Events

I'm in the Illinois 5th, which has had quite some turnover in the past 15 years: Rostenkowski (1994), Flanagan (1996), Blagojevich (2002), and now Emanuel. Emanuel was by far the best of the bunch, and I'll be sorry to lose him in Congress—but he's the right guy to be Obama's Chief of Staff. In other good news, Obama officially won North Carolina, bringing his total electoral votes to 364.

The Chicago Tribune has a photo essay on what Obama's victory may mean to Chicago. Key points (to me, anyway): The unfair outflow of state resources to the Fed (we get about 70c of every Federal tax dollar we pay, compared with, say, Alaska that gets about $2 back), our Olympics prospects, and what happens when Air Force One lands at O'Hare.

Another Democratic pick-up: Oregon Senate to Merkley.

Via Talking Points Memo, Newsweek found that the $150,000 estimate of Palin's spending spree may have been, ah, conservative: One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy...

We didn't hit the record for warmest November 5th today, but it did get within 1°C, to 22°C. After the euphoria (and, frankly, Champagne) of last night, I couldn't prevail against the weather, so Parker and I went to Wiggly Field with a Chuck-It: Parker has—I am not making this up—learned to dribble. He drops the ball from his mouth and catches it on the bounce, repeatedly: Mostly he just wants to chase the ball and keep it away from me once he's got it:

Not all election-related (corrected): California Proposition 8: The Wall Street Journal reports the referendum passed, meaning more than half of Californians believe it's still 1957. Minnesota Senate: State law requires a recount after the offical tally shows Franken less than 600 votes (of 3 million cast) behind Coleman. Franken released a statment a few minutes ago. (I originally said Franken requested the recount; apparently Minnesota law requires one with a margin this small.) North Carolina...

Updated. I cared about some other races last night. First the good news: Illinois 5th: Rahm Emanuel got re-elected handily, but it appears he may resign today to become President-elect Obama's chief of staff. That means two major vacancies in Illinois: our junior senator (our senior one got 74% of the vote for his own re-election), and my congressman. Rumors are that Gov. Blagojevich will appoint my former congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky (Ill. 9th), or Illinois Attorney General (and Blagojevich's most...

I've had a lot of Champagne, more than a lot of pizza, and way too much of this election season. But we won. And even Parker knows how happy I am. By "we" I mean every American who thinks losing 25% of his retirement savings happened because the governing party made out like bandits. By "we" I mean every American who thinks having a competent President is better than having one who doesn't waver in the face of insurmountable evidence. By "we" I mean every American who thinks. American Airlines has a...

We won. We f**king won. You know, 100 years for the Cubs vs. 232 years for America? Fair trade, I think. My friend Gina is yelling "it's not for real yet!" Well, I'll wager money it'll be real within the hour via live feed from Phoenix. And we don't even know North Carolina and Indiana yet. Ever notice, when the country really needs someone, they elect a President from Illinois? Update, 10:19 CT: Not a dry eye in the house as McCain concedes. It's over.

"The Pennsylvania Polka." MSNBC calls it. More as the situation warrants...