Wed, November 05, 2008 - 1:19 AM

Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, who won re-election to his House seat Tuesday, says he’s stepping down from his internal party role as conference chairman, the No. 3-ranked Republican in the U.S. House.

The move comes as House Republicans, who lost their majority hold on the chamber in the 2006 elections, registered another dismal showing in congressional races Tuesday, losing at least a dozen more seats.

Anger by rank-and-file Republicans over the party’s direction had already been leading to speculation there would soon be a shake-up of the House GOP leadership team. New leadership elections are set for Nov. 17.

But Putnam made no mention of that in a letter to Republican colleagues, released late Tuesday.

“I have enjoyed every minute as Conference Chairman, but I believe it is time to step off the leadership ladder and return my focus to crafting public policy solutions for America’s generational challenges – the very reason I ran for Congress in the first place,” wrote Putnam.

“With the issues before us today come bipartisan opportunities and partisan differences. My current role obligates me to the latter and too often excludes me from the former. I want to fight the battles worth fighting and lock arms to strengthen our nation whenever possible,” he wrote.

-- Billy House, Media General News Service

Tue, November 04, 2008 - 11:34 PM

The noise is deafening at the Virginia Democratic Party victory celebration in McLean, not surprisingly. Between the blaring TVs tuned to CNN and MSNBC, the occasional song blasted over the PA system and, of course, the cheering, screaming crowd, my ear drums are taking a beating (pun intended.)

To help you share in the joy, here are two videos from tonight's celebration.

The first is the jubilation that followed the announcement by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine that Barack Obama had won the state.




And here are some scenes from after the race was called for Sen. Obama.



-- Mark Young

With the polls closing in California, Oregon and Washington, the networks call the election for Barack Obama. The only question that remains is the size of his victory.

--Sean Mussenden

With half of North Carolina precincts reporting, Obama leads McCain 51-48 percent. Some big counties have not reported yet, including Mecklenburg, which is big Obama territory.

It's starting to look, though, like it might not matter. With Ohio going for Obama, it's looking nearly impossible for McCain to put together a win, even if he keeps North Carolina in the red column.

--Sean Mussenden

With Obama’s projected win in Ohio, 10-year-old Camryn and her sister Rayna, 8, colored in one more key state for the man they want to see president.

A few steps away, amid the roaring cheers, their mom Tanya Easley of Herndon, Va., was fanning herself, still in disbelief that her candidate was on the verge of becoming America’s first African-American president.

“I’m so excited. I can barely breathe,” Easley said. “My heat is beating so fast.”

“As soon as Virginia and North Carolina go, it’s a wrap,” she said.

Sherri Jordan, of Chesterfield, couldn’t believe Ohio went for Obama, making the historic presidency appear within reach, a moment she didn’t think she’d live to see – “Not in my lifetime,” Jordan said.

“Momentum has been building. It’s unreal. But it’s a longtime coming,” she said.

--Neil Simon

Gov. Tim Kaine went on stage for the first time just a moment ago promising the Democratic supporters on hand in McLean that “we’re going to have a lot to celebrate tonight.”

Kaine said he is getting “good news” on congressional races and the presidential race for Virginia’s 13 electoral votes, which McCain leads after early counties reporting.

“We know where those numbers are coming from and we know who hasn’t reported,” Kaine said. “The places that haven’t reported are likely to be a little friendly,” he said in a clear reference to the Democratic stronghold of Northern Virginia, the state’s most populous region.



--Neil Simon

As CNN projected Obama will win the state of Pennsylvania, this ballroom in McLean, Va. erupted.

Seeing the critical swing state fall for Obama, Jena Roscoe screamed, “Awesome!”

She turned to pose for a photo with a friend and then commented on the importance of Obama Pennsylvania

“That means, as a black person, his candidacy has transcended race,” said Roscoe, a Washington resident who goes to church in Alexandria.

A strong contingent of Arabs for Obama joined in the cheers.

“This is very exciting, I brought out my whole family for this,” said Matthew Zakeri. “I wanted to celebrate.”

--Neil Simon

Things are looking bleak for John McCain. He spent so much time in Pennsylvania the last few weeks because his advisers knew how crucial that state was to his chances. With Obama likely to take away one or more states Bush won in 2004, McCain needed to flip a big blue state from 2004. Pennsylvania presented the only opportunity, and even then it wasn't much of an opportunity. Polls showed Obama up by as much as 10 last week.

The exit polls tonight show Obama winning by 15 and several networks have called the state for the Democrat. McCain now desperately needs Ohio, Virginia and Florida to stay red to win.

--Sean Mussenden

Though the presidential race in North Carolina remains too close to call, every network moments ago called the North Carolina Senate race for Democrat Kay Hagan, who unseated first term Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole in a seat held for decades by Jesse Helms.

Six months ago, this seat looked like a lock for Dole. Democrats had a hard time recruiting someone to run against Dole, eventually settling on Hagan who was largely unknown in the state. But Hagan ran an effective campaign, tying Dole to an unpopular President Bush and arguing that she was an ineffective representative for North Carolina, a state she had not lived in for decades before returning in 2002 to run for office. And that argument worked.

--Sean Mussenden

Several Networks have just called South Carolina for McCain. Not much of a surprise. Neither campaign spent any time there after the primaries, and no one expected it to be close. Some Democrats were holding out hope that a huge surge in African-American turnout could lead to a surprise tonight, as some are hoping for in Georgia.

--Sean Mussenden

The exit polls for North Carolina, just released, show Obama up 51.4 to 47.6. Again, a key caveat here: the exit polls have been badly wrong in the past, especially in close states.

Update: a few interesting numbers from the exit. One in five said race was a factor in their vote. Half of voters said the campaigns contacted them personally, indicating the strength of the voter outreach efforts in the state. Obama appeared to close in the state better. Two-thirds of voters who decided who to vote for between Saturday and today went with Obama.

--Sean Mussenden

The networks are being extremely cautious tonight in calling states based on exit polls. With good reason. They've been burned badly in the past. See 2004 and 2000.

Still, here's what the exit polls show about Virginia: Obama 54 to McCain 45. Take that with a grain of salt but it's a HUGE margin. Full results here.

Soon enough, polls throughout the country will begin closing.

I'll be twittering the results in real time and my "tweets" will show up in the box below. (Hit refresh to see the latest)

It’s unclear how long it will take for us come up with a winner here tonight. But we’ll stick around as long as we can stand it to help provide the most current updates.

-- Amy Dominello

McLEAN,Va--The top election official for Fairfax County reports Election Day appears to be going off without a hitch.

“We’ve had some minor machine problems,” Rokey Suleman said, but “everything to my knowledge appears to be going smooth.”

Results from the state’s largest county, representing about one in seven Virginia voters, may still not be known until close to midnight, Suleman said.

That’s because, he said, the county received thousands of absentee ballots in the mail today. The county does not start counting those ballots until polls close at 7 p.m.

In-person absentee ballots were counted at the time they were cast, Suleman said. So the flood of ballots cast early should not impact the speed with which we learn Virginia results.

--Neil H. Simon

Now that we’re getting closer to the main event, the fun will soon begin.

That’s right. We’re nearing the time for electoral college math.

A total of 270 Electoral College votes are needed for victory. (Here’s a good explainer on the Electoral College.)

Here’s what some of the experts are saying:

Ramussen Reports: Obama, 286. McCain, 160. Too close to call: 92 votes.

Real Clear Politics: Obama, 278. McCain, 132. Too close to call: 128 votes.

FiveThirtyEight: Obama, 348.6. McCain, 189.4.

And a whole host of bloggers' predictions, provided by Hotline.

For the record, I’m predicting Obama will win with 335 electoral votes. My colleague Sean Mussenden is betting Obama garners 329 electoral votes.

-- Amy Dominello