With a Democratic win in Ohio, Slate is officially calling theelection for Barack Obama, whose convincing performance in early returns hasmade it all but impossible for John McCain to win.
Even as visions of a mega-landslide victory for Democratsfaded with McCain victories in dubious tossups like Georgiaand North Dakota,Obama’s core strategy paid off: Win all of John Kerry’s states from 2004 andpick up a handful of moderate states that elected George W. Bush.
An Obama win in Ohiopreserves the state’s role as an electoral kingmaker. McCain had virtually nochance of winning the election without it, and Ohio has almost always voted for the winningcandidate in recent memory.
Just how dramatic this year’s political reorganization turnsout to be depends on more final results. Virginia and Indiana are both still tooclose to call, and many Western states are still wrapping up their voting.While it’s still entirely possible that McCain can pull out a respectable lossin this election, a win would require a miracle.
