All this paranoia about people not voting...

Human beings are front-runners... they turn out to vote for winners.

The thing is, almost nobody considers voting for the eventual winner to be a futile gesture. People like to be personally part of victory.

Obama voters are quite unlikely to not bother because they think Barack is way ahead. (I realize there are a lot of first time voters in play and I trust the Obama campaign's methods on getting them to vote. I am not criticizing the campaign's characterization of the race. I am talking about how voters behave in practice, not about how to motivate volunteers.)

In 1980 Carter conceded before the polls closed in California. It was a stupid thing to do. People lined up to vote on the west coast heard the news and dropped out of line, but not everyone. Most of those who walked away before voting on the local races still in doubt were dispirited Democrats.

So if polls show Obama up by twenty, good.

And if Obama wins and the race is called while polls are still open throughout the west, good.