Election Summary
It's all over but the shouting.
CNN's Election Center 2008 puts the presidential totals at 364 electoral votes for Barack Obama to John McCain's 163. As of 2:00 p.m. on Nov. 7, CNN reported that the vote count in Missouri was still in process, so the state's 11 electoral votes hadn't been factored in.
Nearly as soon as the polls closed in California on Nov. 4, Election Day, projections granted Obama the Golden State's 55 electoral votes, which was more than enough to surpass the 270-vote threshold required for victory. The rout continued from there.
Obama also received 53 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 46 percent.
According to exit poll data posted on the CNN site, Obama edged McCain 49-48 percent among male voters. Obama's margin among female voters was 53-46 percent.
Obama overwhelmed McCain 66-32 percent among voters aged 18-29; his margin was 52-46 percent among voters aged 30-44. As one might expect, McCain fared better among older voters. Obama's margin was only 50-49 percent among voters aged 45-64. And McCain had a 53-45 percent advantage among voters 65 and older.
Eighty-nine (89) percent of Democratic voters sided with Obama, while 90 percent of Republican voters sided with McCain. While both candidates held the party line, Democrats (39 percent of voters) outnumbered Republicans (32 percent of voters). Independent voters played a large role, giving Obama a 52-44 percent margin. Overall, Independents represented 29 percent of the voting pool.
By ideology, Obama won 89 percent of the liberal vote (with liberals accounting for 22 percent of the electorate) and 60 percent of the moderate vote (44 percent of the electorate). McCain won 78 percent of the conservative vote (34 percent of the electorate).