Results tagged “election2008”

Too funny. You'll recall we pointed out the other day that the McCain campaign's Arlington headquarters was holding a big fire sale to liquidate all its computers, Blackberries and other office equipment and furniture. Well FOX 5's Tisha Thompson says she bought one of the McCain Blackberries, and it was filled with confidential campaign information.

Among the hot deals listed for sale on the price sheet:

Continue reading "Hot Deals from the McCain Campaign"

For several hours on Wednesday, the re-election campaign web site of D.C. Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss, paulstrauss.org, displayed the message, pictured at right, that it had been "taken down due to a lack of payment." We asked Strauss about it, and by the time he got back to us, the message had been removed. Several hours later, a new splash page, this time with the message "Site under construction," appeared. Then late last night, the web site was restored to its original state.

Flickr user erin m spotted this sign in a souvenir shop in D.C.'s Union Station. Is 75 percent off enough to tempt you?

The Examiner reports that voter turnout in the metro area last week was not historically high. The DCBOEE was predicting about 63 percent voter turnout this year in the District once all absentee votes were counted. In 1984, when Walter Mondale was running for president, voter turnout in D.C. was up at 77 percent. Virginia and Maryland similarly fell short of setting records this year. That seems pretty weird, considering the long lines we saw at many precincts early in the morning. What could explain the disparity? Seems like a lot of this year's enthusiastic voters voted first thing in the morning, and that rain in the evening on Tuesday might have kept people away after work; lines at most polling places after 10:30 a.m. or so were virtually nonexistent.

When a measure that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives fell three votes short of making it through the Senate, voting rights advocates were both frustrated and hopeful. Frustrated because the Senate's arcane rules of procedure allowed three senators to hold up legislation that had overwhelmingly passed the House; hopeful because whether through intense cajoling or electoral victories, three new votes aren't impossible to come by.

           

Here's a few more reports by DCist contributors from all over the city last night. Spontaneous celebrations erupted across Washington when Barack Obama was declared the winner of the 2008 presidential election.

           

Finding a newspaper by 9 a.m. this morning was a more difficult task than getting out of bed for the long trudge into work. But while trying to obtain a tangible piece of paper journalism for posterity might have been a futile task, your second best option is the Newseum's humongous online collection - 682 of this morning's front pages, all accessible from the comfort of your desk (or, depending on how late you were out, your couch). The site's moving a little slow with all the post-election traffic this afternoon, so we've highlighted a number of local papers - ranging in scope from large to small - for your perusal. You won't even have to put slippers on or grab some spare change this way.

While we soak in Barack Obama's historic victory over Senator John McCain (who delivered a moving and honorable concession speech), we can't ignore the change that came to our own backyard. Few of the results caught any of us by surprise. We did, though, rid ourselves of a pesky ANC commissioner, though.

Video from 11th and U Streets from voteprime

              

I'm still processing what happened last night. One minute, I was gathered in a living room with friends, watching election returns come in. The next minute, Barack Obama had been declared the winner, his moving acceptance speech was over, and I was in the middle of the intersection at 14th and U Streets NW with thousands of other D.C. residents, yelling, singing, high-fiving and hugging total strangers.

At 11:40 p.m., there's still only 40 of 143 precincts reports in the local D.C. races. Here's where the unofficial vote tally stands in the At-large race:

Barack Obama is the winner. Obama, age 47, is the first African-American to win the presidency.

UPDATE:10:55 p.m.FOX News has called Virginia for Obama. No one else has yet.

We all knew the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics would be counting extra carefully tonight after the Sept. 9 primary debacle. Well now it's officially later in the evening than it was during the February Potomac Primary when the DCBOEE released its first round of numbers. As of 9:50 p.m., there are still 0 percent of D.C.'s precincts reporting. Maryland, on the other hand, has at least 16 percent of its precincts reporting. How late do you think it'll be before we get any numbers? We're going with 10:37 p.m.

FOX News and MSNBC have called Ohio for Obama. No major network has yet called the entire presidential election, but as far as DCist is concerned, the race is effectively over. There is no credible electoral college scenario where McCain can win with Obama taking both Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Duh. MSNBC called it as soon as the polls closed at 8 p.m., with 0 percent of precincts reporting. Far more interesting: Obama has also won Pennsylvania. Remember all those articles about how McCain couldn't win without Pennsylvania?

Like D.C. Wire, we've heard reports of "Write-in Carol Schwartz" pencils being handed out to voters, some of which have then been left behind in voting booths, in violation of electioneering laws. Could this last-ditch pencil strategy be just the ticket for a Schwartz write-in victory? Maybe, but City Desk is reporting that Schwartz has failed to get her supporters out to a number of important precincts.

When you add #dcistvote to your Election Day messages on Twitter today, they should appear in the above feed for everyone to see. You can also subscribe to the feed via RSS, and view the live feed on Twitter here. Scroll through and see what DCist readers are talking about on Twitter today.

     

DCist Music Editor Amanda Mattos snapped some photos of the various 'I Voted' stickers represented in her office. D.C.'s sticker seems kinda lame compared to most of the rest of these, doesn't it? And don't forget to take advantage of the many freebies available around town today if you're wearing an 'I Voted' sticker.

Not to be left out, Washington institution Ben's Chili Bowl has gotten into the election spirit. Last night, a sign on the front door read "PLEASE VOTE," and inside the sign behind the counter that used to read "Who eats free at Ben's: Bill Cosby / No one else" now reads "Bill Cosby / The Obama Family." Is the Ali family calling the election early? Do you suppose Michelle would let little Sasha and Malia partake of a free half-smoke?

"Did you vote?" a co-worker asked me. "No," I sheepishly replied. "I'm not a U.S. citizen." With lines snaking around many a polling places and voters excitedly talking about the potential for history being made today, not being able to vote is something of a downer. Those of us not casting ballots today -- the non-enfranchised, if you will -- will spend the rest of the day looking for a stray "I Voted" sticker, both to make ourselves feel like we're part of the process and to help deflect the glares of real voters who may think we're just ducking our civic duties. But it's impossible not to share in the excitement surrounding the day. Hundreds of voters were lined up outside Bancroft Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant as I set off to work today, a sight repeated at two other polling places along Columbia Road. Maybe I'll go fill out the sample ballot my roommate received and put it in a shoebox. I'll feel a little more like a voter, and Bob Barr will at least get one vote. - Martin Austermuhle

Your tweets are still rolling in to our #dcistvote Twitter feed, but first here's some dispatches from the DCist staff on their polling place experiences this morning.

This video is apropos of not a whole lot, but it's pretty funny, and considering how many hardcore Star Wars nerds we have among the commentariat, it seemed worth posting. Keep an eye on the backdrop of candidate Calrissian's first-person interviews!

When I received an email from John McCain last night asking me to "Make History Tomorrow" by voting for him, I was somewhat perplexed. After all, I've never knowingly given my email to anyone who might use it for a conservative cause. Moreover, I wasn't born in the U.S. and am not (yet) eligible to vote, so does this mean that John McCain wants me to commit voter fraud for him?

Good morning, Washington! If you're reading this right now, you must have gotten up rather early to get in line to vote. We're hearing from our roving band of DCist contributors that Election Day lines across the metro area were crazy long this morning - in many cases longer than longtime residents could remember them ever being before. If you use Twitter and are out there waiting in line, or observing anything else interesting about Election Day in Washington for that matter, feel free to add #dcistvote to your tweets. We'll be collecting what you add to the Twitter collective right here on DCist later on in the day.

We might not have Joe the Plumber or $150,000 in stylish threads, but the final days before a number of local races are decided have gotten plenty exciting. There's internal fighting, a second-time-around endorsement and a drunk-driving charge.

Have you guys seen this one yet? The Virginian Pilot reports that a phony flier telling Virginia Democrats they are supposed to vote on Nov. 5, instead of Nov. 4, is being circulated around the Hampton Roads area of the battleground state (via TPM Muckraker, hat tip to Brian Smith).

The D.C. Republican Committee sent around word late yesterday that a registered Republican living in Ward 2 was mailed an absentee ballot that is missing candidates and includes a candidate from another Ward.

You may have read in the Washington Post this morning that today is the first day that District residents may cast "in-person absentee" ballots, up until Nov. 3. All you have to do is show up at the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics headquarters at 441 4th St. NW, Suite 250N, to request an absentee ballot and vote right then and there. Sounds great, right? Especially if you think you might be out of town or say, busy covering the election on Nov. 4.