Partly Cloudy

State of the race at 9:50pm

The bad news: McCain has lost (although at least it happened early), Coleman is losing (although only by 11K votes), the yes vote for the arts and crafts constitutional amendment is currently projected at 53.25%, the District 281 school levy has 54% of the vote, and my glass of Scotch is almost empty.

The good news: John Kline is cruising in the Second, Erik Paulsen is leading in the 3rd, Michele Bachmann has a four point lead in the Sixth, and Brit Hume is having fun and providing much entertainment on Fox News.

UPDATE at 10:05pm: Coleman now up by 4K votes.

UPDATE at 10:19pm Franken back up by 11K. This one looks like it's going all night.

Watching McCain's concession speech now. Not surprisingly, he's gracious and honorable in defeat. Truly a good man who faced almost impossible circumstances.

UPDATE at 10:35pm The votes come in and the Senate lead seesaws. Coleman now has an 11K lead. We won't know how this ends until the morning. In the House races, Paulsen and Bachmann both have 5+% leads with over half the votes in.

UPDATE at 10:54pm Too early to call it a trend but Coleman is now up by 20K votes with 57% of precincts in.

Watching Obama speak now. Doesn't seem to be doing much to lower expectations yet with talk of "bending the arc of history." Good of him to recognize McCain's service. Having Joe Biden as VP for the next four years should provide plenty of fodder. He did present the challenges ahead and warned that it won't be easy or quick. I just wonder how many in the crowd are really hearing those words. I also wonder exactly what it is that his supporters are supposed to do after the election. To chip in what? To make what kind of sacrifices? I guess we've got the next four years to find out. The promises he made to the country and the world tonight were definitely an audacious start. Nice return to the "arc of history" at the close.

UPDATE at 11:13pm With sixty-five percent of the vote in, Franken leads by 105 votes:

NORM COLEMAN 755095 41.87%
AL FRANKEN 755200 41.88%

Follow along with the fun here.