Some Final Thoughts Tonight

- Been spending a lot of time tonight looking at the exits.  Consider this - 47 percent of the vote was men and they voted 49-49.  Women were 53 percent of the electorate (higher than previous years), and they voted 55-43 for Obama.  Wow. There is now doubt now that President-elect Obama was elected by very strong numbers from women, African-Americans, Hispanics and Millennials.  

- The Latino and Millennial numbers were off the charts. Each voted 2:1 for Obama.  Florida which was so close saw the Hispanic vote move from 55-45 Bush/Kerry in 2004, to 57-42 for Obama.  Given this margin it looks like the Hispanics - and even the Cubans - delivered Florida for Barack.  More on this tomorrow.  The Republicans have to be very worried about these numbers.  

- I agree with the commentators that President-Elect Obama's speech was terrific.  He has shifted from campaigner to leader.  His final riff about the 106 year old woman was as good as I've ever seen him.  And yes there is much, much we must do now.

-It is a new day.  Senator Obama won with new tools, a new coalition, a new map, a new and sober approach to new challenges.  A new politics of the 21st century is emerging, and it has its first leader in Barack Obama.  

- I will be writing more tomorrow about the role of race in this election, but I close with this essay I wrote earlier this year, On Obama, Race and the End of the Southern Strategy.