England for Obama

…in a small town in a mountain pass in New Hampshire. Well, more of a hamlet, really -

DIXVILLE NOTCH, New Hampshire (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama emerged victorious in the first election returns of the 2008 presidential race, winning 15 of 21 votes cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire.

And that was a full voter turnout! Woo-hoo!

Hang on - shouldn’t John McCain be the winner in a place called Dicksville?

Seriously, though: this is the first time that Dixville Notch - which is always the first town to announce its results - has voted for the Democratic candidate since 1968.

And in 2004, they voted 19 for George Bush, 6 for John Kerry.

I’m just sayin’…

To put this in context:

1. In 2004, John Kerry won New Hampshire by just 9,000 votes.

2. New Hampshire is one of the blue states the McCain camp were hoping to turn red.

From Salon:

“With the press corps writing McCain’s epitaph, why should New Hampshire and its puny four electoral votes matter? Until the Wall Street Whirlpool, this seemed like the 2004 blue state that McCain had the best chance of snagging for the Republicans. In fact, if Obama won New Mexico, Colorado and Iowa (all carried by Bush in 2004) while McCain prevailed in New Hampshire, it would produce a 269-to-269 tie in the Electoral College. But that scenario seems like a distant dream.”

From the Politicalwire blog:

“An early look at today’s Diageo/Hotline tracking poll shows Sen. Barack Obama now holds a double-digit lead in key battleground states.

Among registered voters surveyed in Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin and Nevada, Obama tops McCain 50 to 40%. Just a week ago, Obama led 45% to 42%.

Nationwide, Obama leads 47% to 41%.”