple and Google want to see him as president. Apple founder Steve Jobs appears to be honouring a political tradition, while Google CEO Eric Schmidt announced his support for the Democrat just recently, and even planned to go on the campaign trail for him.
In the San Francisco Bay area, Obama visited the mansions of several multi-millionaires – Sara and Sohaib Abbasi, Nancy and Bob Farese, and Ann and Gordon Getty – in April. The wealthy organized fundraisers for $2,300 per person.
Source: Indo-Asian News Service
BY JULIE HINDS | FREE PRESS
Now that it’s after 5 p.m., here comes the trickle of exit poll information on the cable news networks and politically themed Web sites.
Over at CNN, Bill Schneider said the exit polls indicate the economy was the top issue for 62 percent of voters, with Iraq coming in at 10 percent and terrorism and health care tied at nine percent.
Looking at battleground states, Fox News reported that 73 percent of new voters in Indiana chose Obama, while 27 percent chose McCain, according to the exit poll data. In Ohio, the new voter numbers were 69 percent Obama and 31 percent McCain.
And the Drudge Report Web site claimed in headline-only fashion: “Senate: Dems See 58 Seats; Exit Polls Show Obama Big.”
On the Huffington Post, a report said that “more voters were scared of a potential McCain presidency — 30 percent — than an Obama win — 23 percent.”
The consortium of news groups gathering the exit poll data agreed this year to keep the information under wraps until 5 p.m.
In 2004, early exit poll data leaked early in the afternoon on election day and indicated that John Kerry was ahead.
