Early Returns Favor Obama

By Jessica Morris and Mary Godie
Early returns on the afternoon of election day are predicting an Obama landslide according to various real time Internet polls. From the opening of polling centers, Obama has been in the lead accoring to many web sites.
The Huffington Post reports that Sen. Barack Obama started the day off at 93 percent of the popular vote while Sen. John McCain obtained only 7 percent of the votes. At around 2pm, Sen. Obama rose to 95 percent leaving Sen. McCain at only 5 percent.
Many sites are also predicting the probable electoral college votes. The election is depending on many swing states. “Virginia has voted Republican since 1964, but its changing demographics and Barack Obama's strong presence in the state have polls showing that it's leaning Democratic this year. If Obama wins Virginia, he's expected to do very well in other states,” according to AOL’s election site.
The swing states which are currently leaning toward Sen. Obama are Virginia,Ohio,North Carolina, Florida, New Hampshire,and Missouri, and those leaning toward Sen McCain are Montana, Georgia,and Indiana. “New Hampshire may only have four electoral votes, but McCain has spent so much time in the state that it would be considered a bad sign if he lost there,” according to AOL’s election site.
USA Today predicts that Obama will have 311 votes while predicting McCain to have 145. They only put 82 swing state votes as too close to call. Politico shows Obama leading in electoral votes 338 to Sen. McCain’s 200. The Huffington Post also had an electoral college prediction which had Obama with 364 votes and McCain with 174 with only 26 swing state votes that were too close to call giving most swing states to Obama.
Beginning at 6pm the first polling center will be closed and the real results will start to pour in. Sites such as AOL Election, The Huffington Post, USA Today and Politico will all have real time real election results.