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Election night certainly didn't go as some of our most beloved pundits predicted. (AP Photo/file)

Well that didn't take as long as we thought

BY Dave Ross  on November 7, 2012 @ 8:13 am (Updated: 9:36 am - 11/7/12 )

Election night certainly didn't go as some of our most beloved pundits predicted.

"My intellectual analysis of this, factoring everything I see, plus the polling data, not even close, 300 plus electoral votes for Romney," said Rush Limbaugh.

"My personal guess is you'll see a Romney landslide, 300 electoral votes plus, and we may come very close to capturing control of the Senate in that context," said Newt Gingrich.

Of course Rush and Newt weren't troubling themselves with actual analysis. But even Karl Rove, who does do actual analysis, talks about charging into battle without body armor! He goes on Fox and challenges his own network's call.

"No, I don't," he said.

Megyn Kelly goes into the back room to check with the numbers guys, who say, 'no, there's no mistake,' but Rove remembers Florida in 2000.

"We've got to be careful about calling things when we have like 991 votes separating the two candidates and a quarter of the vote left to count," said Rove.

But as it turns out, Fox's numbers guys were right, and the New York Times numbers guy Nate Silver was right, and that's scary.

Numbers guys are young and smart, and they may be accurate, but they are inherently boring -- and if this spells the end of uninformed cheerleader commentary; if pom-pom punditry is dead -- there's gonna be a lot of time to fill.

I guess we can still fight over what's the real America -- Norman Rockwell's America, or the America that re-elected Barack Obama. Except with the popular vote being pretty much tied, it turns out that the new real America must be just as real as the old real America.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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  • Republicans are losers wrote...
    Final - Obama Wins
    November 7, 2012 7:47 am
    Obama: 303

    Romney: 206

    Just like Nate Silver said.

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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @Republicans are losers....
    November 7, 2012 2:30 pm
    You forget that Florida is still Obama's unless the final 3% of the votes to be counted ALL fall in Romney's camp, so add another 29 electoral votes to Obama - 332, Romney 206.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Well, except for Bill O'Reilly..........
    November 7, 2012 7:48 am
    Who called the race for Obama after Christie bear hugged him.

    But that's OK, Dave. You're so wrapped in the presidential race that you didn't notice that half our more local races - including governor - we may not know until - say - Christmas ?

    Back to your (actually, Luke's) gambling guru calling the election. No one would remember of even care about Mr. Silver had he been wrong. ... and all he did in the first place was set odds. ... Odds are great, Dave. But if ever you believe them a sure thing, sooner or later you loose everything you've got. Even Luke. Even you.

    Just ask Rush.

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  • Cbrew wrote...
    frackin Repubs
    November 7, 2012 7:53 am
    So stupid they sat here to the very end saying "the polls are bullcrap" really? Biased left wing media must have twisted the polls right? Do they realize how utterly insane they sound... and how utterly insane they are for actually believing in Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and all those idiots over at faux news... they are brainwashed... absolutely brainwashed, anybody that has half a brain knew this election was going Obama's way... he was ahead in every poll in virtually every battleground state.... How is this a shock to anybody? (A) - It's not a shock to anybody with half a brain.
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  • Realitycheck wrote...
    Cbrew
    November 7, 2012 10:18 am
    Thanks for admitting you have half a brain :). It was very clear to all of us already but admitting it yourself is the first step :).
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  • Fuego wrote...
    The party was short..
    November 7, 2012 7:54 am
    but the hangover is going to last a few years.
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  • logical open mind wrote...
    if you have the means to downsize your house and retire or work part time, now is the time to do it. The future will be much higher property taxes and higher taxes for people who went to college worked hard and have stressfull jobs.
    November 7, 2012 8:23 am
    Who else is going to pay the 16T debt and growing? This sin't me quiting the US but merely thinking the stress I have by working 60+ hours a week will not be worth it going forward. DOES ANYONE ELSE WITH SOME EQUITY STILL WORKING HARD FEEL THE SAME? Smaller house plus less dinners out plus part time easier work = more golf, more fishing and more peace. I am officialy done with the ambitious game.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Logical
    November 7, 2012 8:36 am
    I know your Faux news spent 4 years telling you that Obama was going to destroy the country if re-elected, but these issues you're talking about, these are issues that both Repubs and the President have to resolve together, and repubs do have a say, in fact, collectively they have AS MUCH SAY as the President, so maybe start thinking abotu the frackin process in a different light... If we don't solve the debt issues and all the other issues in here, it will be on both The President and the Republican House of Representatives.
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  • logical open mind wrote...
    Cbrew-what does your post have to do with my point that 16T will rear it's ugly head and people in my income are going to see a big increase in property and income taxes?
    November 7, 2012 9:03 am
    Taxing the rich a bunch more will only have the rich moving their money to places where the feds can't get it. Middle and low income can't pay much fed income at all. The hours and stress is not worth it. Going forward, hard work long hours is FOR SUCKERS!!
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Logical
    November 7, 2012 9:46 am
    you have the worst possible name on this blog. You are not logical or open minded. The tax rate for upperclass Americans which will effect only the top what, 2-5% of Americans, will go back to what it was in the 90's. Now i'm a little rusty here but i was alive in the 90's and last time i checked, it was a pretty good economy back then. I think you're overreacting. The Wealthy have had a big break for 12 years, now that it's over you really believe it's going to break the bank? I'm sorry but if the wealthy want to put their money overseas then there needs to be a penalty for that. Afterall, it was the benefits that this country alone provides that made your fortune in the first place. In foreign country's they do not have the stability or the educated workforce or infrastructure to build the kinds of fortunes built here. In the end though, how can you believe that the tax rate returning to what it was in the 90's is going to destroy the country? We weren't destroyed in the 90's
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  • logical open mind wrote...
    cbrew-I predict the tax rates will go well beyond what we had in the DOT.COM explosion 90's. well beyond when the debt hit the fan.
    November 7, 2012 1:53 pm
    Dude, do you really think that a few % tax increase would have higher income people scratching their head? This country has changed and wealthy people are demonized. When going after the wealthy, the next group to go after will be small business owners and professionals making $150-$300K per year. The state is broke so property taxes will need to be raised in a big way. Good grief man, stand back a bit and think. No one is particularily worried about going to the 1990 tax rates. Are you capable of standing back and observing Europe to see the macro-economic road the us will be heading down? Heck, you probably are for a national global warming tax on top of this unemployment, 2% GDP economy-right?
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  • gaymarriedchristianfromhollywood wrote...
    "the rich moving their money places where the feds can't get it"
    November 7, 2012 2:24 pm
    How patriotic. Romney should have run for president of the Cayman Islands.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Once again, everybody loses...(unless we decide to salvage a victory from the victory, or the defeat)
    November 7, 2012 7:55 am
    So Obama won reelection. Congratulations to him and his supporters. I had no enthusiasm for either candidate this cycle as neither really reflected my personal values. Obama and his party are not good stewards of the national purse, Romney and his party have insufficient social consciousness.

    Obama may have clobbered Romney by about 100 electoral votes, but with the popular vote split roughly 50/50 there is no mandate and we remain a polarized nation.

    We can fix that. We can fix that without waiting for our elected leaders to "do something about it". We can fix it without abandoning our personal principles. The first and most important step would be for all of us to respect, rather than vilify, differences of opinion. Until we can get past the rage, the hatred, and the name calling there is no hope that any of us will ever be able to work together with folks who have a different perspective or opinion. In a diverse nation, we need to adhere to our individual principles yet be prepared to function productively in an environment where some people hold different opinions with equal sincerity.

    Even though he won, Obama is now a lame duck president. His term is definitely over in four years. All politicians start running for re-election about 5 minutes after they are initially sworn in. Since that's off the table for Obama, maybe he and his supporters and opponents will make different decisions. Policies no longer need to be made to "ensure Obama is a one term president" or to help promote an Obama re-election.

    The presidential election outcome is not a victory for the Democrats and a defeat for the Republicans. It's either a victory or defeat for all Americans. The fabulous aspect is; we get to choose which. Unless we abandon blind partisanship and look for ways to work together despite differences in values and civic opinions, the presidential election will simply prove to be another phase in our continuing defeat as a nation. That would have been equally true if Romney had prevailed and we continued to fail to work together.

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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Woa, some unfortunate comments in this thread already...
    November 7, 2012 8:01 am
    That's why I despise political partisanship.

    The only thing more unbearable than a sore loser is a graceless "winner".

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Oh Chuck
    November 7, 2012 8:10 am
    I'm sorry but you must realize, for about a year i've heard nothing but hatred and anti-American propoganda coming from the majority of folks on this blog, I feel a moral obligation to remind these morons how wrong they were, to point out that they have been brainwashed by their propaganda machine Faux news, in my belief, telling them, good job, good hard fought spirited campaign, would be lying to them. Over the last year i've seen the most awful downright evil things being spewed by the Right wingers on here, and i'm not simply going to let that go today, they need to be reminded how absolutely stupid they were, and how they were absolutely mislead. If they don't get it now, when will we have another opportunity to prove it? They will quickly latch on to their Hannity and their Limbaugh and the rest of the Faux news, and believe whatever other lie they spin up about this election, so i'm looking to point it out while there is still time.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Brew.....understood, but
    November 7, 2012 8:25 am
    If you figure out a way for either side to return the opposition's nasty tactics and rhetorical style without first becoming that which they claim to abhor, please let me know what that is.

    We won't solve this country's problems unless we work together (the last few years is a great example of problems made worse by failure of the two sides to seek accord). We can't work together unless we can at least figure out how to hold a civil conversation.

    Some of the influences you cite have made spectacular livings by dividing America and getting people so emotionally riled up that civil conversation becomes almost impossible. Shame on them. Shame on those who let themselves be so blatantly manipulated. Shame on anybody who thinks that because Person X or Network Y spews propaganda and discord all day long the only response is to spew more propaganda and discord in return.

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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Chuck
    November 7, 2012 8:46 am
    Well, you're older and wiser than I old man, i just don't know what it's going to take. You know I began here as an independent? I haven't been able to side with republicans on HARDLY anything since then. It's like, no matter how hard i try to stay in the middle, the Right is so abhorrent, I can't find a way to balance that. I don't feel like I've moved my positions, I feel like they've moved further away... Oh well. I'm not much of a political person anyways, i believe in the American People before i believe in any politician, afterall, Politicians are temporary, we all live here our entire lives.. we'll see more president's more congressmen etc. so I hate that everything has become so divided.
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  • maplefish wrote...
    @ Chuck
    November 7, 2012 1:52 pm
    You nailed it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pat McGrone wrote...
    I agree to some point
    November 7, 2012 8:21 am
    but the balance of the Supreme Court should not swing right, and roe v wade should hold.

    The Affordable Care Act will stand.

    From what I've read, Obama really wants deficit Reduction, but needed the stimulus to keep us afloat.

    The CBO shows the future deficit around 400B once the tax cuts expire and we end the war.

    Now we need to just need to deal with Medicare, SSI and defense spending, and hang in there while the economy improves.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Looks like the Stock Market doesnt like the results
    November 7, 2012 8:23 am
    Down 310 and falling.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Lot of angry billionaires out there that spent
    November 7, 2012 8:34 am
    Millions of dollars on the Faux network's "math" that said Romney would win... they are probably reacting to the fact that they spent millions to have a President in their back pocket and lost... now they got nothing.
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  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    As Apposed Cbrew to the ones that
    November 7, 2012 8:40 am
    spent Millions and Won and now they get everything?

    You remember all the 1%ers Obama was wining and dining with? They didn't give out of the goodness of their hearts.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cbrew wrote...
    Rick
    November 7, 2012 8:43 am
    I would be a lot more concerned if it were specific Billionaires fronting entire fortunes than a collection of wealthy doners... but yes, Money is a problem in the elections... I think it's time for real Campaign finance reform, but i think it will take a backseat with the other problems we face.
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  • Realitycheck wrote...
    Cbrew you are so blind
    November 7, 2012 9:47 am
    And Obama is not in their back pocket? Bailed out banks but they put no restrictions on foreclosures in exchange. We the people (tax payer money) saved the banks but we get nothing in exchange. All the hyped up help for homeowners has helped hardly anybody. Banks just pick a lucky few so they can publicly say "See we are working with people" when the truth is they are putting many people out on the streets even though they would qualify for a mortgage adjustment under the government guidelines. Which tells me that Obama did not make them sign that in exchange for bailing them out they need to work with every homeowner that has the means to stay in there home with the government recommended help. This is not helping people that bought way above their means, this is helping people which got defrauded by the financial industry since their irresponsible lending practices inflated the market (house prices) and caused all this to happen.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Realitycheck
    November 7, 2012 10:16 am
    Why does it seem like i have to explain basic things to you after everything you post? Regardless of which party was in power at the time, the banks were going to be saved by the bailout, it was an absolutely necessary evil. Economies simply do not work without banks. When banks fail, that leads to not a recession, but a depression. As hard as it is to stomach, Banks had to be saved. It's basic economics, doesn't mean you have to like it but there was literally no other way.
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  • gaymarriedchristianfromhollywood wrote...
    Chillax everybody. We survived 8 years of Bush, we'll
    November 7, 2012 8:31 am
    survive 8 years of Obama. Next time nominate someone who can win with women, minorities and young people. The president won among female voters by 12 points. He took 55 percent of the demographic, compared with 43 percent for Romney, but with unmarried women, he beat Romney by a whopping 38 points, 68 percent to 30 percent. The extremists in the party are cannibalizing their own and unless the leadership can get out of their strangle hold they will be the minority party for a long time. The only reason they can still hold on to the house is because of the redistricting of 2010 but I doubt that will last. And with an 11% approval rating I wouldn't brag too much about that.
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  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    Thats the one big issue that I agree
    November 7, 2012 8:48 am
    The Approval rating of Congress (House and Senate) is the lowest its ever been. However most of the people think "ITs the other ones fault, Mines Perfect"

    I voted Non-Incumbent this year. I even voted against someone Ive voted for for a long time, because I just could not say vote them all out and keep mine. Mine got a no vote too.

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  • Nervoso wrote...
    Just goes to show how delusional the right really is
    November 7, 2012 8:51 am
    maybe they'll put someone besides a corpse in for their next candidate
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  • Fuego wrote...
    Romney was right
    November 7, 2012 8:58 am
    in that you can't walk into a meeting and demand "it's my way or the highway". Hopefully Obama will grab both Reid and Boehner and fix this fiscal cliff that's just around the corner. Leadership does require a little sweat.
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  • Cbrew wrote...
    Honestly, my biggest hope coming out of this is
    November 7, 2012 9:12 am
    That Republicans and Democrats... all of them, realize that this country is bigger than either of them. Nobody is more Important than this Nation, this country that I signed up to defend and put my life on the line for. There is a lot to live up to, the price that was paid for this Country is VERY HIGH, I've seen it first hand. These parties need to understand that, they have been elected to perform a JOB... a sacred duty that was entrusted to them. If they cannot understand that then we need new parties not just new leaders. I have always and will always believe this country is it's people, not it's politics, i'd rather help my neighbor in strife than any politician trying to get elected. We're bigger than Politics, we should be anyways, and we only serve to discredit the sacrifices made by our Men and women who have paid for this Country with their lives when we act like 1 politician or another is More important than everything we have built together over the last 236 years....
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