Last night in 417 IAB, Professor Alan Brinkley, The New Yorker‘s Hendrik Hertzberg, and The Nation‘s Katha Pollitt came together to discuss the election. Bwog Daily Editor James Downie was there.

If nothing else, last night’s panel discussion between Alan Brinkley, Hendrik Hertzberg, and Katha Pollitt proved that smiles are contagious. Brinkley (who served as unofficial moderator in the absence of a real one) opened the night by joking, “Four years ago, I hosted a similar event, and I never saw a more depressed group of people. Tonight, I suspect most people are not depressed.” The room burst into applause, and a buoyant mood was set for the next two hours.

Perhaps because the panelists had spent the previous 22 hours in a state of bliss, there was little in the way of prepared speeches. When Brinkley asked the guests to share their thoughts, both Pollitt (who recieved her M.F.A. from Columbia) and Hertzberg admitted that they were still absorbing the results of the election. Pollitt’s thoughts were mostly about how happy she was. “I learned that people are not so dumb, and that’s really good,” she said. She also commended in particular Obama’s temperament, comparing him favorably to her original favorite, John Edwards. Unlike Edwards, she said, Obama “communicated being a good person.” Read more…

Bwog Presidential Archivist Mariela Quintana reports that all kiosks surrounding campus are completely sold out of today’s copy of the New York Times. Gawker is also reporting the same problem in the West Village, where there is nary a copy to be found.  The Times has also picked up on their own paper shortage, reporting that they sold out three editions even after planning for a larger circulation today.  Note that the owners of the newsstands on 115^th and 116^th Streets were interviewed.

Been able to locate a copy of the paper? Let us know your secret location (bwog@columbia.edu) — a readership suddenly so interested in deadtree journalism again will thank you.

This morning, in the wake of Obama’s historic victory, the BBC rounded up some its go-to American history experts — a troupe that included Columbia’s Simon Schama and Harvard’s Niall Ferguson (also an early McCain adviser) — to discuss the implications of the race and the results. 

The 9-minute discussion concluded that while Obama will have his hands full with a broken economy, two wars and no money to spend,  his eloquence can become a tool to boost confidence among the American people, just as FDR and PrezBo were/are able to do in their fireside chats. 

He will, however, also have to be a “flinty pragmatist” and be as disciplined in his governing as he was in his campaigning.  What was most interesting was the way that Schama and Ferguson (as history professors are wont to do) situated Obama in the context of the New Deal and the Civil Rights movement to illustrate the importance of this moment in the American legal system.  If Schama is right that Obama can do what FDR did in the Depression, then, he concluded, the electorate has made a wise choice in selecting its President.

Before anything happened, Lauren Salz advised the next president to break his promises. 

Obama won.  Yes, he did.  Just in time to find Washington decimated.

We watched it in Harlem, Times Square, Virginia and the Broadway Sky Lounge.

Now what?  Apply for grad school! 

At least a hundred people turned up in the middle of Broadway at 115th to celebrate the results of tonight’s election.  Chants of “Obama” — and non-specialized screaming — were aplenty.  Every time silence struck, someone would leap up on top of light posts and garbage cans to start the chants over again.

The NYPD, smiling, allowed the celebrations to continue for at least 20 minutes before beginning to break it up: “Either that way, or that way, that’s where you’re going.  Keep it moving!”

An anonymous tipster has told Bwog that a man in a white shirt, possibly with the NYPD, told the officers trying to break it up to stop, and they turned away “sheepishly.

UPDATE, 12:55 AM: Bwog is told the party has moved uptown to 125th.

More photos and another video after the jump.

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Celebratory Bwog banner — and change and hope, etc. — is on its way! See you in class tomorrow.

More exciting news headlines announcing this very thing after the jump! Plus, stick around for Anish Bramhandkar’s Party Photos from celebrations out on Broadway.

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Bwog received the following photos of CNN’s fancy Everyone-But-CC Party in Times Sq.  

Another shot from photojournalist Huei Ong after the jump.

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Columbia statistician/friend-of-Nate-Silver Andrew Gelman has resurfaced on everyone’s new favorite blog, FiveThirtyEight. 

Gelman uses FiveThirtyEight’s data to conclude that if Obama wins Virginia and it’s a close race in Indiana — both of which are looking increasingly likely — it’s literally a statistical certainty that Obama will win the race. Additionally, this means that the election will be essentially be over by 7 PM or so.

Voters around the country will be casting the final ballots over the next few hours, which means national news media will begin broadcasting the results of their exit polls.

In past cycles, the poll data leaked before any actual voting had finished, so this year marks the first presidential election that those news agencies are putting a strict quarantine on that exit poll data.

Bwog, however, is going to break the embargo by asking you, loyal readers, to leave a comment saying whom you voted for and where you cast your ballots. Our exit poll may not be as scientific as the high-falutin’ Edison Media Research data, but you won’t have to wait several hours for it, either.

So, whom did you pick for president?

Today, just for participating in democracy, you will be lavished with free food and the like. Here’s a quick round up of places that are rewarding you for voting.

Starbucks: Receive a free tall coffee. Today is the one day when Starbucks is not over-priced.

Ben & Jerry’s: Free scoops from 5-8 PM. Be warned: Invaluable tips from the ice cream distributor’s 30th birthday celebration have taught Bwog that the line for this thing will probably be out the door.

Krispy Kreme: Star-shaped donuts will be awarded to all voters. They feature red and blue sprinkles atop white frosting.

Babeland: Free, ahem, personal giveaways.

Ted Gibson Salon: Expensive shampoos in small sizes are all yours.

Know of any other deals or free things? Let us know in the comments or by email (bwog@columbia.edu).

Daily
Editor Eliza Shapiro votes in Manhattan Valley this morning and recounts her adventures.

 Bwog arrived at PS 145 on 105th and Amsterdam early this morning to cast our vote and was immediately confronted with non-political myriad choices: the school was hosting a bake sale outside the doors of the cafeteria-turned-polling-place. The cafeteria was crowded but our particular district’s line was blissfully short. Bwog waited in line only about ten minutes and in true Upper West Side fashion, ran into our entire apartment building. A neighbor informed us that she has voted at PS 145 for forty years and never seen it so crowded. Another told us that when he voted at the school in 2004, a registered Republican showed up and the voting assistant exclaimed, “we got one!” Finally having cast our ballot, Bwog breathed a sigh of relief when we overheard a rumor that the 86th Street polling spot had three-block-long lines.

Here is a Google Maps App that tells you where to go to cast your vote today. (If you’re at school, it’s probably Wien, despite Google’s uncharacteristic misspelling.)

The app also includes reminders like “you must be registered” and whether or not your location offers early voting, which at this point is irrelevant, but still, we will remember this thing for 2010′s election. 

Oh, and check back later today for more election stuff, including a very scientific exit poll.

Bwog stopped by the Upper West Side Obama Headquarters at 104th and Broadway today to see how things were going on Election Day eve.

We were informed that today has been extremely busy and that buttons and posters are being sold like mad. However, “what we’re going to do on Wednesday” a volunteer told us sadly, “is another question.”

If you’ve procrastinated about volunteering for a presidential campaign this season, few precious hours remain to get your fill of phonebanking. Bwog Daily Editor Mariela Quintana has compiled the following Procrastinator’s Guide to Phonebanking.

McCain:

Bwog could not find any information about phonebanking for McCain, but the candidate’s website offers a comparable alternative. (You must sign up as a volunteer in order to gain access to site.) Instead of going to a community headquarters, volunteers sign-up to phone bank online and then the site provides them with a script and person and telephone number to contact in Virginia. Once the volunteer calls and asks the appropriate questions on the script, he has to record the outcome on form that the website also provides.

Obama:

Obama phonebanking requires actually going to a community location.  Although the initiative started in New York on Saturday, it will be running through Tuesday.

The Obama website lists tons of public/community centers in Manhattan and the other boroughs that are hosting phonebanking sessions. Unlike the McCain site, the Obama site is really easy to use.  After you key in your zip code (for 10027, here’s the link), the site links you up to phonebanking centers in your area. The only requirements are a charged cell phone and a cell phone battery.  Usually shifts run for about two hours or so.

– MEQ

This week’s events promise to be sequentially nail-biting, shocking, fascinating, and slightly scary.

Tuesday

Election Day: The College Democrats and Republicans will have watch parties, and so will pretty much everyone Bwog knows.  We’ll even cover some of that.  Eveningish @ all over the country.

Wednesday

Blackwater: J. Cofer Black, VP of the infamous mercenary corporation, will be speaking.  No matter what he says, it ought to be an interesting event, considering Columbia’s political leanings.  Bwog will be covering this event.  8:00 PM @ Lerner Cinema.

Thursday

Mind, Memory, and the Actor: Oliver Sacks is at it again, this time on identity and neurology in the mind of an actor.  6:00 PM @ Miller.

Friday

Scary Sushi Night: CJS will have all-you-can eat sushi for $7.  Bwog isn’t sure what’s scary about that.  7:00 PM & 8:00 PM @ Party Space.