What Caught My Eye Today - Presidential Election Results

Presidential Election Results - Here's how the election results unfolded from my couch last night (my sources of truth for the evening were PBS, NBC and the Associated Press):

7:00pm ET: 435 House seats up for election. 33 Senate seats up for election.
7:00pm ET: Polls close in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.
7:06pm ET: Kentucky (8) to Romney; Vermont (3) to Obama.
7:30pm ET: Polls close in North Carolina, Ohio and West Virginia.
7:30pm ET: Indiana (11) to Romney.
8:00pm ET: Polls close in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington DC.
8:00pm ET: South Carolina (9) to Romney.
8:08pm ET: Oklahoma (7), West Virginia (5) to Romney.
8:08pm ET: Connecticut (7), Delaware (3), Illinois (20), Maine (4), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (11), Washington DC (3) to Obama.
8:27pm ET: Tennessee (11) to Romney.
8:30pm ET: Polls close in Arkansas.
8:41pm ET: Georgia (16) to Romney.
8:58pm ET: Alabama (9), Mississippi (6) to Romney.
9:00pm ET: Polls close in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
9:01pm ET: House Results: 67 Republican; 38 Democrat.
9:01pm ET: Senate Results: 1 Republican; 6 Democrat; 2 Independent.
9:08pm ET: Kansas (6), Louisiana (8), Nebraska (5), South Dakota (3), Texas (38), Wyoming (3) to Romney.
9:08pm ET: Michigan (16), New York (29) to Obama.
9:13pm ET: North Dakota (3) to Romney.
9:20pm ET: Arkansas (6) to Romney.
9:22pm ET: House Results: 67 Republican; 38 Democrat.
9:22pm ET: Senate Results: 4 Republican; 9 Democrat; 2 Independent.
9:31pm ET: New Jersey (14) to Obama.
9:40pm ET: House Results: 95 Republican; 52 Democrat.
9:40pm ET: Senate Results: 4 Republican; 9 Democrat; 2 Independent.
10:00pm ET: Polls close in Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Utah.
10:02pm ET: Montana (3), Utah (6) to Romney.
10:02pm ET: New Hampshire (4), New Mexico, Pennsylvania (20), Wisconsin (10) to Obama.
10:17pm ET: House Results: 136 Republican; 82 Democrat.
10:17pm ET: Senate Results: 5 Republican; 14 Democrat; 2 Independent.
10:35pm ET: Minnesota (10) to Obama.
10:38pm ET: Arizona (11) to Romney.
10:52pm ET: Missouri (10) to Romney.
10:55pm ET: House Results: 160 Republican; 95 Democrat.
11:00pm ET: Polls close in California, Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington.
11:04pm ET: Idaho (4) to Romney.
11:04pm ET: California (55), Hawaii (4), Oregon (7), Washington (12) to Obama.
11:11pm ET: Iowa (6) to Obama.
11:15pm ET: CNN first to call election for Obama.
11:17pm ET: North Carolina (15) to Romney.
11:17pm ET: Ohio (18) to Obama. Obama tops 270 electoral votes to win the election.
1:00am ET: Polls close in Alaska.
1:02am ET: Alaska (3) to Romney.

Overnight developments:

Colorado (9), Nevada (6), Virginia (13) to Obama.
Florida (29) still too close to call.
Obama leads Romney in Electoral College votes 303 to 206.
Obama leads Romney in popular vote 59.9 million to 57.2 million.
Democrats pick up 2 Senate seats; two seats still too close to call though Democrats lead in both contests (Montana, North Dakota).
Balance of power in the Senate: 51 Democrat; 2 Independent (to caucus with Democrats); 45 Republican.
Democrats predicted to pick up 5 House seats.; 13 seats still too close to call.

The pollsters pretty much nailed it. Other than Florida, which looks likely to go to Obama, the Electoral College went as expected.  In Congress, Democrats are expected to make some slight gains in the Senate (+2) and the House (+5), but even there, the pollsters were on the money. 

As I understand it, more than $6 billion was spent on the 2012 election (presidential and congressional races). That seems like a lot of investment to maintain the status quo, but an analyst on NPR made the following observation--more money ($8 billion) was spent on Halloween costumes and candy than on the 2012 election.

Lest you fear withdrawals now that the 2012 election is over, fear not. We have Armageddon (in the form of the fiscal cliff) coming up in January and mid-term elections are a mere 2 years away.