The following is the transcript of an election-night blog written by City Newspaper staffers.

Your bloggers:

Jeremy Moule: staff writer. Does his crossword puzzles in pen.

Tim Macaluso: staff writer. "I can wiggle my ears."

Eric Rezsnyak: features editor. Can name every girl in order of elimination from every season of America's Next Top Model.

Christine Carrie Fien: news editor. Thinks that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens probably interbred, but is kind of ambivalent about it.

6:45 p.m.

CHRIS: CNN is reporting results with a whopping 1 percent of the vote counted in one state. Wait. I know a guy in Kentucky. Maybe that's him. By the way, Bill Clinton robocalled my house last night. Don't you hate it when you're making tacos and Bill Clinton calls?

7:12 p.m.

CHRIS: I can't follow ABC's crazy shifting graphic. Ditching them for CNN. Sorry, Charlie. Holy Star Trek! CNN is "beaming" reporters onto the set via hologram, albeit with a weird blue glow. Help me, Obi-Wan.

7:20 p.m.

ERIC: I'm blogging from the Command Center on Rundel Park, where we'll be taking in the election while eating our thoroughly American dinner of homemade mac and cheese and apple pie.

We are watching CBS, and they are doing a crappy job of explaining how McCain already has 8 electoral votes, while Obama has 3. I assume that's because McCain took Kentucky, and Obama took Vermont. (And BTW: why does KENTUCKY get more votes than VERMONT? We get delicious cheddar from Vermont, and Ben & Jerry's. What has Kentucky done for us lately?) But would it hurt the severe-looking Katie Couric to actually SAY that? Indiana appears to be a toss-up still, 50-49 McCain, so fingers crossed.

Our favorite part of the evening so far was CBS's very helpful poll, "Do you think the economy is good or bad?" The " bad" got something like 97 percent of the vote. Thanks for those sterling insights, CBS.

PS: Chip Reid's hyper-sculpted cheeks make me uncomfortable.

7:24 p.m.

ERIC: CBS has like a million graphics, and they cycle through them so fast that I get confused. I turned away for a second and looked up, and they had a graphic showing Virginia as a projected Dem pick-up. I got super-excited until I realized they were talking about the Senate, not presidents. Dammit, Katie, don't get me all riled up like that!

7:34 p.m.

CHRIS: Just got a cryptic text message from Jeremy. He says Ohio is closed and we'll get those results sometime tomorrow. Ohio is closed? The whole state? Can they do that? Waiting for clarification...

7:40 p.m.

CHRIS: OK, Jeremy informs me he was just being sarcastic. Good one, Jeremy! Especially since I'm trying to post entries from four different people simultaneously all night. Don't be surprised when your phone rings at 2 a.m., asking if you've got Prince Albert in a can.

7:45 p.m.

ERIC: The crappy plastic star-wrap covering the back wall of the WROC newsroom - and covering it POORLY I might add - looks beyond ghetto. And now they're teaching us how to Twitter! Blech. CBS just gave McCain West Virginia, which I guess has 5 electoral votes. Dammit, America!

JEREMY: Watching ABC's coverage and they flash to a reporter in Columbus, Ohio. My question: why is there a banner that has Sarah Palin's name much larger than McCain's? Sarah Palin in 2012? Help us all.

ERIC: The Virginia conundrum. The preliminary results are suggesting that McCain is trouncing Obama in Virginia, something like 57 percent to 43 percent. But CBS is saying that anecdotal exit polls throughout that state suggest Obama was performing very well. Could this be a case where people are lying because they don't want to appear racist? Or is this just CBS trying to create a pro-Obama spin since that's clearly the story the media wants to tell?

7:51 p.m.

TIM: McCain is making his last speech of the campaign with Joe Lieberman's head bobbing around in back. I want to know what that character will do without a party if McCain doesn't win?

ERIC: McCain got South Carolina, giving him 21 electoral votes to Obama's 3. We are freaking out in Command Central! We just can't stand the PRESSURE!

ERIC: We've switched to NBC, because Bob can't stand watching Katie Couric. Sorry, Katie! We're now on NBC, and Berkeley Brean's report on Dollinger make the Dem candidate look awfully itchy.

CHRIS: I can't keep up! What a bunch of chatterboxes. Oh great...now the dog wants to go out. Hey, is ABC right? Did we win PA?! Whoopie-Hoo! Wait, did I say "We"?

JEREMY: ABC's exit polls are a head-scratcher, too. They have Obama ahead in Indiana, but the poll results say otherwise. In both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times today they talked about the Bradley effect, where whites aren't honest with pollsters about who they plan to vote for. It's conceiveable that's happening with the exit polls, too.

8:05 p.m.

ERIC: NBC is calling Pennsylvania for Obama! That's 21 votes! Thank God! We were sweatin' it for a while! But now all the East Coast states are coming in, and we get that shit all the time. NBC has 103 electorals for Obama, 34 for McCain. Suck it!

TIM: Important question--what is Barack going to do with all of that money he hasn't spent? It's showtime. MSNBC reports that polls are closing in 15 states and DC within a few minutes for a total of 171 electoral votes. They include Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Mississippi.

JEREMY: ABC and CNN have Pa. going to Obama. CNN also put a lot of New England to Obama; not entirely unexpected.

8:10 p.m.

ERIC: Dear Mr. Todd on NBC, we need to have a discussion about your facial hair. Kisses, Eric.

PS: You and your squiggly pen are no Tim Russert and his Magic Board.

NBC has a map of the country on the ice of Rockefeller Center, and they're putting giant red or blue states on the map as the states are called. And people outside the NBC studios have little maps they're coloring in. Awww, I want to color!

PPS: Oh, EW! NBC just started airing some lame-ass tribute to Tim Russert, showing one of his old Magic Boards and then a slideshow. Beware when the newsmen become celebrities. Ridiculous. Shameful.

CHRIS: OK, I'm not posting fast enough for my staff; now they're hounding me by telephone, too. Hope someone doesn't pee in the coffee pot in the morning, fellas.

TIM: OMG, Obama has Florida and North Carolina! I'm calling it. President Obama, sir!

JEREMY: Just a reminder: In an hour New York's polls close, and soon after we'll start to see the results in the state legislative contests, the local congressional races, and the county clerk match-up. I really want to see how those turn out and I know I'm not alone.

ERIC: "That's why I don't drink the office coffee, Chris." CHRIS: Yikes. Didn't realize they were reading along.

ERIC: Is there any greater aural pleasure than hearing Andrea Mitchell saying the name "John Sanunu"? I don't think so.

8:22 p.m.

CHRIS: Hey, do you think CNN could stage a coup of the other news stations by "beaming" their reporters over there? Just a thought.

8:32 p.m.

TIM: Andrea Mitchell, her big interview was with Castro a zillion years ago. I like her, but I don't get the husband thing. MSNBC has called Pennsylvania and Massachusetts for Obama. If I am repeating myself, deal with it!

ERIC: Brian Williams just came on to "call" Arkansas, only to say, "With 0 percent in, it's apparently too early to call." No shit, Sherlock. Total. Fail.

BTW: Has Billy Fuccillo lost weight? Sure looks like it based on the commercial I just saw.

JEREMY: We were talking about exit polls earlier, well the New York Times is talking about them too. In this story (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/live-blogging-covering-the-co verage/?src=scrl#t20h13m) the writer says some online media are posting the poll results, then saying they are unreliable. If the polls are off, why are media still using conducting them? And will the problems be fixed after this election cycle?

8:38 p.m.

ERIC: NBC is calling Alabama and Georgia for McCain. Not a huge surprise, but that brings him up to 58. Boo!

CHRIS: Hey, Tim said that Obama took Florida, but I'm not seeing that anywhere. True?

8:42 p.m.

JEREMY: I think Billy Fuccillo has lost weight! I thought I was losing my mind, but if Eric notices it then it must be true.

ERIC: I have yet to see Florida called one way or another, but NBC was reporting that several key counties that went for Bush in 2004 have gone to Obama. They just can't predict the whole state yet. (Thanks, Eric!)

8:46 p.m.

CHRIS: Hey, Jeremy. I'm hearing about major voting trouble in Henrietta. Might wanna check it out...Something about 200-plus RIT kids not being on the books.

TIM: Elizabeth Dole went down!

ERIC: Name of the night: Gaye Symington, Democratic candidate from Vermont. HEE!

8:53 p.m.

ERIC: NBC is not calling it yet, but the current numbers - with 2 percent in - Obama has 61 PERCENT in Ohio. That's crazy!

8:57 p.m.

CHRIS: Three minutes until polls close in NYS. Really curious about some local races...

ERIC: NBC 10 is saying that 87 percent of registered voters in Brighton came out to the polls. That's AWESOME.

JEREMY: 13 WHAM is reporting that turnout in Monroe County was 75 percent. That's incredible. Usually it's in the 60 percent range.

9:02 p.m.

TIM: The seat that Elizabeth Dole held was formerly held by none other than Jessie Helms. It's now gone Democratic. Fox News is calling both houses a "center left" government instead of a center right. The Midwest states just closed including Colorado and Texas.

ERIC: NBC is calling Michigan for Obama, Minnesota for Obama, Wisconsin for Obama, New York (duh) for Obama, Rhode Island for Obama, Kansas to McCain, North Dakota for McCain, Wyoming for McCain, and Arizona is too close to call! HA! Current totals: 175 for Obama, 70 for McCain.

JEREMY: FYI, I'm making some calls about the Henrietta thing, but don't know anything yet.

9:11 p.m.

JEREMY: In the Senate, Democrats have picked up four seats, giving them 55 seats, reports ABC. No pickups for the GOP. This puts the Dems closer to their goal of having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. That means they need a total of 60 seats when all is said and done tonight.

ERIC: NBC just addressed why they have massive coverage of the Obama party in Grant Park in Chicago, while there's almost no coverage for the McCain rally in Arizona. And they explained exactly why: The McCain party is a reserved, private party in a very exclusive hotel, and thus, not exactly welcoming of media - or the people. Meanwhile, Obama's is open to hundreds of thousands of people. If that doesn't underline exactly what's going on behind the scenes of this election, I don't know what does.

BTW: NBC just called Arkansas for McCain. That gives him 76. Basta!

9:17 p.m.

JEREMY: The D and C is reporting that over 100 RIT students who had problems with their registrations got court orders to vote and, as of 8:30 p.m., were in line to vote at the Red Cross on John Street.

CHRIS: No returns yet from the County Board of Elections.

9:20 p.m. 

JEREMY: David Axelrod of the Obama campaign, speaking to Charlie Gibson: "We are doing far better in areas across the country where George Bush did very well four years ago."

TIM: On Florida and North Carolina, they haven't called them yet. I jumped the gun. MSNBC was first projecting them as Obama and then switched saying it was too early to call. But both states have large early voter turnouts that have been almost exclusively Obama's peeps. 

And in Florida they haven't totaled Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, my old stomping ground, which I have to believe will go Obama knowing the demographics. And that accounts for about 30 percent of the population in just those counties.

9:24 p.m.

CHRIS: ABC says Obama wins Ohio! Wow! That's major. They "Special Report-ed" their own "Special Report" to report that. What a crazy election.

ERIC: NBC just projected Ohio for Obama. WORK IT BITCH!!!!

JEREMY: In the 25th District, Dan Maffei is leading with 57 percent of the vote with 4 percent of the precincts reporting, says RNews. Not a surprise since several polls, rankings, and observers see Maffei beating Republican Dale Sweetland and Green Populist Howie Hawkins.

9:29 p.m.

CHRIS: Patrice Walsh interview on 13WHAM (paraphrasing): "So Mary, I hear you're a big Obama supporter?" Mary: "Yes..." Patrice: (cutting her off) OK, thanks, Mary." I smell Pulitzer! ABC Special Report: We heard Mary was done talking. :)

ERIC: NBC has apparently called Louisiana for McCain. Given the Bush Administration's total botching of Hurricane Katrina, that is SHOCKING to me. To the people of Louisiana I'd just like to say: You bought your ticket.

9:33 p.m.

TIM: MSNBC has called Ohio for Obama. So he has officially flipped one of the red states. He needs one more. It's not looking like it will be Virginia, but I think we'll hear Florida for sure in the next hour. Of course those people in Palm Beach, just sayin'.

9:35 p.m.

TIM: Voted over at School 46. It was pretty quiet. But they had all sorts of goodies out. I love that place.  

Any word, Jeremy, on Massa vs. Kuhl? My mother said Kuhl still looked very solid in the Hornell-Bath area.

CHRIS: Obama's at 200. That's 70 and counting.

9:39 p.m.

JEREMY: In Monroe County, Massa is leading Kuhl 59 percent to 41 percent with 38 out of 230 precincts reporting. It doesn't look like anyone has any of the Southern Tier results yet.

9:45 p.m.

CHRIS: Gawd, Gibson is getting all folksy on me. Man up, Chuck!

CHRIS: Why am I starting to feel like I should wake my 3-year-old son up to see this?

ERIC: NBC's reporters keep using the term "storyline" when regarding to Election Night. Does anyone else find that really odd? When I think "storyline" I think "fiction."

I'm really enjoying watching Anne Curry in that green room used for NBC's CGI graphics. And I liked it even more when Brian Williams subtly hit on her during the last segment.

West Virginia for McCain, no surprise there. As someone who formerly lived in Actual Virginia, I have some strong feelings on the bumkins from that little piece of hell.

9:48 p.m.

JEREMY: A quick House race update. CNN has Kryzan and Lee almost even - Lee's got 49 percent and Kryzan has 48 percent. People are voting for Jon Powers on the Working Families Party line, which has to be frustrating for Kryzan.

CHRIS: Hey, Jeremy: Al Franken is leading.

9:52 p.m.

JEREMY: Update on Kuhl-Massa via CNN. With 13 of the precincts reporting, the race is narrowing. Kuhl leads with 51 percent, Massa has 49 percent. The results on this one are going to come down to the last election district, that's my prediction. No matter who wins, the margin will be very thin.

9:55 p.m.

ERIC: NBC 10 is calling Maffei over Sweetland, Lee edging Kryzan by 2 points, Louise Slaughter easily winning, and Kuhl winning 52 percent to 48 percent.

TIM: Love Ms, Curry. The woman is ageless and I really liked her interviews with the women in Sudan. I'm feeling like that scene in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" where you can't rest because someone will slip a pod next to you, and you'll wake up as an alien..."She's not my wife."

CHRIS: Headline if Obama wins: "Oh yes, we did!"

CHRIS: Hey, any readers out there? Let me know: cfien@rochester-citynews.com

10:04 p.m.

JEREMY: I'm sure a lot of folks are watching the Robach-Dollinger race. As the results filter in, Robach's been leading by over 10 percent pretty consistently.

Jim Alesi has been steady at about 60 percent of the vote in his race against challenger David Nachbar. In both races, about 40 percent of the precincts have reported.

JEREMY: If Al Franken wins, will he be the first former SNL cast member to serve in the federal government?

CHRIS: Shout out to reader Kara who just dropped me an e-mail!

10:07 p.m.

ERIC: Another good name: Saxby Chambliss, Republican for Georgia. Discuss.

CHRIS: You made that one up!

JEREMY: Lee's lead is growing over Kryzan - 55 percent to 41 percent, says CNN.

CHRIS: Man, that stinks. Lee's ads were shameful. And I bet there will be some kind of legal fight over the WF debacle long after the election's over.

10:17 p.m.

ERIC: Mississippi goes to McCain, giving McCain 135.

And no, I didn't make Saxby up!

CHRIS: Some people are talking like it's over. They're getting all weepy and philosophic. Is there any way now that McCain can win?

CHRIS: Guys, Board of Elections has Massa way up over Kuhl with only 23 districts left.

10:35 p.m.

CHRIS: Former City Newspaper typesetter and US presidential candidate Gloria La Riva has 50 votes. Go Gloria!

JEREMY: Looks like Dan Maffei has the win in the 25th District. He's got 54 percent of the vote with about 80 percent of the precincts in. So that gives Democrats at least one new Congressional seat in New York. The past two years of campaigning paid off. Maffei will take over retiring Republican Jim Walsh.

Over in the 26th District, Chris Lee's lead continues to widen. He's got 56 percent of the vote, with 64 percent of the tally in. Kryzan only has 40 percent. Jon Powers, who's not even in the race anymore, has somewhere around 4 percent. Looks like that seat will stay in Republican hands - it's been represented by Tom Reynolds.

10:42 p.m.

ERIC: NBC's Chuck Todd really is awful. And incidentally, the repeated flogging of Tim Russert's corpse is totally unacceptable. This is an election, not a wake.

CHRIS: My computer crapped out for a sec. But all systems normal now.

JEREMY: Careful with Kuhl-Massa. CNN has the race as 53 percent to 47 percent with Massa in the lead and 65 percent of the district's polling places reporting. Can't base that race just on the Monroe County returns, which have him ahead 57 percent to 43 percent.

ERIC: I've never noticed how much John McCain looks like Emperor Palpatine. A low blow, I know. But I calls 'em likes I see 'em.

Brian Williams is a total Election Night cocktease. For the past 20 minutes he's been telling us how we don't want to look away at the top of the hour, because we'll get some major calls. Well call them, Brian! I know polls need to close and all that, but you clearly know what's going on...

CHRIS: Did we lose Tim? He hasn't written anything in over an hour.

11 p.m. (whew)

CHRIS: ABC just called California..and the presidency for Barack Obama! And that's history, ladies and gentlemen.

ERIC: Fuck yeah! I need a cigarette, and I don't even smoke.

And that, Republicans, is how you win an election without stealing it. (Sorry to be a divider, not a uniter, but tonight is for gloating. Tomorrow we can get to work coming together. But only if you stop acting like such a dillweed.)

CHRIS: To President Bush: Y'all go home now. Wait...I have to go outside. I want to see if the world feels different...(back in) Well, whatdoyaknow...

CHRIS: Any final words, guys? Great job, tonight. Loved sharing this with you...

ERIC: Chris, I think you mean, "Get the fuck out!"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is that. I can't help but think of the past two election nights, when I staggered to bed utterly flabbergasted by what I'd just seen. It feels good to win one. Can one person change the country? No. But maybe if we have a leader who works to encourage national unity and, oh, I don't know, THINKING THROUGH our problems rather than going to the easiest, laziest, greediest option, we can make it work. It's only life as we know it, right?