VR Systems, company hacked by Russian, posted election results before polls closed..

[Awsi Dooger]

11. Nonsense

I gave up at 9:15 Eastern and started packing for a trip beginning the next morning. The outcome was already certain. I was stunned but at least I had prepared myself for the possibility, since I know plenty of simplistic angry males who vote Republican.

Steve Schale started tweeting ominous news from Florida at about 7:30, specifically that Trump was pulling unprecedented numbers for a Republican in more than 40 counties, and especially the exurban ones. That type of thing is not going to be isolated. It attaches everywhere.

There were several sophisticated sites that forecast state results based on models and turnout and outstanding vote. I took one quick look at Michigan and gave up. The numbers were devastating. This site was down so I was able to wobble around the house instead of watching people here slowly grasp the inevitable.

This Russian hacking is far more troublesome than anything we obsessed about here regarding 2004. I'll continue to insist that suppression is our main opponent. In 2016 everyone wants to spotlight the critical states Hillary lost. However, she underperformed all over the place, including wins in Virginia and New Hampshire, etc. that were much tighter than her polling numbers. I think it was fake news and Comey and reluctant Trump supporters who didn't tell the pollsters how they truly planned to vote, more than fraud. Hillary simply had low upside and couldn't afford a small leak in one area after another.