Landslide? Upset? What to Watch for on Election Day

As the longest presidential campaign in American history finally concludes, polls tell us that Americans are hugely invested in the election that will be decided -- they hope -- today. A new Gallup survey suggests that 92 percent of likely voters think this is the most important election in years.

That level of engagement means that, necessarily, we are all looking for indications of how the presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain will finish. Here's one:

In the tiny New Hampshire town of Dixville Notch where voters traditionally cast their ballots at midnight, which has not supported a Democrat for president in forty years, and which favored George Bush by overwhelming margins in 2000 and 2004, Obama secured a landslide victory.

The Democrat won 15 of 21 Dixville Notch votes.

In another New Hampshire town that casts and counts all its votes before dawn, Obama had 17 votes to 10 for Mr McCain and 2 for renegade Republican Ron Paul.

If the margin holds as the next 100 million or so votes are cast, Obama's victory will not merely be historic. It will be epic in scope.

But for those who may doubt the predictive powers of the Dixville Notchers, here are a dozen indicators to watch for today, tonight and, maybe, tomorrow morning:

[ Keep reading.]