A Day Without Exit Polls

Been in the hotel room all day at the Holidome near the airport writing a non iowa piece that's due today. For those of you unfamiliar with the Holidome concept, it's a Holiday Inn with a large geodesic dome built over it, almost always with a swimming pool at the center. These microresorts sprung up around the Midwest and are a staple of a political reporter's life, at least the ones who book their trips late and still feel like they should save their company's money. Anyway, most rooms end up smelling of chlorine because their built around the pool. But it's fun and perfect for a nine-year-old in tow.

There have been no exit polls today because, of course, the voting is tonight. So we're spared that insane ritual of all of the networks and reporters having the "results'--after calling friends at the networks--but being forbidden from sharing them with the rest of the world for fear of influencing the election. Of course, the exit npolls were famously wrong in 2004 and I spent the day with many of my colleagues figuring out the Kerry Cabinet and whether Jim Johnson would be chief of staff or Secretary of the Treasury. Since I was in contempt of court at the time in the Plame case, I mostly thought about myself and was cheered by the thought that the case might be dropped.

As the results came in from around the country, it was clear that the exit polls were terribly wrong and that they had vastly underestimated the rural vote which went solidly for Bush. A bizarre encounter with Paul Wolfowitz at the Bush celebration in the Ronald Reagan building also marked that night. We might get a rural undercount tonight which would be a disservice to Edwards and probably Huckabee but since we'll have the real results at about the same time as the exit polls, it shouldn't matter much.

Anyway, off for a very late lunch and to find a caucus. Thinking of Altoona or a spot outside of Des Moines.