memeorandum: Special Coverage: The 2012 Presidential Election (Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight)

3:00 AM ET, November 7, 2012

Top Items:

Obama Wins New Term as Electoral Advantage Holds — Barack Hussein Obama was re-elected president of the United States on Tuesday, overcoming powerful economic headwinds, a lock-step resistance to his agenda by Republicans in Congress and an unprecedented torrent of advertising as the nation voted …

Discussion: CBS News, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice and The Huffington Post

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Exit polls 2012: Voters blame George W. Bush — Early exit polls released on Tuesday evening show that about half of voters still blame President George W. Bush more than President Barack Obama for the country's economic problems and most cite the economy as their top issue in the election.

Joe Von Kanel / CNN:
Exit polls: Top issues for voters

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Politico, Reuters and Sky Dancing

Joe Von Kanel / CNN:
Exit polls: Abortion as an election issue

Discussion: Politico

Dan Merica / CNN:
Baldwin outlasts Thompson, wins open Wisconsin Senate seat

Discussion: Politico

clickorlando.com:
Exit poll shows economy still the top concern

Discussion: The Fix, BREITBART.COM and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Laurie Ure / CNN:
The Kennedys are back in Congress — (CNN) - After a two-year absence …

Discussion: The Greenroom

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Exit poll show voters lean toward GOP compared to 2008

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Special Coverage: The 2012 Presidential Election — The probability that President Obama receives a given number of Electoral College votes. — Tipping Point States — The probability that a state provides the decisive electoral vote. — Return on Investment Index

Discussion: Guardian, the-reaction.blogspot.ca, The Reality-Based Community and Prairie Weather

The Atlantic Wire:

Liveblog: Presidential Election Night — After two years of stump speeches, gaffes, attack ads, and discretionary spending graphs, the presidential election is finally here. The Atlantic Wire will be liveblogging election night. Watch this space for news, plus photos and GIFs of President …

Discussion: Althouse, The Moderate Voice, CBS Chicago, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Impolitic and CNN

ThinkProgress:
The ThinkProgress Election Night Live Blog

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast and Business Insider

Nate Cohn / The New Republic:
Electionate's Election Night Live Blog

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Washington Monthly

Matt Ferner / The Huffington Post:

Amendment 64 Passes: Colorado Legalizes Marijuana For Recreational Use … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Denver News, Polls, Smoking, Video, 420, Marijuana, Colorado Amendment 64, Campaign To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, Colorado Marijuana Legalization, Colorado Politics, Denver Colorado, Legal Weed, Marijuana, Marijuana, Denver News

Discussion: KDVR.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Oregonian, Business Insider, LewRockwell.com Blog and The Raw Story

Chelsea Conaboy / Boston Globe:
Massachusetts voters approve ballot measure to legalize medical marijuana

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Business Insider and The Raw Story

Elyse Siegel / The Huffington Post:
Marijuana Legalization On The Ballot: (INTERACTIVE RESULTS)

Discussion: EconLog

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Joe Donnelly upsets Richard Mourdock in Indiana — Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly pulled off a stunning upset over Republican Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race — a battle that the GOP thought was a sure win until the final days of the campaign. — With more than 60 percent …

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and Outside the Beltway

Matthew L. Wald / New York Times:
Donnelly Wins Indiana Senate Race Over Mourdock

Discussion: Election 2012

Ted Barrett / CNN:
McCaskill beats Akin in contentious Missouri Senate race

Discussion: Politico and ABCNEWS

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

'That's When You Know You're Gonna Win' — PITTSBURGH - Mitt Romney's campaign always makes his arrivals in various cities known to the local media, and in turn the public, but never before has a crowd of this size shown up to greet him. Upon landing here in Pittsburgh …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Gateway Pundit and ABCNEWS

CNN:

Romney: I've only written a victory speech — (CNN) - Hours before the polls closed Tuesday, GOP nominee Mitt Romney told reporters on his plane that he's so confident in a win he's only prepared a victory speech. — “I've only written one speech at this point,” Romney said, adding the text of that address was 1,118 words long.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Ballot Box and The Greenroom

Dorsey Shaw / BuzzFeed:

Karl Rove Freaks Out About Fox News Calling The Election For Obama — “We've got to be careful about calling things when we have like 991 vote separating the two candidates and a quarter of the vote left to count.”

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

The Huffington Post:
Fox News, Karl Rove Argue With Network About Whether Obama Won Ohio (VIDEO)

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Crooks and Liars

Michelle Malkin:

Election 2012: Obama gets his “revenge,” but conservatives must stand tall — Ohio has been called for Barack Obama. Iowa went for Obama. Colorado went for Obama. Florida and Virginia have not been called yet, but those don't look good, either. The Romney camp is disputing the Ohio call.

BuzzFeed:

Why Elizabeth Warren Won — On Election Day, Scott Brown tried in vain to get working-class men on his side. “You think she has anything in common with you?” he pleaded — BOSTON — Senator Scott Brown voted Tuesday morning in his hometown of Wrentham, Massachusetts …

Discussion: Esquire, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Kos

Seung Min Kim / Politico: Warren wins — BOSTON — Liberal icon Elizabeth Warren defeated …

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Elizabeth Warren elected to Senate

Discussion: ABCNEWS

CNN:

Transcript: Romney's concession speech — (CNN) - Mitt Romney delivered his concession speech Tuesday in Boston. Read below for a transcript of Romney's remarks. — Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you so very much. — (APPLAUSE) — Thank you.

Discussion: Politico

Marc Tracy / The New Republic:

Nate Silver Is a One-Man Traffic Machine for the Times — “FiveThirtyEight is drawing huge traffic,” New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson told me yesterday. She added, “What's interesting is a lot of the traffic is coming just for Nate.” — There has been plenty of controversy …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, the-reaction.blogspot.ca, Mashable!, Wired, AllThingsD, Mediaite, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones and Macleans.ca, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Republicans Bet Everything, and Obama Won It All — You remember the scene in Game Change, when John McCain's adviser tells him that selecting Sarah Palin is “high risk, reward”? And McCain (or Ed Harris as McCain, or whatever) starts grinning uncontrollably?

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Bill O'Reilly: ‘The white establishment is now the minority’ — Fox News's Bill O'Reilly said tonight that if President Barack Obama wins re-election, it's because the demographics of the country have changed and “it's not a traditional America anymore.” — “The white establishment is now the minority,” O'Reilly said.

Discussion: CNN

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

Boehner lays down a marker on taxes — Washington (CNN) - Shortly after multiple networks projected that Republicans would retain control of the House, Speaker John Boehner took to the stage with a message that looked ahead to the battle over the fiscal cliff - the GOP isn't budging on taxes.

Discussion: Politico

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Rep. Allen West loses reelection — Freshman Republican Allen West (Fla.) lost to Democrat Patrick Murphy in one of the closest, nastiest races in the nation, according to MSNBC election projections. — Despite outraising Murphy nearly 5-1 and launching biting attacks on the Democrat …

Discussion: Palm Beach Post and Talking Points Memo

Boca News Now:

Woman Wearing MIT Shirt Banned From Voting In Boca Raton — A woman wearing an MIT shirt in Boca Raton was initially denied entrance to a polling place. — BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — A woman attempting to vote in West Boca Raton this morning was initially prohibited from entering …

Discussion: New York Times, Weekly Standard and Business Insider

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

NBC's Chuck Todd: Sources On Both Sides Expect Romney To Win Florida By Under 100k — NBC News' Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd examined the state of Florida as returns from the Sunshine State pour in. He said that experts on both sides have told him that they expect Mitt Romney to win the state, but by a slim margin.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Power Line

Zachary Roth / msnbc.com:

Machine turns vote for Obama into one for Romney — A Pennsylvania electronic voting machine was taken out of service after being captured on video changing a vote for President Obama into one for Mitt Romney, NBC News has confirmed. Republicans have also said machines have turned Romney votes into Obama ones.

BuzzFeed:

Mormon Church Congratulates President Obama — After a year of staying out of the fray, the church's leadership release a statement urging Americans to “come together.” — Image by Dylan Martinez / Reuters — BOSTON, Mass. — Minutes after Mitt Romney — the first Mormon presidential nominee …

Discussion: Business Insider

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Romney concedes race for the White House — BOSTON —Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney conceded the presidential election early Wednesday morning in a brief address to supporters in Boston. — Romney told a subdued crowd that he had called Obama to congratulate him on his victory, and he wished the president well.

Discussion: Politico

JJ Hensley / Arizona Republic:

Arpaio wins sixth term — FONT: — Democrat Paul Penzone conceded the Maricopa County sheriff's race to Sheriff Joe Arpaio shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, but his concession came with a message for the longtime Republican incumbent: the community is watching.

Discussion: Business Insider and The Raw Story

Benjamin Jackson / Slate:

Which State's Voters Had To Wait the Longest, According to Their Tweets? — Voters wait in long lines to cast their ballots in Bristow, Va. — Most voters in Florida waited around an hour and a half at the polls, according to data pulled from Twitter late this afternoon.

Discussion: Election 2012

John Heilemann / New York Magazine:

After an Emotional Finale, Team Obama Fears a Split Decision — The final day of Barack Obama's career as a campaigner began around 10 a.m. Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, where Bruce Springsteen spoke for all of us when he remarked that it was hard to get fired up so early in the morning.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Daily Beast