Could Obama actually win an electoral vote in Nebraska?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Believe it or not, yes (like Maine, Nebraska apportions its electoral votes by congressional district):

[Obama's] odds of bagging an electoral vote in Nebraska grew stronger this morning, with word that 10,000 to 12,000 early ballots and 5,200 provisional ballots are left to count in Douglas County.

Obama won about 61 percent of the early votes counted before Tuesday's election. If that percentage holds with the early ballots left to count, Obama stands a strong chance of winning the Omaha-area 2nd Congressional District.

Republicans did not concede defeat this morning, but they acknowledged the long odds.

John McCain held a 569-vote lead over Obama in the 2nd District at the end of Tuesday.

Not that it matters much at this point, but of course it helps Obama, in terms of his mandate to govern, to have won all over the country, including in a Republican stronghold like the South (Virginia, North Carolina), in formerly Republican-leaning swing states like Nevada and Colorado, and in traditionally Republican states like Indiana.

Winning even just a single electoral vote in a solid red state like Nebraska -- which I must admit I didn't think was even remotely likely -- would be an extra bit of icing, a dollop of sweetness, on the cake that was the 2008 election.