Things to look at on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November
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To see whether it is a complete blow-out, look at whether North Carolina turns blue - if it does, it will be over before midnight and someone is getting over 300 electoral votes.

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To see whether Obama wins confortably: Obama wins either Virginia, Florida or Ohio. If this happens, it might be a blowout or not, but in any case we can go to bed before midnight (in the UK) knowing that Barack Obama will be inaugurated as President of the United States (so help him God) on 20 January 2009.

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To see whether McCain stands a chance: the above mentioned states stay red, and McCain wins Pensylvania. If this happens (and the average of polls in Pensylvania up to last Wednesday gave Obama a +10 point advantage), we are in for a long, long night.