A lot of eyes will be on Virginia tomorrow. Today, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit by the NAACP to extend voting hours.

The lawsuit, filed last week, contends that the state is violating the U.S. and state constitutions by not providing enough voting machines, poll workers and polling places, particularly in precincts with large minority populations. The shortages could result in long lines and lost votes, the suit says.

"We are urging all voters to stand in line," NAACP President Ben Jealous said after the ruling. "Americans have waited 230 years for this -- a multi-gender, multi-generational, multiracial [campaign]. This is a big day. Stay in line."

Disabled and elederly voters can vote curbside. And anyone in line at 7pm when the polls close will get to vote. There are more than 5 million registered voters in the state.

Via the LA Times, Karl Rove has released his final electoral map predictions.

The final Rove & Co. electoral map (pdf)of the 2008 election cycle points to a 338-200 Barack Obama electoral vote victory over John McCain tomorrow.

All remaining toss-up states have been allocated to the candidate leading in them, with Florida (27 EV) going to Obama, and Indiana (11 EV), Missouri (11 EV), North Carolina (15 EV), and North Dakota (3 EV) going to McCain. The two candidates are in a dead heat in Missouri and North Carolina, but they go to McCain because the most recent polls conducted over this past weekend show him narrowly ahead. Florida, too, could end up in McCain’s column since he’s benefited from recent movement in the state.

Rove's predictions are only 1 EV different than Democratic strategist William Arnone's which I wrote about here.

It will be an early election night if Obama takes PA, FL and Ohio. Does anyone forsee any surprises? I think Obama has a decent shot at North Carolina and a chance at Indiana. I won't be surprised if he tops 350 electoral votes. But I'll gladly take 338 or 339.

The National Journal interviewed a lot of bloggers about the role blogs played in this year's presidential election and their predictions for tomorrow.

Not surprisingly, some bloggers viewed themselves as engaging readers in the political process and others as media watchdogs.The actual question we were asked was "What role do you think bloggers in general (and your blog in particular) have played in this election cycle?"

My answer:

Holding the primary candidates' feet to the fire. Debunking right-wing spin. Promoting individual engagement in the electoral process (through comments which have generated communities of commenters.)

The predictions, broken down by Left and right leaning blogs are here. Of the Right wing blogs. 59% say Obama will win, 41% say McCain will win. On the left, 100% of the bloggers call it for Obama.

William Arnone, author of previous reports on the key states in the primaries and the electoral vote, has prepared his final assessment of who is likely to carry each state in Tuesday's Presidential election. I am publishing the report with his permission.

His summary:

The final assessment shows that the Democratic ticket of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware will win 27 states (including the District of Columbia) and part of one state (Nebraska) with 339 electoral votes.

The Republican Presidential ticket of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska will win 23 states and parts of one state (Nebraska) with 199 electoral votes. The number of electoral votes needed to win is 270.

More...

Barack Obama's grandmother died. He took a break from campaigning to visit her a little more than a week ago.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Obama said in a joint statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. "She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength, and humility."

Rest in peace, Madelyn Dunham.

Not the biggest deal but I hate silly stupid stuff whether its the Media or the blogs. In this case it is a twofer. Both the normally solid NYTimes reporter John Harwood and MYDD blogger Todd Beeton forward the idea that Barack Obama is outperforming Bill Clinton among white voters. Harwood writes:

In last week's New York Times/CBS News poll, Mr. Obama drew 44 percent support among whites -- a higher proportion than Bill Clinton captured in his general election victories.

More . . .

As Jeralyn discussed earlier today, a military commission jury voted to convict Ali Hamza al-Bahlul of 35 crimes, including solicitation to commit murder and providing material support to terrorism. This result should not shock, given Bahlul's refusal to defend himself and his lawyer's decision to respect Bahlul's desire to present no defense. You may recall that the judge allowed the proceeding to proceed even after Bahlul's lawyer refused to participate.

The 35 convictions do not shock, but this does:

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In an editorial today, the Casper Tribune endorsed Sen. Barack Obama. It says Obama is better on economic and energy issues and McCain flubbed by picking Gov. Sarah Palin. In describing McCain it says:

If the John McCain of 2000 saw today's counterpart, he wouldn't recognize himself. McCain is no longer a GOP maverick, or the war hero whose principles were unwavering. He has flip-flopped on issues ranging from tax cuts to torture in an effort to win over the conservative base of his party. He has waged a dismal campaign based on fear and divisiveness.

On Obama: [More...]

Sen. Barack Obama has received the endorsement of three leading Jewish newspapers:

• Detroit Jewish News
• Los Angeles Jewish Observer
• Washington Jewish Week

Here's a very moving video by Israelis who support Obama.

More...

The fat lady is singing pollwise:

With just one day to go before Election Day, Barack Obama has a 7 percentage point lead over John McCain -- 50-43 percent, according to the final FOX News pre-election poll of likely voters. At the end of October, Obama led by 47-44 percent among likely voters, and by 49-40 percent about ten days ago (Oct 20-21).

Update - And now the last resisters among the polls fall - IBD/TIPP has Obama by 5 and Battleground has Obama by 6. Not a single poll, not one, has Obama with less than a 5 point lead.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Remember the juror in the Alaska trial of Sen. Ted Stevens who didn't show because her father died?

It was a lie. She went to a horse race.

It looks like she is delusional. The Judge doesn't appear to want to penalize her:

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan let her go, saying that he was going to "accept Mr. Kramer's representation that you were not able to (deliberate) and for reasons that were serious to you."

He added: "I'm convinced you were not able to deliberate."

She also said had she deliberated, she would have voted to convict.

Now beyond parody, Keith Olbermann. Good gawd. Does NBC have no shame anymore?

This is an Open Thread.

The thoughts on Olbermann are solely my own.