Blogs could pull an election upset: Forget CNN. Don’t bother with ABC, CBS or other television networks. If you want an early read on election results Tuesday night, take a look at Daily Kos, Wonkette and other political Weblogs.
The TV networks and other news organizations rely on exit polls to predict and report election results, but they generally don’t share the results of those surveys until the polls are closed, in order to not influence voting across the nation. Given what happened in 2000, when the TV networks were burned by exit polls predicting a Florida win for former Vice President Al Gore, the TV news anchors are expected to be cautious about revealing information from exit polls and calling the election for Sen. John Kerry or President Bush.
Political blogs don’t face the same constraints. Even as the TV networks, with some trepidation, try to beat each other in declaring a winner, blogs will almost certainly beat them to it. This will be the year when the blogs call the election.
And if you believe that the money will pick the winner you can see the betting lines at Trade Sports or Betfair.
Other sources: Drudge Report, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox News