In day's earliest voting, a small "landslide" for Obama

It's far from a reliable predictor of the course the rest of the day will take, but the traditional gathering of a handful of eligible voters in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, NH at midnight to cast the nation's first election day ballots was nonetheless an exciting way to kick off the concluding day of this year's epic presidential race. As the AP reports:

Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, N.H., where tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied lives on. Democrat Obama defeated Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch, where a loud whoop accompanied the announcement in Tuesday's first minutes.

Local Democrats were reportedly surprised and delighted by the results, which usually tend Republican.

The town of Hart's Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and two for write-in Ron Paul. Independent Ralph Nader was on both towns' ballots but got no votes.

Reports are careful to observe that the voting events -- based on a minute voter sample -- are not predictive.

With 115 residents between them, Dixville Notch and Hart's Location get every
eligible voter to the polls beginning at midnight on Election Day. Between them,
the towns have been enjoying their first-vote status since 1948.

As a result, our country was able to wake up to a bumper crop of headlines, generated while we were sleeping by the international press, somewhat ironically proclaiming Obama's "landlside" victory and "Obama wins!"

Read the full report: Obama wins in earliest vote in tiny Dixville, NH.