The _New Yorker_ website has a lot of coverage for those seeking perspective after that incredible night. Go, read “David Remnick,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/mr-ayerss-neighborhood.html “Hendrik Hertzberg,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/ “George Packer,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/ “Steve Coll,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/stevecoll/ “James Surowiecki,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/jamessurowiecki/ “Jane Mayer,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/the-final-hurdle.html “Roger Angell,”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/rite.html “Nancy Franklin”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/sights-sounds.html, and “Blake Eskin”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/a-little-help-from-my-friends.html. A lot of us are looking for perspective and anecdotes, and they bring those as powerfully as anyone.

On winning with style.
I love this picture:

Note that the chart on the page lists Obama as having a 98.9% chance of winning the election….

It’s about 3 am here, and I just undid the cap. (Mini-bottles don’t have corks here.)
Congratulations to President-elect Obama!

MSNBC just called Pennsylvania for Obama. McCain spent the bulk of the last two weeks desperately trying to move the polls there, because there really wasn’t a victory scenario that didn’t include Pennsylvania. So that may be it for McCain.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m finding Patton Oswalt’s “profane musings”:http://blog.indecision2008.com/author/patton-oswalt/ on the Comedy Central website to be the absolute perfect tonic to the self-importance and smarm of Wolf Blitzer and his ilk.

A bit harried here, watching CNN International and watching indispensible “streaming MSNBC”:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887506#22887506 and reading as many blogs as I can well after midnight in rural Austria, so I’ll just pass this on in its tersest form: David Remnick is in Chicago today, and he was present at a small gathering of reporters that William “Pallin’ around with Barack Obama” Ayers spoke with this afternoon, and “blogged about it”:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2008/11/mr-ayerss-neighborhood.html.

I’m watching _Zeit im Bild,_ the national nightly news in Austria, and the American correspondent is describing the electoral college used in the United States, and he keeps referring to “winner takes it all” rules. It’s driving my mom up the wall. I think he’s unduly influenced by “ABBA”:http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/4362/.

We notice that “_Polite Magazine_”:http://www.politemag.com/ (love that name) recently featured a “short appreciation”:http://www.politemag.com/brennan.htm of Maeve Brennan. Much like “Emily”:http://emdashes.com/mt/mt-search.cgi?tag=pigeons&blog_id=2 here at Emdashes, Brennan was very observant and was fond of pigeons. I’ve had her collection _The Long-Winded Lady_ for a while now and I keep meaning to get to it. Soon!

Remnick was born October 29, 1958. For this, we are thankful. And for those looking for a birthday present for him, may we suggest The Best of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour?
—E.G.

_A friend notes: _
Most Popular Topics:
1. Jennifer Hudson
2. Barack Obama
3. Ted Stevens
4. Oil and Gas
5. Sarah Palin
6. Credit Crisis
7. John McCain
8. David Axelrod
9. Global Warming
10. General Electric