364

To be elected President, Barack Hussein Obama had to win 270 Electors.

Today, without counting Missouri and North Carolina, which according to the CNN website at 2.20pm Central Time, are still too close to call, Obama has won 349 Electors.
Missouri will probably go to McCain, who will then have 174 Electors.
North Carolina looks like it is going to go to Obama: he will have 364 Electors.

It is a huge victory. In 2004, Bush won with 271 Electors.

As far as the popular vote is concerned, the victory is also unquestionable. So far, Obama is winning with a margin of almost 7 million votes. Obama won 52% of the popular vote. McCain, 46%.

Enough with numbers. What is really significant is that Obama won nine states -- that is to say states who were traditionally red -- including some who had been red states for decades.

He won Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Virginia and probably North Carolina.
The most significant victories are of course Virginia and North Carolina, two states from what is called the Deep South.
All these states were won by Bush in 2000 and 2004, except New Mexico and Iowa, which were red in 2004 but blue in 2000.

This is important because it makes of Obama a President who is more than a sectional President. He is not a bi-coastal President. He represents all parts of the country.
What makes him a unifying President, also, is of course the popular vote, unfortunately not taken much into account in the broken Electoral College system ruling American presidential elections.
In many forever-red states, the margins between the Republican vote and the Democratic vote are smaller than they used to be. For example, in states like Nebraska or South Dakota, the distributions of votes in 2000 were close to 70-30. This year, they are getting closer to 60-40.
In Texas, the proportion is this year 55-45 for McCain. In 2000 and 2004, it was 60-40.

It is in Oklahoma, where I am now, that the margin is the widest: 65.6 for McCain, 34.4 for Obama.

I guess my blog has not been read by many Republicans.
Darn it!