Obama Wins in Doonesbury Version of World

Many pundits ruled out Obama victory early

(NEWSER) - With the election over, what's more fun than calling out all those whose predictions were off—way off. Der Spiegel lists some highlights:

• "He cannot win, Bill. He cannot win." Hillary Clinton, on Barack Obama
• "We'll win Florida." Rudy Giuliani
• "Virginians are really getting fired up for this ticket of McCain and Palin." George Allen
• "Romney for the Republicans, Hillary for the Democrats." Ann Coulter, on the nominees

Nate Silver was right on the Rays; he's now calling the presidency

(NEWSER) - Give the sheer number of political polls being produced, and the history of many of them proving wrong, it takes a seriously smart statistician (and something of a nerd) to predict the presidential race with any authority. Nate Silver, the man who "revolutionized the interpretation of baseball stats," is both, and he's doing it again with politics, on his site FiveThirtyEight, New York magazine reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Nearly half (47%) of Americans are worried that John McCain, if elected, would not finish his first term in good health, a CNN poll shows. Nearly 20% percent of respondents thought the same about rival Barack Obama. Only 7% of those questioned said that the health of a candidate would be the defining factor in their vote, while 24% said they would seriously consider it. More»

How they acted

(NEWSER) - What viewers see is as important as what they hear in debates. So what did pundits see?

• "The expressions on John McCain's face, and the irritation in his voice, said it all," writes the San Francisco Chronicle. McCain “was a portrait of frustration,” while Obama looked like the proverbial “cool hand at the tiller”—just what McCain said the country needs.

He might be unable to define what change means, but Barack's the only horse in the race, say mag's editors

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama "is the only possible choice to lead the country," says Esquire, though the magazine’s position is less an endorsement of Obama and more a treatise against John McCain. Obama has failed to define his key campaign theme of change “except as all those things encompassed by the phrase ‘Elect me’”—but he still represents a departure from George W. Bush that McCain does not. More»