Following the Election (National Edition)

Jeff Alworth

Obviously, your first stop for chatter about the election results in Oregon should be right here.  That goes without saying.  But you may have some interest in other races--I hear there's something going on between an Illinois Senator and some guy from Arizona.  As a certified (certifiable?) fiend for news on these races, I've got a few excellent sources for you to check out.  I have arranged them in roughly the order in which they'll be useful to you as the day evolves.

News From the Ground
I have become quickly addicted to the two Politico bloggers assigned to cover the election: Ben Smith (Democrats) and Jonathan Martin (Republicans).  They report all the minutiae from the campaigns and every rumor or minor story (some are very good), but what makes them must-reads for me are the emails they're posting from random citizens.  Example from Ben and another from Jonathan.  Ben, in particular, will probably post something on the order of 100 posts tomorrow. 

Reporting Bloggers
There are several bloggers out there whom you might check throughout the day for breaking stories. Principle among them should be Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo, the godfather of all bloggers, and the gold standard for real reportage.  His site now has a number of interactive features and paid reporters.   Marc Ambinder (who is also printing citizen reports) has been doing nice work as an insider who's not too far inside to keep his wits about him.  ABC's Jake Tapper does pretty good for an MSM reporter, and he often breaks stories.  As does the WaPo's Chris Cillizza.

Results
Just about every news site will have immediately-updated results (MSNBC, CNN, NYT, TPM).  But my favorite tool is CNN's Race Tracker.  It's a little widget that allows you to set up 35 races (including state-level presidential results, House and Senate races, and a few--non-Oregonian--initiatives) to follow.  For those of us who want to track that Minnesota 6th CD without mucking around through a bunch of sub-pages, it's a huge winner.

Blogging Brains
There are a passel of bloggers who offer real insight.  As the night begins to cohere (or fails to), check in with these folks for analysis about what it means:  Kevin Drum, Digby,  Noam Scheiber, Matt Yglesias, Andrew Sullivan, the folks at Washington Monthly, and TAPPED. 

Elite Opinion
Sometimes even people who get paid by large conglomerates are fascinating reads.  My faves are Time's Swampland (I never thought I'd say this, but Joe Klein has really been on his game; it's a good year for Joes), the WaPo's PostPartisan, and the NYT's The Caucus.  Also, if Hertzberg happens to be posting, consider him a must-read.

Wingnuts
If the Dems are really pouring it on, some of you will want to indulge your inner schadenfreude.  I am above such things, but somehow I still know the satisfying places to visit.  My choice would be the echo chamber at the Corner for the most pure irony-blind entertainment, but the Weekly Standard and RedState might be worth a glance, as well.

All right, that ought to keep you busy.  I have intentionally skipped a few of the bigs that don't thrill me, so your mileage may vary.  Still, check out these--you can't go wrong. 

By Jeff Alworth Nov. 03, 2008