CNN Exit Polling shows Hillary MIGHT have won New Hampshire. She took 47% of the women's vote to Obama's 34%. She lost men to Obama 42 to 30%. Women comprised 57% of the vote. The Media Misogyny is not taken to kindly by women. My math tells me that means Hillary won.

That would be a shocking result. And it would be a clear signal that the Media Misogyny, and yes Tweety Matthews, I am talking about you and your ilk, is unacceptable to women in the United States. And thank gawd for that.

CNN calls McCain the winner over Mitt Romney really early. It projects John Edwards will come in third.

What's next for John Edwards? Will he back Obama or stay in until February 5? I hope he stays in.

Update: Romney says he's staying in. Huckabee concedes. He sounds triumphant and announces they are on their way to Michigan, South Carolina and Florida. McCain's getting ready to speak.

Via dkos diarist rmjob (who is pretty solid):

Bill Schneider:

Here's an interesting fact we discovered in the exit poll. About 1 in 7, 14% of both Democrats & Republicans, told us they made their minds up, how they're going to vote today. So there could be some changes from the pre-election polls.

Here's an intriguing finding:

Most Important To Your Vote?

[Democrats]
Issues 57%

Personal Qualities 41%

Most Important To Your Vote? [Republicans] Personal Qualities 54%
Issues 43%

One strain of interpretation could make this good for Clinton and McCain. Less about "personal qualities" would be better for Clinton and Romney it seems to me. But who the heck knows?

More . . .

Watch Mitt Romney turn away from a medical marijuana user in a wheelchair.

Here's the Granite Stater's Scorecard on the candidates. Hillary and Obama both get "A"'s. John Edwards gets an A- and Bill Richardson gets an A+.

• Hillary Clinton
• Barack Obama
• John Edwards
• Bill Richardson

John McCain, Rudy, Huckabee and Romney get "F's. [Hat tip Crooks and Liars.]

Some more New Hampshire numbers, from Boston Globe:

• 1.3 million people
• 253,736 Republicans
• 216,005 Democrats
• 356,897 Independents

When the returns come out, here's some of their expectations:

• The Volvo Towns, "home to east coast elites of the culture wars" , the affluent and educated, will probably go to Obama whom they are apt to view as the reform candidate. Towns of : Hanover, Concorde, Keene, Portsmouth, Brookline, Durham and Peterborough.

• The Metropolis, Less affluent and more moderate Dems, could go either way. City of Manchester.

• Lunch Pail Priorities: Blue collar, Berlin and Lyme and a few others.

• Beyond Currier and Ives: Off the beaten track, Walpole and Mason.

Tonight Barack Obama and John McCain will be battling to be the Media Darling for the night. I think McCain leads that contest, AS LONG AS he wins tonight, even if by a point. The Media is rooting hard for him. Here is the latest RCP average:

McCain 31.8
Romney 28.2
Huck 12.2
Rudy 9.3
Paul 8.2

Personally I am rooting hard for Romney because I want to see the long faces on Tweety and Co. if Saint John loses. I am also rooting for Paul to beat Rudy. Another 5th for Rudy would be sweet.

But make no mistake, if McCain wins, he will be toasted all night long. The Media loves McCain even more than it hates Hillary Clinton.

BTW, drop your predictions here if you like. I predict Willard in an upset.

Update: Odinga has changed his mind and now agreed to meet with President Kibaki. It may be that Barack Obama's telephone call was successful.

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The U.S. today urged Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga to engage in bi-lateral talks to resolve Kenya's political crisis.

Barack Obama called the opposition leader to urge him to agree to the talks.

Barack Obama, whose late father was Kenyan, spoke with the opposition leader Raila Odinga for about five minutes from New Hampshire, asking the opposition leader to meet directly with President Mwai Kibaki, said the Democratic presidential candidate's spokesman.

"He urged an end to violence and that Mr. Odinga sit down, without preconditions, with President Kibaki to resolve this issue peacefully," said the spokesman, Bill Burton.

The outcome (from first linked article): [More...]

With so many Independents voting in the Democratic and Republican primaries New Hampshire today, and likely deciding the nominees, the question arises, how long will they stay Democrats and Republicans: The answer is, they can change back to Independents on their way out of the polling booth. (See, Par. 2 under Presidential Primary)

Undeclared voters may declare a party and vote at any primary. The law allows an undeclared voter to declare a party at the polls, vote the ballot of that party, and then change their party affiliation back to undeclared simply by completing the form available from the Supervisors of the Checklist at the polling place.

New Hampshire by the numbers:2008:

• 850,836 total registered voters
• 26% Democratic
• 30% Republican
• 44% Independent
• Delegates: 27
• 22 tied to primary results
• 5 super-delegates, free to choose
• Electoral College Votes: 4 [More...]

Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was at a polling place in Portsmouth, NH today to support Hillary Clinton:

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, Texas also made a visit to Portsmouth Junior High School in support of her favorite candidate, Senator Hillary Clinton.“Hillary is a candidate of ideas. I’m excited about her candidacy because I’m excited about what she can do,” Jackson Lee said.

Barclay Jackson, a Portsmouth voter and Hillary supporter added:

“She has the guts, strength, and experience to lead us out of the mess we are in,” Jackson said. “She has again and again stood up for women’s rights to make personal decisions.”

On Hillary's expression of emotion yesterday: [More...]

Gloria Steinem today in the New York Times:

Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House. This country is way down the list of countries electing women and, according to one study, it polarizes gender roles more than the average democracy.

That’s why the Iowa primary was following our historical pattern of making change. Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).

If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.

So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.

There is truth in what Steinem writes but it is not a universal truth. In general, I believe white women are given a fairer shake than African American men. But in politics, especially at its highest levels, this seems less so. It seems undeniable that Obama has become a Meda Darling while Hillary Clinton has gotten the worst coverage since Al Gore in 2000.

Sexism is more acceptable. Exhibit A? Chris Matthews. If he acted towards Obama as he does towards Hillary, he would have been Imused.

This is not to say that that explains Obama's meteoric rise. But it is a factor.

Update [2008-1-8 9:37:31 by Big Tent Democrat]: See also Ezra.

Update [2008-1-8 17:16:6 by Big Tent Democrat]: Here's Plutonium Page's take

Here are the latest polls:

Suffolk:

Obama 39 (35)
Clinton 34 (34)
Edwards 15 (15)

ARG:

Obama 40 (39)
Clinton 31 (28)
Edwards 17 (22)

Zogby:

Obama 42 (39)
Clinton 29 (29)
Edwards 17 (19)

Rassmussen:

Obama 37 (38)
Clinton 30 (28)
Edwards 19 (18)

Clinton is closing in all but the Zogby poll. But the margin seems too large. So the spin is critical here. If Clinton can come within say 5, she has a fair chance of arguing she did decently in the face of Iowa Mo. Edwards is done it seems. Obama is the winner if he wins, but how big a win is subject to spin.

Update 12:05 am ET: The votes are in.

1 Giuiliani
4 McCain
2 Romney
0 Huckabee

2 Edwards
1 Richardson
7 Obama
0 Clinton

Update: There was only two registered Democrats voting. The Independents at work:

In Dixville this year, there were three registered Republicans, two Democrats - one of whom registered Monday - and 12 who were undeclared. Hart's Location had eight Democrats, eight Republicans and 13 undeclared.

Update: Hart's Location results are also in:

In Hart's Location, Democrat Obama received nine votes, Hillary Rodham Clinton received three and John Edwards received one. Among Republicans, McCain received six, Mike Huckabee received five, Ron Paul received four and Mitt Romney one.

Hart's location had 8 Democrats, 8 Republicans and 13 Independents.

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Original Post Below: New Hampshire: First Voting Begins at Midnight Tonight