Exit poll indications

By Michael J.W. Stickings

See our election live-blogging here.

**********

The Republicans are warning us to "beware of exit polls" -- in big, bold letters -- but they (exit polls, not Republicans) are far more reliable than their post-2004 reputation.

And, according to ABC, "[p]reliminary exit poll results indicate that nearly six in 10 voters today disapprove of the way President Bush is handling his job". And -- as I indicated earlier today -- "[t]he war in Iraq is a serious concern": "In preliminary exit poll results, nearly six in 10 voters disapprove of the war, while about four in 10 approve." Whatever the specific outcomes of today's elections, that's a loud and clear vote against Bush, against his war, and against his party.

Republicans are criticizing exit polls. But what they're really criticizing are the American people, the overwhelming majority of whom, according to these indications, have rejected them.

And with good reason.