Stupid early exit polls. It’s not like I expected Virginia to go to Kerry, but I picked up a surge of optimism in the past few days, and even more this afternoon, that it would be surprisingly close and that that would bode well for the other races. Nope. It’s all close and Bush has Florida and it’s all about Ohio. I’m nervous.

UPDATE (12:16): Stupid exit polls. I’ve been doing a bit more poking around the Internet, especially the blogosphere, and the shift from afternoon-and-early-evening perspective to evening perspective is startling. “Slate’s”:http://www.slate.com current headline (“Kerry’s ahead in FL, OH, PA, WI, MI, MN, NM, and NH”) is just embarrassing for them.

I knew in my mind that the polls would be a mirage, but I was stupid and let them fuel my optimism. But part of my optimism, too, was an assumption that if the polls were wrong they’d be wrong in Kerry’s favor — that increased voter turnout and new voter registration would swing heavily his way. In reality: not so much.

It’s still all about Ohio, and I’m still nervous.

UPDATE (12:53): If I thought that by staying up I could get to see Kerry win in the next couple hours, I would. But that doesn’t look likely. Either Bush will win it or it’ll still be too close to call and there’ll be legal fun and games in Ohio — goodness knows there’s grounds enough for it. In any case, I’m going to bed.