For those (like me) who are a tad apprehensive about tonight's results from Pennsylvania, this story might help you relax -- a little.
Lancaster Online did their own exit polling in the county this morning over a three hour period. The results are encouraging, to say the least.
Bush beat Kerry 66-43 among Lancaster County voters in 2004. In fact, Lancaster County voters haven't sided with the Democratic candidate since 1964. But things may look different this year:
Lancaster County voters flocked to the polls in droves early today — many waiting in lines stretching as long as 150 people in the predawn hours — to finally cast ballots in a presidential race that drew to a close after two years.
New Era interviews with nearly 200 early-morning voters in city, suburban and rural districts here found Democrat Barack Obama running ahead in this GOP-dominated county — a bad sign for Republican John McCain's chances of winning Pennsylvania.
The numbers?
In perhaps the most distressing sign for McCain's campaign, a survey of 186 Lancaster County voters — long seen as the bread and butter of statewide GOP campaigns — found Obama favored by a majority, albeit a slim one.
Of those interviewed, 55 percent here said they backed the Democrat for president. About 44 percent said they voted for McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. About 1 percent backed Libertarian candidate Bob Barr
.
Even if the poll is skewed, the newspaper says it's likely Obama will outperform historic expectations in the region.
Even if McCain wins the county, it appears that his margin will come nowhere close to President Bush's 2004 victory here over U.S. Sen. John Kerry; the Republican incumbent topped the Democrat by 71,263 votes, or about 66 percent to 33 percent. In 2000, Bush beat Democratic nominee Al Gore by 60,932 votes, winning 66 percent to 31 percent.
Though Bush won big here, he still lost the state in both elections, meaning that McCain and Palin would need a larger win here and across the Republican-rich midstate to help offset typically large Democratic margins in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
More:
Eight New Era reporters conducted the interviews in 23 voting districts across Lancaster County, from the city and its suburbs to rural townships and outlying boroughs.
The survey, conducted in the first three hours of voting, is only a snapshot of early voting activity, but it has proven in past years to be a reliable indicator of voter preferences.