8:56: Bill Hemmer with “the best toy in the house,” according to Brit Hume. It’s a big touch-screen monitor that pulls states full then zooms them back…and presumably other antics.
8:54: A bearded former candidate Bill Richardson on with Keith Olbermann, briefly interrupted by a call for Huckabee winning Alabama.
8:48: Hat tip to Megyn Kelly and her cameraman. There’s a lot of choreography going on there.
8:43: John King making magic on CNN: the county-by-county break down of the super-close Super Tuesday GOP race in Georgia.
8:36: Rove on with Chris Wallace talking about that other nominee:. Rove: “People do not vote for President on the basis of Vice President.”
8:35: GibSawSteph on ABC and the other nets call Delaware for John McCain.
8:30: The nets call Arkansas for Mike Huckabee (he used to be Governor of the state) and Hillary Clinton (she used to be first lady of the state).
8:20: MSNBC breaks out the L box, with graphics up and down the screen. That’s a lot of info…
8:17: ABC sets itself apart by incorporating video clips of candidates into exit poll and “call” graphics.
8:15: With still a lot of “too early to call” or “too close to call” races, Chris Matthews says “This is an amazing night. This is very interesting.”
8:01: Megyn Kelly works the dazzling FNC studio with exit poll stories. The two-story set makes CNN’s Election Center look sort of, tired. Oh, Magic Wall, make some magic.
8:00: Nine more states, several projections on all the networks. ABC’s 5-hour coverage begins with Gibson, Sawyer and Stephanopoulos around the desk.
7:55: Brit Hume picks up on FNC, with Megyn Kelly and exit polls, Martha MacCallum with the stories from those “intrepid” bloggers and Chris Wallace introduces “the architect” Karl Rove.
7:54: Glenn Beck: “…we’re going to be live all night with results that may make blood shoot right out of your eyes.”
7:50: O’Reilly on the Democratic race: “NBC News openly rooting for Obama, CNN kind of rooting for him.”
7:43: Intrigued by the rolling poll-closing graphic on MSNBC. Alaskans, smoke ’em if you got ’em, you have 4+ hours to caucus. (by the way it’s -50F in Fort Yukon. Meanwhile, its 100 degrees warmer in New Jersey where polls close in 17 minutes.)
7:41: David Gergen loses train of thought after calling Lou Dobbs, “Wolf.” Dobbs returns the favor calling Gergen, “Jeffery.”
7:38: O’Reilly’s abbreviated show covers the McCain-isn’t-conservative-enough story.
7:30: Almost forgot: Glenn Beck hosting his first LIVE shows on HLN. 7, 9, & Midnight. Note to self: check YouTube in the morning.
7:27: Historians? So early in the night? Michael Beschloss on the expanded Nightly News.
7:24: Fox News airs at Huckabee HQ in Arkansas. (I saw it on Fox News.)
7:21: Young voters like Obama, so sayeth Bill Schneider.
7:19: Nine more states blinking on Wolf’s big map. 8pm is prime closing time.
7:12: Campbell Brown, in her first live anchoring role since joining CNN, does a state-by-state whip around with CNN political correspondents.
7:11: Russert on NBC: “Can’t wait to see that men/women breakdown in California.”
7:09: Shep’s slick open/tease. Jazzy.
7:06: Lester Holt on MSNBC at the virtu-wall with exit polls. Better skedaddle before Ann Curry‘s hit for big brother.
7:04: John King works the Magic Wall. As goes Fulton County…
7:00: The cable news nets all call Georgia for Barack Obama, so does NBC’s expanded Nightly News.
6:59: Wolf’s big clock is counting down. :42 to Georgia.