The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Election Day Edition (!): Sights and sounds on the final day | What to watch for | Clinton wins in Guam, Dixville Notch, NH | How races are called | What Obama really thinks about ‘Fight Song’ | National Cappuccino Day 

THIS IS TRULY THE MOST POETIC ENDING TO A PECULIAR ELECTION: NJ.com’s headline says it all: “In darkness and without fanfare, Gov. Christie votes for Trump.” Polls opened at 6 a.m. in New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) polling place. He showed up at 6:06 a.m. with his son, while it was still dark out.

{mosads}– “Christie was striding past a reporter who asked why he was arriving so unusually early. ‘I always vote in the morning,’ answered the governor, without breaking his stride. But this was a departure for Christie. For the last seven years, the governor has never voted without first notifying the press of his whereabouts, and taking questions from reporters.” The photo says it all: http://bit.ly/2eJasuz

— “While Christie has vowed support for Trump since February, he left without confirming he’d followed through at the ballot box.”

Happy Election Day!! Polls are officially open in every state. WE. HAVE. MADE. IT. Can you believe there’s only one day until 2020 gears up? I kid, I kid. Mostly 😉 Filling sans caffeine — otherwise I’ll spontaneously combust from the excitement — I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of what you missed this morning and what’s on tap for the rest of the day. Send comments, story ideas and Election Day anecdotes to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

LAST DAY FOR YOUR PREDICTIONS — SEND ‘EM IN!: What will be the final Electoral College count? I’m taking a poll. Email me your guesses! And if you have any interesting predictions/scenarios, keep me entertained and send those over too. 😉 The closest answer gets a shout-out in the newsletter!

 

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS ON ELECTION DAY:

Just now — Funniest thing I’ve seen all day: Here’s a photo of Donald Trump looking over his wife Melania Trump‘s shoulder while she’s voting. It was live on CNN. Wowow. http://bit.ly/2eASOWy 

Best campaign sign last night: http://bit.ly/2fzd8Mu

Impeach!: Precision Strategy’s Teddy Goff tweeted: “Senior Obama official, to me, just now (I am not making this up): ‘The President loves Fight Song.’” I love, love that the official isn’t named. http://bit.ly/2fvky0U

Welp, this happened: Two topless female protesters were escorted out of a polling station in midtown Manhattan Tuesday — the same polling station where Donald Trump voted later in the day. The women appeared to be affiliated with the international feminist group Femen, which has staged similar protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin. http://bit.ly/2eASOWy

Game to keep you entertained: Here’s Vox’s cable news bingo for watching the results tonight: http://bit.ly/2eIXVqG

News you can use: These are the 19 states where it’s illegal to take a selfie in the ballot box. Lol, 2016 much? http://nbcnews.to/2fPgOuE

Merriam-Webster is getting pretty dark: “We’ve updated our Twitter header in honor of the election.” It’s pretty depressing. http://bit.ly/2fWVwuu

How late to stay up: Here’s what time each of the last 10 presidential elections were called. Please no 2000. Please no 2000. http://bit.ly/2fyQLH4

First results are in: The small New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch has a registered population of 12. The town votes at midnight and the results are in! Four votes for Hillary Clinton, two for Donald Trump, one for Libertarian Gary Johnson — and one write-in for Mitt Romney! Photo of all the votes: http://bit.ly/2eA89Xi Video: http://bit.ly/2fcKMXP

How CNN calls a race: In a short video, CNN’s director of polling and election analytics explains how the network makes each projection to call a race. It’s fascinating. http://cnn.it/2fz3Csv

The side-by-side here is striking: Compare these two tweets on the last Clinton and Trump rallies. (From Politico’s Kyle Cheney) http://bit.ly/2fjNo3B

Obama’s Election Day tradition: President Obama is keeping up his Election Day tradition of playing basketball with some friends. http://bit.ly/2fk4mip

The more things change, the more they stay the same: “Election eve 2016: VP Biden and VP nominee Kaine in Fairfax. Election eve 2012: VP Biden and Senate candidate Kaine in Richmond.” Photos: http://bit.ly/2fWWU0f

Photo of Clinton FaceTiming with her granddaughter: http://bit.ly/2fvmR3O

Human moments on the trail are the best: “As Hillary Clinton took the podium, President Obama warmly leaned down to help set her footstool, and she gave him a kiss.” http://bit.ly/2fP4tqw

Throwback: Here’s a short clip of 36 years of anchors calling presidential elections. http://cnn.it/2fzr6Ma

 

ALSO IN THE NEWS: 

WHAT THE EXPERTS THINK WILL HAPPEN: The Hill surveyed political experts about what will happen tonight. Here’s what they said: http://bit.ly/2eJhmjv

BREAKING — THE GUAM VOTE, OBVIOUSLY!: Hillary Clinton has won the vote in Guam with 71 percent. Why we care: Guam’s straw poll has accurately predicted the presidential election every contest since 1984. http://bit.ly/2eJdXkm 

TRUMP ENDS HIS CAMPAIGN A LOT LIKE HE STARTED IT –> http://gph.is/2eICMgC: Via The Hill’s Jonathan Swan, Donald Trump finished his campaign last night unplugged and unapologetic. Usual punch lines: Trump complained about President Obama’s golf playing, mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as “Pocahontas” one more time and hammered Clinton for campaigning with musicians. http://bit.ly/2fASGXY

JEEZ — THAT’S AN AGGRESSIVE “GET OUT THE VOTE” APPROACH: To warn people to vote against Hillary Clinton, a Texas priest hosted a Facebook Live where he laid an aborted fetus upon an altar. Warning — it’s very graphic: http://bit.ly/2fzvATe

SO, THIS HAPPENED: Via Business Insider’s Allan Smith, “A former contestant on ‘The Apprentice’ told Business Insider he has ‘potentially damaging’ audio of Donald Trump from his time on the show. But he says he won’t release it because he wants the Republican nominee to win on Election Day.” http://read.bi/2fzaPZT

 

NOTABLE TWEETS:

RealClearPolitics’s Rebecca Berg
Overheard on TV: “Mike Pence is…riding a bike to the polling place? Okay…” http://bit.ly/2eJ9CxM

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.)
On Election Day, you’d think that someone else in the Walker family would have dog walking duties. http://bit.ly/2fcyUoz

Ann Coulter (This tweet sparked a lot of outrage.)
If only people with at least 4 grandparents born in America were voting, Trump would win in a 50-state landslide. http://bit.ly/2eRDllJ 

 

WHAT TO WATCH: BE YOUR OWN PUNDIT — AND AVOID LISTENING TO HOURS OF #ANALYSIS: 

5 p.m. EST: The first batch of exit polls come in. While they have limitations, they’re good for an early look at demographics. What election analysts are looking for: Hispanic turnout in Arizona, Nevada and Florida; African-American turnout in Ohio and North Carolina.

7 p.m. EST: Polls close in the first battleground states: Virginia, New Hampshire and most of Florida.

7:30 p.m. EST: Polls close in the battleground states of North Carolina and Ohio.

8 p.m. EST: Polls close in Pennsylvania, Michigan (huge for Trump if he can win!) and the rest of Florida.

9 p.m. EST: Polls close in Wisconsin and Minnesota — also huge for Trump if he does well — and in Colorado.

10 p.m. EST: Polls close in Nevada (Clinton is favored, but Trump fought there), Iowa and Utah (where independent candidate Evan McMullin is hoping for an improbable win).

Midnight: Last polls close: Hawaii and Alaska.

Context for each from The Hill’s Ben Kamisar: http://bit.ly/2fcGkbD 

 

ON TAP:

Tonight: Donald Trump holds his victory party at the New York Hilton Midtown — not at a Trump-owned property!

Tonight: Hillary Clinton holds her victory party at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.

10:30 a.m.–12 p.m. EST tomorrow: The Human Animal Bond Research Initiative, Pet Partners, the Pet Leadership Council and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council are teaming up to bring therapy animals to Capitol Hill to help people de-stress from the election. Where: Cannon House Office Building.

 

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF…:

Today is National Cappuccino Day! How festive for the long day!

IT’S LIKE MEETING SIRI IN PERSON: Via CNN, a California voter was out canvassing for Clinton in Ohio this weekend. Her Uber driver ended up being the voice behind AOL’s “you’ve got mail” notification. Don’t believe him? Listen and decide: http://cnn.it/2fP8hbd

A TRULY BIPARTISAN PLATFORM: Via CNBC’s Jeff Daniels, avocado prices are expected to drop as more shipments arrive. http://cnb.cx/2eAsZ92

And because you read this far, here’s an insane “Planet Earth” scene that has the internet going crazy. It’s arguably the best documentary scene…well, ever. http://bit.ly/2fAOG9D

For more tonight, follow along on Twitter for more from behind-the-scenes — and what’s keeping me entertained — on Election Day!

 

To view past editions of The Hill’s 12:30 Report, click here: http://bit.ly/1M1mIfw

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