It's Official

Days Until Bush Leaves Office = 35

In one of those quirky technicalities that seems a whole lot more important since the disputed election of 2000, the Electoral College voted yesterday to officially elect Barack Obama President of the United States.

The country may be forgiven for thinking that it did that job directly back on November 4, but the fact is that voters on that day chose a slate of electors pledged to one candidate or another, and yesterday they cast their votes - the ones that, under Article II, Section 1, Clause 4 of the Constitution, officially matter - for president. I'll spare you the remainder of the civics lesson, but do encourage you to have a look at the National Archives and Records Administration's excellent Electoral College webite.

Anyway, for those keeping score at home, here's how the electoral votes tallied up:

John McCain = 173
Barack Obama = 365

Congress will certify the electoral results as its first order of business when it reconvenes on January 8, 2009. Wait, did I say the results were now official? Not quite yet.

Heavy sigh.