YDR Insider

For entertainment and insight, I thought you might enjoy reading these excerpts from a newsroom “diary” I kept on November 4, 2008, the date of the last U.S. presidential election…

8:25 a.m. — A mom at the school bus stop saw my blue York Daily Record/Sunday News shirt and said, “Do you work at the Daily Record?” I nodded yes. “I feel sorry for you,” she said.

9:01 a.m. — NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street was raring for an Election Day rally Tuesday, sending stock futures soaring as millions of Americans battered by tumbling home prices, tight credit and an uncertain job market headed to the polls.

9:30 a.m. — New York Times headline: “Networks May Call Race Before Voting Is Complete.”

9:34 a.m. — Anecdotal evidence that local voters are waiting in line a LONG time to vote.

9:35 a.m. — For posterity, tomorrow’s local sports budget at this hour: — Joe Paterno’s weekly teleconference, leading up to Saturday’s big game in Iowa. (Bodani) w/PSU box….

9:40 a.m. — Drudge headline: “OBAMAS TAKE MORE THAN 15 MINUTES TO VOTE”

9:41 a.m. — Dow is up 186.22

11:07 a.m. — (CNN) — Some voting machines aer not working properly in Chesapeake, Virginia, because of wet weather…

11:42 a.m. — A staff member is distraught because she did not receive an “I Voted” sticker, which means she will not be able to get free coffee and/or doughnuts at local business establishments. Life is cruel.

2:53 p.m. — From FoxNews.com: The massive number of voters selecting their next president through absentee and early voting coudl make it difficult to forecast preliminary results out Tuesday night.

3:11 p.m. — HOUSTON (AP) — Oil prices surged to $70 a barrel Tuesday in the final hours of a two-year U.S. presidential campaign…

4:24 p.m. — Jude Elliot, from Orangeburg, South Carolina, said voting was “the best hour and a half of my life.”

4:29 p.m. — Voter turnout has been heavy in West York, said Fred Schiding, election judge for the first district. Both West York districts are voting at the Reliance Fire Company. “We’ll hit 90 percent,” he said. The borough has about 1,500 voters, and he expects to see at least 1,300 of them by the end of the day.

5:02 p.m. — From Drudge: SENATE SOURCES SAY: OBAMA BREAKS OUT THE CHAMPAGNE…

6:04 p.m. — CHICAGO (CBS) — Barack Obama’s rally Tuesday night will involve intense security and will require plenty of patience in Grant Park tonight.

6:14 p.m. — EXIT POLLS CLAIM ‘OBAMA +15’ IN PA … DEVELOPING…

7:12 p.m. — CNN projects McCain wins Kentucky, Obama wins Vermont.

7:47 p.m. — CNN: Early battleground states too close to call…

8:05 p.m. — BREAKING NEWS: Obama takes battleground Pennsylvania, NBC News projects.

8:12 p.m. — All Web sites (CNN, MSNBC, etc., etc.) are now taking a lot longer to load.

8:21 p.m. — CNN projects that Sen. Barack Obama will winn Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington. Sen. John McCain will win Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee, CNN projects.

8:47 p.m. — CNN projects that Barack Obama wins Pennsylvania

9:04 p.m. — Get ready for a deluge, with the close of the 9 p.m. polls.

9:05 p.m. — And, like that, it’s 174-49 in favor of Obama in the electoral college.

9:20 p.m. — With 9 percent of precincts reporting, Obama leads Ohio 57-42. Fat lady is warming up.

9:29 p.m. — E-mail alert: The New York Times projects that Senator Barack Obama will win the state of Pennsylvania, taking 21 electoral votes.

9:34 p.m. — Slate: President Obama. His victory in Ohio all but guarantees his election.

9:37 p.m. — NBC: OBAMA WINS OHIO, NEW MEXICO

9:44 p.m. — CNN has Obama winning Ohio and an electoral count of 194-69.

10 p.m. — HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Voting in Pennsylvania ran smoothly, despite some long lines at universities and complaints about poll workers struggling to handle a flood of first-time voters, election officials said.

10:44 p.m. — I just finished filming an episode of Gridiron TV with Sean McLernon and Steve Navaroli.

10:44 p.m. — Popular vote remains close: OBAMA: 19,713,637, MCCAIN: 19,416,839

10:46 p.m. — ABC News: … it appears McCain is running out of paths to victory.

10:46 p.m. — FOX NEWS PROJECTS: Obama Wins Virginia

10:48 p.m. — (CNN) — As Sen. Barack Obama built up a commanding lead over Sen. John McCain, senior aides to the Arizona senator were growing pessimistic about his chances.

10:50 p.m. — Slate.com … “Obama Wins the Presidency”

11:00 p.m. — Absolute rout in Pennsylvania, 57-42 percent for Obama, with 82 precincts reporting.

11:01 p.m. — BC-Obama Wins, 40
BULLETIN
Obama elected president
Eds: APNewsNow.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama has been elected president of the United States, becoming the first African-American elevated to the White House

11:04 p.m. — CNN TV has projected that Obama is the President-Elect. Not the Web site.

11:05 p.m. — There it is: CNN projects that Sen. Barack Obama has won election as the next president of the United States.

11:05 p.m. — NBC: OBAMA WINS

11:07 p.m. — Breaking News >> FOX NEWS PROJECTS: Obama Captures Electoral Votes Needed to Be President

11:21 p.m. — Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
John McCain Concedes Election

11:35 p.m. — (CNN) — Sen. John McCain on Tuesday urged all Americans to join him in congratulating Sen. Barack Obama on his projected victory in the presidential election.

12:08 a.m. — CNN: Barack Obama, in victory speech, tells supporters that his election as president shows that “change has come to America.”