I swear I'm not being presumptive (I'm working the polls in NC all day), but I'm gonna enjoy these last 5 days. Unless something horrible happens, Obama will stay up in the polls. This diary assumes that nothing horrible does happen, and there are no game-changers otherwise (McCain falls off a stage, etc)
All poll closing times are from this site, and are in EST.
At 6, polls in the eastern parts of Kentucky and Indiana. The networks will call Kentucky at this point, for McCain.
At 7, polls will close completely in Kentucky and Indiana, as well as Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. We might be able to get a sense of where the night is going at this point-if Indiana is called for Obama, we can start chilling the champagne. If it's too close to call, we'll be up for a while longer. If it's red, break out the coffee and red bull, it's gonna be a long night. Florida will not be called. If Georgia is to close to call, it is excellent news for Obama. South Carolina will go red, Vermont blue. Virginia will likely be called blue, though there is some chance that it will be a squeaker.
At 7:30, most polls in North Carolina will close, along with West Virginia and Ohio. West Virginia will be called McCain, Ohio and North Carolina too close to call. If either one is called Obama, we will win, in my opinion.
At 8, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, most of Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Tennessee close. When Pennsylvania is called for Obama, many commentators will begin to talk about the death of McCain's hopes. Michigan will be called, and commentators will speculate as to McCain's chances if he had picked Romney as VP instead. Look for Missouri to be close, but likely Obama.
At this point, some of the early uncalled states will be called. My predictions are for North Carolina and Ohio to go blue, Indiana to go red and Florida to remain uncalled.
At 8:30, the rest of North Carolina closes along with Arkansas.
At 9, New York, Rhode Island, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming close. Arizona's too close to call status will cause them to start, if they haven't already, predicting McCain's downfall.
At 10, Iowa, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, and North Dakota close. Montana will be too close to call, excitingly.
At 11, the election is called for Obama, after California, Washington and Hawaii come in. We all start screaming and crying. The champagne you were chilling is uncorked. The networks call the rest of the states.
At 12, Alaska comes in. No one cares.