The Omaha World-Herald and several other news organizations have called Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, which incorporates Omaha and some of its suburbs and exurbs, for President-Elect Barack Obama.
The only outstanding electoral votes are now in Missouri, which some organizations have yet to call for John McCain. It appears to us, however, that there are an insufficient number of provisional ballots to provide Barack Obama with a realistic opportunity to win there, and so we are calling that state for John McCain for the time being.
This brings Obama’s haul from Tuesday evening to 365 electoral votes, a similar total to the 370 that Bill Clinton won en route to his first term in 1992. Obama’s victory, however, might have more symbolic power than Clinton’s because of the success that he has had in flipping formerly ruby-red territories like Indiana, North Carolina and Omaha, Nebraska over to the blue team. Not coincidentally, these are some of the states in which Obama was furthest ahead of McCain in terms of organization and ground game, along with the Mountain West where he won states like Nevada and New Mexico by surprisingly large margins.