Post-election: Third party votes

Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate, received 0.9% of the vote nationally, and 2-3.5% in some of the more libertarian states (source here). That isn't anywhere close to all the Ron Paul supporters who swore that they wouldn't vote for Mitt. What happened to them?

This commentator thinks a lot didn't vote for anyone for president. That sounds believable to me, and I don't have time at this point to research it. I invite others to fill in the gaps.

Image: deadlinelive.info

Pre-election: Deep breath and last thoughts

I've written a lot about the election, the proposals of the candidates, and their histories. I don't have any final words on those topics in the last two days before the election. Instead, I'm reflecting on what I don't know.

I don't really know how this election will turn out. It looks like a squeaker, with an edge to Obama. But maybe Obama will have a comfortable margin, or maybe Romney will squeak through. Maybe the polls are worthless. I'm ready for almost anything because I don't have a sense of certainty about any of this, other than I expect a pretty large turnout.

Mostly, I will be asking questions and looking for answers:

• How are the results stacking up against the final polls of the places I've been following (RealClearPolitics and Nate Silver)? Was UnskewedPolls more realistic than I gave them credit for?

• What are the vote totals for third party candidates? Did Gary Johnson get above 1% anywhere? Did he receive mroe votes than the margin between Obama and Romney? How about Jill Stein?

• Any surprises? I generally hate surprises. Will I hate the surprises, or find them delightful?

• I'll be looking out for the partisan spin as an immediate reaction and as it develops.

 Much more important than my words.

Image: foxnews.com

Note: I still have my heavy and inflexible work assignment, so I won't be posting until sometime on Wednesday at the earliest.

Update 20 minutes later. I'm also glad that the campaigns are getting a little gentler at the end, rather than shooting off the nuclear warheads. That's how I can tell Gingrich isn't running.