The Political Whore

The 2008 election lived up to the hype, and proved to be the most historic and exciting election in a generation (if not more). It was a hectic night, but we at CL kept you up to speed with constant dispatches from around the Bay area. If you missed it, or just want to relive the excitement one more time, here are our greatest hits from last night:

• Election Central: Your one-stop-shop for CL’s election coverage.
• Stephen Hammil’s election night photo gallery.
• Behind the scenes at Obama’s Marriott party. (More here and here.)
• Readers detail their experiences voting around the Bay area. (Add yours now!)
• Reports on voting from St. Pete, Tampa and the USF area (where wait times really piled up.)
• Scenes from a mixed marriage: Eric and Bonnie Snider attempt to find common ground.
• Eric Snider’s hilarious video diary on voting in St. Pete.
• They said it: Great quotes from election day.
• Wade Tatangelo surveyed the election-night scene in SoHo.
• Leilani hits election parties in St. Pete.
• Taylor Eason’s dispatches from an election party in Tampa.
• Gabe reports in from a party in Seminole Heights.
• Hangin’ with the McCain sign-wavers in St. Pete.
• The other big race: No clear winner in Calrissian vs. Palpatine.

And finally: What did you think of our coverage? What can we do better in the future? Sound off in the comments section. And thanks for reading!

(Photo by Alex Pickett.)

(Photo credit: Bobster1985)

This is the launchpad for all CL election coverage. The Loaf staff has fanned out across the Bay area to keep eyes and ears locked on voting sites, candidate rallies, election parties and spontaneous outpourings of joy/grief in the streets. Keep it locked here all day and night. And if you haven’t already, get out there and vote! Download and print our ballot guides here.

1:47 A.M.: Brian Blair well behind challenger Kevin Beckner as vote tabulating stalls in Hillsborough County, in a battle for better conservation and dignity for LGBT residents.

1:01 A.M.: One last thing. Just got this text message: “We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion to this campaign. All of this happened because of you. Thanks, Barack.” I’m not worthy …

1:00 A.M.: I’ve just been taking it all in for the last hour. History. Amazing. Now, I’m going to fall asleep watching the replay of Comedy Central’s Indecision ‘08, which I missed the first time around. Good night all.

12:05 P.M.: Obama speaking now.

11:46 P.M.: Wayne reporting in from the Beckner party: “Phyllis Busansky was just here and she said it’s a slow process counting the Hillsborough votes. Officials are having to bring the machines in from precincts to do the job.” Garcia characterized Beckner as “real unhappy with the situation.”

11:44 P.M.: Obama set to speak around midnight EST.

11:30 P.M.: David Warner reports the streets of Ybor resounding with cheers of “OBAMA! OBAMA!”

11:28 P.M.: McCain closes a classy concession speech. I think McCain did his best work this campaign in the last five days.

11:18 P.M.: McCain concedes!

11:16 P.M.: NBC calls Florida for Obama.

11:10 P.M.: Leilani checks in, in between parties in St. Pete.

11:07 P.M.: Results from the other big race: Calrissian vs. Palpatine.

11:06 P.M.: We’re popping a bottle of Champaign here at Election Central.

11:00 P.M.: Obama called the winner by NBC!

10:51 P.M.: NBC hints they will call the election at 11 p.m.!

10:50 P.M.: David Warner reports in from the Kevin Beckner election party in Ybor.

Plus: News from earlier in the day and that fancy MSNBC voting widget thingy we’re trying out are after the jump.

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David Warner reports in from Kevin Beckner’s party at Gaspar’s Grotto in Ybor City:

“The mood is jubilance with an undercurrent of jitters. Both cmpaign manager Mitch Kates and Beckner’s most active volunteer Mark Nash, are wondering out loud why so many precincts have still not been counted. But it hasn’t stopped lots of people from hugging Beckner, congratulating him, and saying this is an historic night and this changes everything.”

The PoHo reports in on local races from the Obama victory party in Tampa:
By 9:30 p.m., the crowd at the official Barack Obama Florida party at the Tampa Marriott Waterside in downtown had swelled to about 300-400 revelers, most jubilant, a few still anxious. Each state that goes for Obama on the giant screen TV of CNN brings a wave of cheers and chants of “Yes We Can. Yes We Can.”

Florida’s leading Democrat, CFO Alex Sink, has been here from the start, giving media interviews and brushing aside my question about whether she will run for Governor in 2010. “It depends on what our current governor does,” she said.

Other leading Tampa Democrats in the house included: former Plant City Mayor John Dicks; former state Sen. Les Miller and his wife, Tampa City Councilwoman Gwen Miller; and Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder.

More of David Warner’s interviews from the Marriott:

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Here’s Online Producer Stephen Hammill’s video from the Obama party at the Waterside Marriott.

This in from Taylor Eason @ 8:35 P.M.:

Assembled at 7:30 p.m., small get together at Noelleís house in Hyde Park. Lots of alcohol and food.

Steven: British citizen, college professor, 46, non-voting but quite left leaning. Obama is actually too right wing for him.

Laura: Democrat since college, transit consultant, 33

John: Republican, IT architect, 49, Brazilian expatriate who has voted Republican since he became a citizen

Noelle: Democrat, dental account manager, 36, life long

Taylor: Independent, wine columnist, 39, used to be registered Republican, changed ìpartiesî last year. Voted Obama.

Andy:  Registered Republican whole voting life, benefits broker, 43, voted Democrat and considers himself a staunch independent

8:10 p.m. Obama is sweeping the northeast and is ahead in Florida. Hillsborough leans McCain. Collective groan. John screams “Mac is Back!” and we all groan again.

The frickin’ map on CNN is unbelievable.

Part 2:

We’re bored… we’re talking about the freaky neighbor (in every sense of the word) who just got laid, I mean married after dating the guy 4 months…. holy shit… Pennsylvania just went Obama! John is crossing his arms and looks pissed.

John celebrates Georgia’s McCain-ness… he’s moving to a red state.

8:45 p.m.: Republican John announces he’ll pay for everyone to eat at Boizao if McCain wins. We all just changed parties…

Photo: the map guy on CNN who looks like he’s had a stroke.

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David Warner interviews a Marriott employee on her past experience with big nights like this.

More from the Marriott:

Election parties around the Bay area:

Beach Theatre runs live local and national coverage of election night returns on its big screen throughout the night. Admission is free. 7 p.m., 315 Corey Ave., St. Pete Beach, 727-360-6697.

Skipper’s Smokehouse celebrates late roots/Americana artist Jim “Squealin” McNealon with a Memorial Tribute Concert featuring Ronny Elliott, Johnny G. Lyon, Urbane Cowboys, Big Wiggler, Waz, and Bunko Squad, with election returns monitored and reported throughout the evening. 7 p.m., 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, free admission.

Tampa Bay’s 10 News Anchor Reginald Roundtree broadcasts live from an Election Celebration at Push Ultra Lounge in St. Petersburg. Watch the polls close and the returns come in from now until midnight, and enjoy happy hour prices – $3 domestics, wells, and margaritas, and $4 wines. 128 Third St. S., free admission.

St. Petersburg – Republican Party of Florida, Pinellas County Republican Executive Committee, and McCain-Palin 2008 host an Election Night Party at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park. 8-10 p.m., 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg.

Got more, let us know in the comments.

This in from Alex Pickett @ 5:50 p.m. (All photos by Alex):

It’s the final hour, folks. And the polls are starting to fill up again in St. Pete as people stop by after work. Those Obama supporters are now lining the main roads to polling places, most notably Fourth Street North. And the honking … just .. won’t … stop.

The whole afternoon was fairly quiet — except at St. Pete’s Obama HQ.

Read the rest of this entry »

While waiting in the (interminable) line to vote today, I heard some interesting and unexpected commentary from my fellow voters. Since my precinct is at the USF Tampa campus, I expected most of the students voting with me to be Obama supporters. On my way into the polling site at the Marshall Center, I saw a crowded Obama booth distributing “I Voted For Change” stickers and volunteers passing out pro-Obama fliers. There was nary a McCain/Palin supporter in sight.

So much to my surprise and annoyance, all of the 18-20-year-old female voters surrounding me in line were staunch McCain supporters. That is, if you can call people who just vote the same ticket as their parents “staunch supporters.”

To save my voting mates the embarrassment that I hope they will someday experience for their insane “Decision ‘08″ I will call them Girl 1 and Girl 2. Girl 1 told us that her roommate tried to convince her to vote Obama, asking why she would vote for a candidate who wouldn’t help her in any way.

“That’s just great,” Girl 1 said. “If we all voted for the candidate who would benefit us personally, we would be screwed. We have to vote for who is best for the country as a whole.”

Oh, really? A McCain supporter is making the argument that he’s the best candidate for the country as a whole, and not just for a small fraction of American citizens? That’s rich. But it got better (and by better I mean much, much worse) when Girl 2 decided to share her political beliefs. Which exactly mirror the beliefs of her parents.

She said that she joked that she would be voting for Obama, to which her loving mother replied that she wouldn’t “if you want a place to come home to.” I had the pleasure of hearing Girl 2’s phone conversation with her mother, whom she called to ask how she voted on the amendments (so that she could be sure to vote the same way.) MOG2 (Mother of Girl 2) had apparently misunderstood the language in several of them and voted incorrectly.

I’ll be the first to admit that the language is confusing, but it’s a frustrating truth that many voters don’t make the time or effort to educate themselves before they enter the polling booth, and instead vote blindly. On a positive note, I’m hoping this means that MOG2 accidentally voted “No” on Amendment 2.

Girl 2 continued to regale us with her political history, saying that when her third grade class held mock elections in 1996, she “already knew she was a republican.” Yes, because 8-year-olds have the cognitive development to make important life decisions.

Girl 2 apparently never progressed from that third grade mental state, as she then proceeded to call her father to ensure that she was voting “correctly” on everything. Because, you know, people shouldn’t inform themselves about the issues and make up their own minds when answers are just a phone call or text away.

(See Franki’s other election report here.)

UPDATE @ 3 p.m.: “The day is growing darker and the lines, well, the lines at most polling places I’ve been to in St. Pete are non-existent. Poll workers say that’s normal for other elections,  but this is supposed to be an extraordinary election. Are all the voters working day jobs and plan to slam the polls after 5 p.m.? Or were the pundits wrong about the highest election turnout in 40 years?”

This in at 12:45 p.m. from Staff Writer Alex Pickett:

“It’s an overcast, chilly day in St. Pete — perfect for standing outside your voting place. There are only half-hour to an hour waits at most St. Pete poll places I’ve been to. After the morning rush, which saw hour to two hour wait times, many of the sign wavers have taken a lunch break, too. Interesting fact for would-be voters this afternoon: Voters are telling me if your address on your I.D. does not match, that’s OK if you are at the polling place of your registered address (make sense?). A few poll workers didn’t understand this and some people had some trouble where I voted, but everything was eventually worked out.

On the streets, there’s a lot of traffic and a lot of McCain sign wavers. Where are the Obama people?”

Great quotes from Election Day ‘08:

“Either way, they’re gonna burn things. Either in celebration or anger. Look at Philadelphia.” Middle-aged white guy at Tiny Tap Tavern in SoHo watching Fox News coverage of the election, as reported by Wade Tatangelo.

“You know, Alex, our country is in really bad shape and I really think the black guy can fix it. I can’t vote, but in my heart, I’m voting for Obama.” — my 84-year-old grandmother (voting registration confusion caused her to miss the registering deadline)

“I certainly don’t think he speaks for the residents of Hills­borough County. I think he speaks for the demons in his head.” —Mitch Kates on David Caton, notorious gay-baiter whose robo-calls to Hillsborough voters attempt to raise fears about county commission candidate Kevin Beckner. Kates is Beckner’s campaign manager.

“Record voter turnout!” — Barista at downtown St. Pete Starbucks, when asked what the response had been to the chain’s Election Day free-coffee promotion. Several members of St. Pete’s homeless population were taking advantage of the offer this morning, though it was not clear whether they’d voted.

“I don’t think he really voted for it. I think he said that he voted for it but in the privacy of the booth, he voted against it- Its called the ‘Elton John Effect’” — Commenter Tim on St. Pete Times report about Gov. Crist announcing he voted Yes on Amendment 2.

“Everyone coming out of their polling place smiles and sighs before walking to their car. I mean, everyone.” —Staff Writer Alex Pickett reporting on polling locations in St. Pete.

“Can you believe it? I’m giddy with relief!” —Scott Walterman, morning anchor on XM Radio’s POTUS08, breathlessly commenting on the fact that Election Day 08 had finally arrived. POTUS is XM’s all-presidential-race, all-the-time channel. (As reported by Editor David Warner.)

Check back for updates throughout the day!