The first update today on Alaska's ballot count: Now it's Begich by 2,374 votes. That's a 0.77% difference between Begich and Stevens, which would not trigger an automatic recount. Keep checking for updates here.......

Approximately 24,000 Alaska ballots from the 2008 election will be counted today, and then we should know if Uncle Tubes/convicted felon Ted Stevens has officially lost his Senate seat. (The only ballots remaining after today will be those votes received from overseas, which, if postmarked by midnight on November 4th, will be accepted until Wednesday.) As it currently stands, Dem challenger Mark Begich is up by 1,022 votes, a difference of 0.35%. If the votes......

For today's Prop 8 march and protest, the weather cooperated nicely. Obviously, God loves a civil rights parade.......

Speaking of the gay, in case you haven't heard, tomorrow's the National Day of Protest Against Prop 8. Here in Seattle, the protesting festivities start early, with people gathering in Volunteer Park beginning at 10:30 a.m. and starting the march down to Westlake Center at noon. If you can't do that walk hungover, meet up at Westlake for the rally at 2 p.m. Please, make an effort to represent at some point tomorrow. For such......

Dan Savage, on CNN yesterday, debated the Prop 8 debacle with smug asshat Tony Perkins. We really think Savage did a good job arguing with this waste of space. On why he interrupted Perkins so much, Savage explains: And, yes, I did interrupt Tony Perkins—quite a lot. I've been on TV with Mr. Perkins before, and his MO is never shut up, and run out the clock, and interrupt. And I just wasn't having it......

As we mentioned yesterday, for the first time in the Alaska Senate race, Democratic challenger Mark Begich took the lead over tubesy felon Ted Stevens by just three em-effing votes. Well, as of late last night, Begich's lead had grown to 814 votes, which is comparatively huge. And things just might get better; Sean Quinn of everybody's favorite number-crunching website notes, "As we've pointed out and has been pointed out elsewhere, the remaining votes come......

A week after the election, Alaska's still hard at work counting their absentee ballots. Prior to today, incumbent US Senator/old coot/convicted felon Ted Stevens' lead over Dem challenger Mark Begich had been 3,257 votes. This morning, the state started to tally its approximately 90,000 votes that remain to be counted, and the gap whittled down to 971 votes--until just now, when, after elections officials had sorted through 43,000 of those ballots, it was announced that......

"sarah palin," by Flickr contributor custom motorcycles The New Yorker is reporting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin began actively campaigning for the vice-presidential gig almost immediately after she took the governor's office in early 2007. A key component to her vice-presidential strategy was to schmooze high-falutin' conservatives who were passengers on two Seattle-based Holland America cruise ships in the summer and fall of that year. Palin...learned that a number of prominent conservative pundits would soon be......

There was a happy commotion on the real Capitol Hill last night at Broadway and Pike. Naturally it involved Journey. (Thanks to Todd for posting the great video above on YouTube. How about an aerial view, you ask?) Over on the other side of the country, DC got down, too. New York took pictures of itself, Chicago understandably took more, Los Angeles was ready for a close-up, Philly got it on video, San Francisco--well......

This morning as we walked in to work, every person we passed had his or her head up high, made eye contact, and actually smiled at us. People on the street said hi cordially and greeted us with "Good morning." It all had us wondering if we woke in a wonderful alternate universe this morning, a universe where an inspiring Democrat will be calling the White House home and where Seattleites actually acknowledge each others'......

That should push Gregoire's numbers up even more, as King County is Gregoire country, and while about 370,000 votes have been counted, King County elections estimates they have 380,000 more to go. If that's correct, then about 67 percent of the county's registered voters turned out in the 2008 election. Which is okay. But not great, King County. Not superlative. Here's the statewide voter turnout. Little Columbia County, down in the southeast corner of Washington......

...on September 12, 2001, that the next President of the United States would be a guy named Barack Hussein Obama, you would have thought we were insane, even as you purchased another crate of duct tape. Last night was incredible. Our voice is sore, our head is pounding, and we are looking forward to doing a little more celebrating tonight. Here was the scene inside the Showbox when Obama was declared the winner at 8......

"i voted " by Seattlest Flickr contributor sum-optima This morning we woke to chilly air and dark clouds, and although we had signed up to volunteer at the Obama office later in the day we considered mailing it in. But then Sarah Palin came on the tube, telling us how she'd make a great VP, and we said "Hell No!" and a few minutes later, we were in our car headed for the Obama/Burner campaign......

"Don't forget to..." by Seattlest Flickr Contributor Lindes. Thank you all for participating in our Seattlest Vote 2008 Polls over the last week! Though the polls were informal, they still give us a fairly good reading on how the Seattlest community will be voting today. The Death With Dignity Initiative (I-1000) was defeated by a ten point margin, 135-110, with 245 of you voting. Margaret Dore wants you to know that she thinks I-1000......

Our ceiling flooded all of a sudden this morning, after our last post. But what's a little fallen, drenched ceiling when there's a once-in-a-lifetime presidential election going on, eh? We left our friendly maintenance guy to talk to himself, sop things up with rags, dry things out with lamps, and headed back over to the Baltic Room for a little E-Day madness. There were at least as many people there as had been there when......

While the country was busy blindly voting for whoever they fancied, Seattle Weekly writer Don Ward was hard at work being a true patriot and writing an important blog post for the Weekly. We only wish he'd opened our eyes sooner before we so ignorantly cast our ballot. Ward's post, titled, "The Question for Obama Supporters" asks: "Off the top of your head, name one actual accomplishment, or a bill Obama has passed. Or even......

•The polls close at 8 p.m., and absentee ballots must be postmarked by today. You can find where you are registered here; you can find a place to watch the results in public here. •Obama is holding his gathering in Chicago’s Grant Park. McCain’s will be at Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. •The last Republican not named George Bush to win the presidency, Ronald Reagan in 1984. McCain/Palin is the first Republican ticket without a......

What a long, strange trip it's been. Look back on this Presidential campaign season via the video above, or go all the way back to the halcyon days of the primaries at this simple, foul-mouthed website.......

Throughout the campaign we have been gathering the top political writers in the country, and asking them to discuss the presidential race. Today they reflect on the campaign and what they expect on Election Day. Jeff (NPR): The reality sunk in today that it's quite possible the Democrats will control both houses of Congress and the presidency. Then I got really scared, because now it's time to put up. Like when you tell your......

Newsweek is reporting that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is planning a "Western swing later this week". Polls released today indicate that Obama is now within striking distance of winning in McCain's home state of Arizona and both candidates are now running ads there. Could that "Western" part include us? An Obama visit to Seattle would count for the whole Pacific Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, and Montana), and with Washington's gubernatorial and 8th CD races hotly......

Everybody's favorite dry-witted financial mag waited until the week before the election, but The Economist's Presidential endorsement is online today, and it's an unequivocal backing of Barack Obama: The Economist does not have a vote, but if it did, it would cast it for Mr. Obama. We do so wholeheartedly: the Democratic candidate has clearly shown that he offers the better chance of restoring America's self-confidence. The editors are not without their concerns, namely......

Still undecided about transit measure Proposition 1 on the ballot this year? Not sure about the light rail? Here's some food for thought: A Denver real estate study has revealed property values of homes closer to a new light rail line have actually increased while the remainder of the market has declined markedly: "Homes near light rail stations along the southeast line, which opened in November 2006, have increased by an average of nearly 4......

There are two weeks until Election Day, and two issues in our state's gubernatorial race (three if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. Rossi: Just a guess, but he probably loves that crazy freak. Gregoire: Called a special session to pass an Eyman initiative after it was struck down by the courts. Next Week: Eastern Washington.......

Seattlest has a brilliant idea for your re-election bid in four years. Can you do us a favor and create a check box on your website, next to where we might provide our email address when we donate or sign up for an event? We would like that check box to read "I am an enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama who is also a dedicated voter. You have my vote. Definitely. Please spend your money......

There are three weeks until Election Day, and three issues in our state's gubernatorial race (four if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. We missed a week, and we’re sorry. The Times agreed to fill in while we were away, and now we know that a white guy from the Eastside enjoys a good steak. Education: Gregoire: No spending cuts, yes to WASL,......

As the Slog pointed out yesterday, giant baseball nerd (God bless those of us that are left) Nate Silver uses some sort of math (snore) to project what he claims is non-biased polling data. Recently on the Colbert Report, he was asked to compare the candidates to baseball teams. He called Barack Obama the Tampa Bay Rays, not because of their all-secret Muslim infield, rather, because of his status as an up-and-coming power house.......

Washington State voters have been polled up the wazoo by SurveyUSA after each debate this campaign season. And while they turned in a win (within the margin of error) for McCain in the first Presidential debate, and a split decision (later amended to a slight win for Biden) in the Vice Presidential debate, this time around, the Washington State sample polled clearly thought that Obama won the second presidential debate. Immediately following last night’s......

DRINKING GAMES: It's too predictable at this point to use the word "maverick" for your drinking game. Considering McCain's newly announced strategy of character smears and trying to make the country hate their savior, we would suggest going into tonight's debate with a list of drinking game terms that includes "Ayers," "palling around," "that's not true, John." Just a thought. Oh, did we bury the lead? The second presidential debate is happening tonight at Washington......

SurveyUSA, who also conducted a poll of Washington State voters after the first Presidential debate, just released their results from last night's Vice Presidential debate: Immediately following last night’s debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,100 state of Washington adults, of whom 806 watched the debate. Of debate watchers: 42% say Palin was the clear winner. 39% say Biden was the clear winner. 18% say there was no clear......

There are five weeks until Election Day, and five issues in our state's gubernatorial race (six if you count Eastern Washington's concerns). Each week we'll be taking an award-winning look at where the candidates stand. We are a week behind, so it’s time for a double-shot-rock-block-Friday. Transportation Gregoire: I’ll get to it, geez, what’s the rush? Rossi: I’m gonna build roads, roads, nothing but roads. Healthcare: Gregoire: Rossi wants each patient to choose between a......