ELECTION NIGHT!

This is the most anticipated evening of the year, possibly in modern American history. In the UK, Brits and American ex-patriates are packing into pubs to watch the coverage on TV. The excitement is just as palpable here as I assume it is in the U.S.

At my internship, co-workers want to know who I'm voting for and what I think of Obama. British newspapers have devoted their front pages and considerable print space to the election. They depict the election as an epic showdown, not only between Obama and McCain but between progressive and traditional ideologies. British people are overwhelmingly for Obama, so much that left-of-center newspaper The Guardian was unashamed to put an attractive photo of Obama on their front page next to an uber-comical photo of McCain gritting his teeth and waving his fist.

My mom's friend, a UK resident, expressed her views bluntly in an e-mail: "...we hope Obama will make a bonfire of the Republicans and burn effigies of McCain and Sarah Palin like Guy Fawkes on 5th November."

News services are reporting that Americans are turning out in record numbers. Over 1,000 Penn State students lined up this morning to vote. Virginia is suffering from polling station problems because of the turnout. In short, this election is historic and the next 10 hours, maybe less, will be nothing less than suspenseful and gripping. Hollywood thrillers be damned.

I'm not sure how late I will be up. Ideally, I would live blog this entire election night. I have internship tomorrow morning and I didn't get much sleep last night due to class assignments due.

I'm in the living room of my flat with some fellow students, watching the coverage on BBC 1. As of now, 1 am UK time, 8 pm US eastern time, Obama has taken off in the initial results. He has around 60 to McCain's 23 in electoral votes. He has substantial leads in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and (GASP!) West Virginia.

Good luck America...



Barack Obama is ready for the fight but...

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...you can't keep John McCain down.