Although by a slim margin, Californians choose to build a new high-speed rail system from San Diego to Sacramento with several stops in the Golden state.

I am so very happy!

After an election is over, I like to study the places where the issue
or candidate won or lost. I didn't just do this for Prop.8, I looked
at numbers for Obama after the California Primary and General
Election.

In this case it seems that Prop.8 failed because it could not win or
get more votes in Los Angeles, Orange (better known as the Orange
curtain), Ventura and San Diego counties. I think Riverside county has
grown so much that it might be a county to look at seriously in any
attempt to get a Prop passed or defeated.  Running for state-wide office
or trying to pass an issue on the state-wide ballot this is where the game
has to be won or played to get close to a tie. It always nice to have
the Bay Area in your electoral pocket--if it is a liberal cause-- to
offset a defeat in one of the more populated counties down south.
Sometimes Bay Area counties disagree but on this issue there was
agreement.  I don't think a candidate or proposition can win or be
defeated unless some combination of three out of Ventura, Los Angeles,
Orange and San Diego is won along with the Bay Area.

In a liberal cause, Orange county is least likely to help. I believe there are13-15 million people between  Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties.

What surprised me is that Santa Barbara, San Mateo, San Jose and Monterey county voters
defeated Prop 8.

The Central Valley (the bread basket) is mostly a dotted with mid-size
cities to small farm towns which were heavily against Prop.8.
Surprisingly, No. on Prop.8 was a success in Alpine and Mono counties;
they are two counties in the Sierra Nevada, south of Lake Tahoe. These
two counties most  likely share they same demographic make-up as the
villages that surround the lake. Lake Tahoe seemingly has a more live
and let live attitude than its neighbors to the south but it is in
Placer county which borders the state of Nevada and stretches into the
interior part of California. A good number votes from the interior of
this county more than likely voted Yes on 8.

I would like to see a map onthe county level as well.

My suggestion: have a 58 county strategy. Issues like Prop. 8 may not
win in the interior of the state but letting the opposition run up the
score against the cause in those areas will surely hurt.

http://vote.sos.ca.gov/Returns/props/map190000000008.html

Thank you Mr. Kennedy (and your family) for having the foresight and belief that this night could happen.

Perhaps it was a Halloween prank but someone was invoking The Godfather in Grass Valley, California.

*the link is to Calitics and the link to the severed head of a goat is next to editors name.

As the first place in the United States, it is an honor to be the first people to pick the next President of the United States. According to a reporter on Larry King Live, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire traditional goes Republican. I believe he said  Obama 15 votes, McCain 6, Nadar 0.

According to the video capture by TPMtv, Fred Barnes on Fox News was complaining about early voting.  I took his story into account and compared it to the ubiquitous stories about the lines stretching around corners and snaking through buildings for voters waiting a days worth of work in line. I've gone to several web sites that calculate voter turnout--compared to 2004-- to see if those lines represent real numbers of people taking advantage of absentee and or early voting.

The numbers are through the roof; especially in the south. I wonder if the collection of states this cycle which allow early and or absentee voting had failed to allow its citizenry to cast a ballot in this manner, what the lines would look like on Tuesday?

Early and or absentee voting, though still flawed, has been a relief on the potential pressure cooker that could happen on Tuesday.