As a closing note – I have to say that I am both impressed, and appalled, by how the American feel the need to jazz up the elections.

Other than the over-the-top CGI and poll monitoring (very reminiscent of Brass Eye parodies of such graphics), It thought the most ridiculous tool to illustrate the vote count was the “ice-rink map” at Election Plaza (a stupid name in itself).  Behold…

Really – is there any need to represent an electoral map on ice, with real water dyes?!?

That is, indeed, an angry hand gesture being made to express the, well, complete wank-job that this map is.

Right – it is now 5.35am.  Having spent the last 6.5 hours in front of various streams from the web covering the election, I am now officially pooped.  See you when I recover from the alcohol poisoning!

Listening to Obama’s speech at the moment.  Truly great – I’m very glad he hasn’t made much (if anything) about the fact that he is black.

He is speaking about working to improve America.  He is setting expectations – he has claimed that there will be unpopular policies, that some issues will take more than a year, or a term, to sort.

I admire how he has coined a new catchphrase: “Yes, we can!” – nice sound-bite that resonates with the general public…

Am I being too drunkenly cynical, and poo-poo-ing what is clearly a momentous occasion for African-Americans?  I see that Rev Jesse Jackson and Oprah Winfrey are in tears at the fact that a black man is going to be the next President.  Maybe this is a great occasion for them…?   But still – surely it is about the policies and beliefs of the man, and not his colour or upbringing?

Still – great speech, and very inspiring.  The message is still very on-note – America needs change, and America can make change happen…

What the hell?!?

As if to emphasise my point about race, the press has randomly started to cover a small town in Kenya, where they are celebrating the fact that a black man has made it into the White House.

Yeah – never mind his policy about economic recovery, international relations (especially around Iraq and Afghanistan) and internal reform.

This is apparently about “equality”, about “decency”, about “forgiving past transgressions” – i.e. it’s all about race.

Pah, say I.  Stop cheapening this.  I really hope he won because of what he believes in, not because of what colour he is.

So – about 5 minutes have passed since Obama has won.

Great concession speech from McCain – graciously admits defeat, and is concerned with unity of the country above all else.

However – the whole election is, to my mind, cheapened by the whole emphasis that a black man has won.

Don’t get me wrong – it is great to see such a momentous event.  However, MSNBC has wheeled out the likes of John Lewis, the Rev Jesse Jackson – who only spoke about the fact that a black man has won the Presidential race.

So it comes down to race, does it?  No-one so far has mentioned anything about his policies, his belief, his personality.  It’s all been about race.  Come on – it’s great that a black person has entered the White House – but is it really the be-all-and-end-all?  More important than policy?

I find it, well, disheartening that the defining thing about the most powerful man in the world is around his race, rather than his beliefs or policies or political stance.  It feels, well, cheapening to his victorious win.  Race should be secondary to what he stands for (other than colour), and this is transpiring not to be the case, given the current media coverage.

Maybe that’s what our civilisation stands for now – the easiest, simplest sound-bite or simple characteristic.  Who cares about what he stands for, eh?  He’s black, for heavens sake.

At least… that what it feels like…

But despite my reservations about genuinely why he won (colour rather than policy), I’m glad he has won – I think he will be a brilliant President and will help repair a lot of the damage done in recent years.

WTF?!?

Wandered back, to find that Obama has won!

Yippee, I guess – but hell, I’m going to be drunk!  Don’t the American people know what they’re doing to me?!?

Besides that – I am well-pleased.

I maintained, even back in the days when Obama was running against Hillary Clinton, that Obama would be the next US President – I certainly hoped he would be, because I believed he had a sound mind, sensible policies (especially in his attitude to international relationships), and was a charismatic person.

So – well done Obama.  However, curse you, for getting me drunk so quickly!

Too…  Much… Alcohol…

I’ve already imbibed 15 shots, and some extra alcohol on the side, and feel fairly drunk.  Need to take a break!

We wandered out for a quick walk, as we’re both fairly tired and drunk, and need some fresh air.

Passed by a charity shop, where someone dumped an exercise bike.

Seizing the chance to burn off some excess alcohol – we temporarily “borrowed” it to burn off some booze…

Oh dear.  Big updates have just occurred…

I have to quickly down 6 additional shots of Port, unfortunately…

OK – so I’ve agreed to a drinking competition geared around the US elections, as it’s a nice way of making politics interesting…!

As of 11pm, we’ve been following the US elections – three streaming feeds provide us with the polling results – MSNBC, BBC News and Sky News.

Quick rules are as follows:

1. The tally from MSNBC is treated as the official count.  The votes are being read differently by different networks.  However – any news team that uses Microsoft Surface to show election results must surely know what they’re speaking about (plus, their CGI graphics look the best).
2. Although we nominally agreed that we’d have one shot per State, we worked out this may not be for the best (for some States are worth more votes than others, thanks to proportional representation).  So – with 270 votes to win the race for Presidency, we’ve agreed to have one shot per 15 votes.  Therefore, a maximum of 18 shots will be drunk by the eventual loser.
3. I’m representing the Republicans and McCain.  So – for every 15 electoral votes that Obama wins, I will need to down one shot.
4. My rival is representing the Democrats and Obama.  Accordingly, for every 15 electoral votes that McCain wins, he will have to drink a shot.
5. As there are a potentially large number of shots (at least 18 for the loser), we’ve settled on Taylor’s Port as the initial drink of choice.  This may run out fairly quickly, so I’ll update you on what we decide to drink next…

As it stands, it’s 1.24am, and Obama has 103 votes against McCain’s 34 votes.  I’ve already done 4 shots, so have another 2 to go.  Better get started…!