So, we actually made it to this day. I had my doubts. This thing feels like it’s been going on forever and a day. The polls here in NY open in about an hour. Don’t forget, odd/even voting is in place this year, with Democrats voting on the even day (today), and Republicans – rather aptly – voting on the odd day (tomorrow).

I plan on leaving for work a little bit early and voting on my way in. Hopefully it won’t take too long (I doubt there’ll be much of a line, but I have to figure out how to use the new voting system).

Then it’ll be a long, long day at work, following all the leaked exit polls and the stories of voter suppression that will no doubt be coming from all across the country. All while pretending to get some work done.

Then, of course, comes the hours of waiting for the polls to close, and the returns to start coming in. The Chat Room will be open for everybody who needs an e-support group on hand to make it through the night. We also want to hear from everybody as to how their local races are going. In the NY 25th, we’re poised to have a Democrat in the House for the first time in, um, well, in as long as I can remember.

DirecTV has an ‘election mix’ channel on, offering split screens of the four broadcast networks, plus Fux News (oh boy), MSNBC, CNN, and another one rotating between live Comedy Central reports and the BBC. It’s also going to have a live blog running with results analysis and exit polls. So, I’ll be splitting my time between that and Dan Rather’s live election coverage on HDNet.

The polls close first in the eastern halves of Kentucky and Indiana, at 6:00 EST (sorry to be an Eastern Time Zone Chauvinist, but all the times coming up will be eastern). There won’t be any presidential returns in until the rest of those states polls close an hour later, but we might start to get a look at how some of the Congressional races are shaping up.

The real fun should begin then, because at 7:00 EST, when, besides IN and KY, the polls close in Georgia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Vermont, and – what might be the first bellweather state – Virginia. Most of Florida closes at 7, too, except for the panhandle (aka, south Alabama).

More excitement at 7:30, when Ohio, North Carolina, and West Virginia close. Not that we’ll probably be hearing from OH anytime soon. NC looks pretty close, so that could prove quite interesting, too.

Things really start to heat up at 8:00, as a bunch of states close, including what could be the biggest prize of the evening to that point – Pennsylvania.

Among the states closing at nine are Minnesota (go Al!) and Colorado (and NY, of course, where we’ll be giving our 31 electoral votes to Barack Obama – should be called at about 9:02, I predict).

I’m kind of hoping it’ll all be wrapped up by the time the polls close in California at 11:00 Eastern, so I won’t have to stay up half the night waiting.

So, anyhow, have a good day, keep your fingers crossed, think good thoughts, and let’s hope this plays out better than 2004. And if you’re in NY, vote Row E (Working Families Party).

It’s just too bad that Obama’s grandmother couldn’t have lived to see him elected President.