7:30 PM – North Carolina (15), Arkansas (6)

Total Electoral Votes to this point: 275!
(This is the moment that SOMEBODY could be declared the winner of the election! Although, we all know it won’t happen until later. Remember, you need 270 to win.)

Arkansas goes quickly to McCain. North Carolina is key. IF North Carolina gets called for Obama quickly, then the networks will probably want to call the election sooner rather than later since that will mean that the Obama ground game is working hard and winning traditional red states.

Totals:
Obama: 82
(Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Illinois)
McCain: 54
(Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas)

It should be noted that if all of the “safe” states for Obama are added up, then he gets himself right around 250 votes. I’m just letting you know which states aren’t really news so you know what’s up. Keep in mind, the longer that the networks wait to call any particular state, the better it means for McCain (in general).