place in the philadelphia area. >> brian: unfriendly volunteer. >> steve: our election coverage kicks off tonight at 6:00 o'clock. we'll see you back here tomorrow with the post-game show. bill: good morning wherever you are, the world's greatest democracy is now in action. after months of campaigning and billions of dollars spent to win your vote. the fate of the country is now in your hands. the key battleground states of ohio, florida, virginia and pennsylvania reports that long lines already today. president obama and mitt romney await their fate from you. it is november 6, finally. martha: good morning, i'm martha maccallum. you have got these nominees getting ready for a long day of

hoping and waiting. a lot of nerves frayed. governor romney plans to do a little bit more campaigning. but before heading out the governor voting in his home state of massachusetts. the romney team is headed for three pivotal swing states. as kevin madden said this morning, if you know this guy as he does, he won't spend the day waiting around. he and paul ryan will make an 11th hour appeal to voters. bill: paul ryan meets him in pittsburgh before leading to richmond, virginia. wendall goler is live in chicago where president obama will await election results. john, yesterday was not the last day of campaigning. how did this decision to

campaign today come about for governor romney? >> reporter: it's not over until it's over. we talked to campaign advisers who said they are sitting on the tarmac in virginia. governor romney said i don't want to sit in a hotel room and wait for something to happen. he said let's do something tomorrow. they said where should we go? he said how about cleveland? he said great idea, let's go to cleveland. where else can we go? they are going to pittsburgh as well. they have paul ryan going to cleveland and richmond. the governor pulling out all the stops to not let it ever be said he didn't do all he could to get as many people out to the polls as possible. as he said in columbus he said not only was he going to do that work but he implored his supporters to do it as well. >> tomorrow we begin a new

tomorrow. perhaps some of your friends and family have not made up their minds who they are going to vote for. when you talk to hem ask to go beyond the speeches and the ads and the attacks and look at the record. talk is cheap but a record is real and it's earned. bill: as promised, this what is we were waiting for ... martha: who are those two people? i don't recognize them from the back. bill: this is governor romney and his wife ann cast their ballot for ... you can take one guess what's happening there. this is in their hometown of massachusetts. it's a hotbed of democratic votes. i have to cut into those votes to have a chance in ohio. later he goes to pittsburgh. if you look at the mate was all red. a sea of red with one exception, that was allegheny county where

president obama won there. governor romney will be there pat 3:00. martha: a lot of questions about pennsylvania. is pennsylvania the florida of election 2012. could pennsylvania be a place where it will be decided? they look pretty casual. they are not reacting too enthusiastically to the fact that they have governor romney and mrs. romney in their midst. but, man, what it must be like to step in front of that booth and vote for yourself, vote for your husband and the obama family did in their early voting pattern they took part in several days ago. it's go time. bill: the live look now -- we'll hang on until they leave the room. you are watching video. we believe they are still inside. when you think about how his tam pain began some five years ago,

the huge disappointment when he failed to beat mike huckabee during the iowa caucuses in 2008. but the governor has since plotted and planned a strategy where he could have another shot not just at the nomination but a chance at the white house. that primary ballot that was so bruises with rick santorum fan newt gingrich and an occasional rick perry shot. then he raised a lot of money throughout the country. headed into three critical debates. the first debate in denver focused the attention of the country on him and on his campaign. now all of that stuff is on the table for the american people to decide whether this man will be their next president. martha: governor romney and his wife ann have placed their

votes. an historic moment for them, for their family. ann romney has been right by her husband's side throughout this process. she has been called at points the mitt stabilizer. the one brought in to be her husband's inspiration and comfort and strength and he would say the many the role she played throughout his life. early on you have to remember the mid-section of this race when the charge against him was he was not connecting with voters. he in the last several the weeks and certainly since the debate in denver which was a huge breakout moment for him, was connecting with these crowds in a way we did not see early on. enjoying the process of being out there with the people. he's saying the door is open, walk with me. he has been a visionary speaker for the country. whether that will work with him remains to be seen.

but either way we'll look back and say the last several weeks were a period of strength for governor romney. bill: see if we can pick up any word as they exit here. sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. the state of massachusetts is not one of the battlegrounds we have talked about endlessly the last six months. the turnout could be lower than expected. but in the battleground states expect long lines throughout the day. just want to get a quick moment to see if we get that. so much for that. john roberts is still with us. explain the rationale for what the romney team tells you in order for them to be victorious today. what key do they need to happen? >> reporter: they need their ground game to work. they need to rack em, stack em

and get em out to the polls. there are a lot of states where president obama never left the states since the 2008 election. when you look at the early voting numbers in florida and ohio, obama has the advantage. but that advantage smaller in some cases by half of what it was in '08. does governor romney have a chance to take this? yes, he does. dose have a lot of work to do today if he hopes to get it? absolutely. bill: we want to move to chicago. martha: we saw a hug between mitt romney and tagg romney who has been instrumental throughout the course of this campaign. let's swing over to the other side of this huge decision for today. president obama will spend the day in his hometown of chicago. he has no public events scheduled today.

held the last campaign rally ever in his political career last night in the state of iowa. the state that launched his run for the white house five years ago. let's watch some of that. >> we didn't know what challenges would come when we began this journey or how deep the crisis would turn out. but we knew we would get through those challenges the same way this nation always has, with that determined unconquerable american spirit that says no matter how bad the storm gets, no matter how tough times are, we are all in this together. martha: an emotional moment for sure. we are told a lot of the people who were instrumental in the '08 campaign have been traveling on the plane together with president obama. first lady michelle obama joining the president on the stage. the first primarily win in iowa was a huge moment when he was

battling against hillary clinton the first time around. so a lot of memories in iowa. joined now by wendall goler in chicago. what is the president doing on this last period throughout the course of these hours as waits for the big decision tonight? >> reporter: he made a tradition of playing basketball with staffers and friends on election day which has to be less stressful than sitting around nervously monitoring the exit polls. candidates don't usually campaign on election day. and the president is coming close. he and the first lady doing satellite tv interviews from chicago with radio and television stations elsewhere in the country. the first couple got in about 12:17, a little after midnight after campaigning in wisconsin, iowa and ohio. the third day in a row they have been in ohio which most campaigns see as a make or break

state. the race is so close former press secretary robert gibbs said the president didn't want to distract from the get out the vote effort by doing interviews in person today. >> we felt it was important not to go into a state and take our field volunteers away from the task they are doing to support the president or have a rally. i think it was the right decision. the president will still be in a number of battle ground states over satellites television. >> reporter: the president and the first lady did their early voting in october. martha: the president got a little bit emotional. >> reporter: it was iowa, the state that launched his presidential bid where he won the caucasus with 37% of the vote. ohio may be the most important battleground state but the president and the first lady

were sentimental about iowa. she talked about house parties in cedar rapids. he told the crowd he was asking for their help one last time. >> i come back to iowa one last time to ask for your vote. i came back to ask you to help us finish what we started. because this is where our movement for change began. right here. >> reporter: sometime tonight mr. obama will thank voters for four more years or congratulate mitt romney from the stage right behind me. martha: wendall, thank you very much. so remember to tune in tonight. our special election coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern on fox news channel and we'll be with bret baier, megan kelly. i'll be doing the exit polls.

bill: which is always fascinating. martha: you start to get a sense of what people were thinking. what mattered to them as they walked out of the exit polls. bill: i'll be on the billboard receiving realtime information from the precincts and counties. you will see how the about thele ground states develop. concerns that ballots are not being properly tallied in a critical swing state in we'll tell you how authorities are reacting to what could be a problem in the end. martha: a member of the new black panther party outside a philadelphia polling place. we'll tell you what he said when he was questioned about his roll by fox news. >> an 11th hour decision by mitt romney to campaign in two critical battleground states. >> if there is anyone who

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bill: key to victory, bob beckel, andrea tantaros, good morning to both of you. neither one of you slept last night. bob is wearing his special us spend ders today. what about the decisions that go to cuyahoga county in cleveland, to go to allegheny county in pittsburgh. is that desperation or is that a man who doesn't want to stop working? >> he's a type a personality. he's a workaholic.

if he applied his work ethic -- pennsylvania, my home state i believe is in play. anecdotally, just yard signs. there are no yard signs up for president obama in the 15th district. it's a swing district. it has an aging population that's unhappy with obama-care. it's pro coal. they didn't have early voting. they weren't saturated with negative ads because they didn't think it would be this close. bill: bob, courage or desperation. >> i love to see scene trea's dreams. nobody who is ahead in this race is going to go campaigning on election day, particularly in two democratic counties. but nonetheless i would say sit' not a bad ployth on romney's

part. i suppose ... bill: here is the number i picked up i want both of you to react to. exit polling. independent voters. president obama did well. 52-44 snore john mccain. that's an 8-point advantage. there was a poll that showed governor romney up 15 points in that same group of voters. to both of you, you worked campaigns, you know what to look for. andrea, is that what you are looking for? >> is, and enthusiasm. independents in the middle. they determine elections consistently and bob won't disagree with that. we see independents breaking in big numbers for mitt romney. president obama has a problem with his base. he's worrying about turning out the same people he turned out in

2008. he can't rely on the middle. 's base is energized but at this stage of the gaijt's turnouts, turnout, turnout and i think mitt romney's voters are more motivated. bill: bob, you are a veteran. >> you are looking at numbers that are nationwide. in pattle ground states the undecided votes are either very close or slightly in obama's direction. other thing we didn't have -- bill: undecide or independent. you said undecided. >> thank you for correcting me on that. my reputation is at stake here. i want to make sure i'm together right thing. bill: i'm here for you. >> your home state of ohio which is indicative what's going to happen here. obama has done very well in the early voting and independents are about split. this probably won't be called

tonight. you have got four of these states with automatic trying terse for recounts. ohio, virginia, florida, colorado, and pennsylvania. if you want to call for it, those are triggered at 1%, that's the different. in ohio if it's .05% or less they have 14 days to finish their count. >> bill, either we are not going to get a read or we'll get a read very, very early by looking at virginia and bucks county. bill: ohio law says you cannot count the provisionals until 10 days after the election. that will be november 17th. we'll see you then. >> i have got a tingle up my leg. i think romney is going to win. >> see you later. martha: manning the polls. here is video of a member of the

new black panther party. there is a group of former navy seals say they want to make sure voters are not intimidated. we'll show you what's going on.

bill: late last night when you were sleeping ann romney greeted the crowds in manchester, new hampshire. check this out. mrs. romney telling the crowd their hearts are full and her husband is ready to go to work for the american people. >> i have to tell you so many women are hurting in this economy and i have some hope for you because guess what, hope is on the way and it starts tomorrow.

bill: governor romney said it was a special moment becausen hampshire the granite state is where his campaign began. martha: we have new video from philadelphia. a member of the new black panther party standing outside the polling place opening doors as voters come through to place their votes. fox news tried to ask him a question about what his role is there. we got only a no comments. a big story that unfolded, the new black panther party members were accused of intimidation. one was seen holding a billy club outside of that polling place. what does this mean this morning? joined by busines -- joined by l

kristol. what is your take on this in our reporter trying to speak to this gentleman. is if he's doing allowed under the law. >> it's not allowed under the law because the department of justice under eric holder and barack obama dropped the charges against one of the people involved in voter intimidation in 2008 in philadelphia. they were dressed like this gentleman here. one was holding a billy club. he said to a white civil rights lawyer who worked for rfk. he said cracker you are about to be ruled by a black man. he referred to white voters as white devils. he said to two white poll watchers that there would be hell to pay. the charges were dropped against two of these people despite a judgment against them under the bush administration. they were told they could not engage in this behavior within

100 feet of the polls. but this all legal because eric holder and barack obama aloud it. martha: videos where he's opening the doors for voters. the quotes are from 2008. >> politics can be rough in philadelphia. i hope voters aren't intimidated. 130 million people voting. you want the vote to be as clean and fair as possible. i think it will be in 98% the of the country. people aren't supposed to standing within 100 feet or 100 yards of polling places to intimidate voters. you would think the police force would prevent that from happening. they should be guaranteeing their own citizens the right to

pass the free and unintimidated vote. martha: we'll follow that and see what our reporters can bring back from that location and in terms of across the country. i want to ask you, you wrote an interesting column about hurricane sandy and president obama's reaction to it. i live in the area where people are displaced in terms of where they are supposed to go to vote. people are voting by e-mail. i filled out an e-mail ballot because i was going to be in the city all day. >> there are a lot of technical questions. people can break into a server and vot vote multiple times by e-mail. the president obama got back on the trail and told his people to vote for revenge. he raised a lot more questions

people have. the halo he was able to put over his head with governor christie shattered. i think he's hurt himself by not bringing relief to people who are suffering. martha: a lot of people still suffering out there, bill. >> when the president went back to the campaign trail, he looked so much more presidential with governor christie. but i don't think he gets the credit people thought he might get four or five days ago. i don't think a huge number of voters would be influenced by that anyway. but a tiny number can make a difference. martha: good to see you both. let's go to bill who is up on the 12th floor. >> i want to show you what you can expect later tonight. closing at 7:00 on the east

coast. some of the critical states will be virginia, indiana, also new hampshire. our producer out of boston reports that right now at least two polling places the turnouts in southern new hampshire is greater than they saw in 2008. so we'll watch that story throughout the day. at 7:30 eastern time some big ones. north carolina and the state of ohio closes. when the state of ohio closes what you will see is this map start to fill in. all 88 counties. some will turn red, some will turn blue and you will see it on this board in realtime. mike forealtime. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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bill: 9:35 in new york. 9:35 in columbus, ohio, that is franklin county. a live look at the polling lines that are open. we'll check in a moment with mike to be inch and see how the voting is going there. before we go there on the board behind me i want to show you right now what to look for later tonight in ohio. there are a couple of keys you can examine in 2008, a state that went blue for president obama. how did he win ohio? you can key in-cities. new hampshire i will ton county, cincinnati. franklin county, columbus. cuyahoga county, cleveland, that area went blue as well. that was from 2008. what is going to happen this year? later tonight when we get our

results we will start to see everything tick in from time after time, red and blue, red and blue throughout these counties including franklin county, which is where the capitol city is located. mike tobin is there as well. i want to check in with him live. good morning, mike. >> good morning, bill. off and running here in the state that many feel could be the decider. the voters were packed outside the voting places before the doors opened at 6:30 this morning. when the doors opened it streamed in. we are hearing it takes about an hour to get through and cast your ballot. after all the tv ads, the door knocking, the emails, every single one of the 8.5 million voters in ohio knows that his or her vote is important. >> it's organized and very coordinated. i was impressed. it moved fast. >> i like this, the hustle and bustle, it makes you feel like you did something i guess. >> according to the spokesman with the democratic party in

ohio all the volunteers from the statewide and local races and national races are melting down into a ground game behemoth. if you don't drop off a ballot in ohio anticipate that you will be hounded, bill. bill: any reports of problems, mike, there? >> you know, there is a complaint coming from the democratic party that a conservative organization, called true the vote copied signatures legally in order to get their volunteers into polling places, particularly minority polling places. true to vote respondents saying county officials instructed them to copy the pictures tow the point where they led them step-by-step to copy the signatures. a lot out here expect complaints to boil up through the day. bill: thank you, mike. one footnote on ohio. this is cuyahoga county, cleveland 2008, 70-30 barack obama wins. the vote margin here was 258,000

in one county alone. president obama won the state by 260,000 votes. as a democrat you can turn the entire state in that county in northern ohio. will that happen this year? we are about to find out. martha, see you in a moment. pgh jenna yes we are. thank you bill. with the polls just opening both campaigns are making a last-minute pitch to voters. on fox & friends this morning senior obama adviser robert gibbs offering a reminder of what his team sees as a source of many of the problems. >> we inherited a tremendous mess. we inherited 800,000 jobs lost in a month, the very first month the president got the jobs report. every one of those statistics has gotten better in the past couple of years, because, look, we fell into a huge and massive hole in this economy. are we where we want to be? no. we've got more work to do because the hole that we are digging out of, the economic devastation that greeted this

president when he walked into the oval office was deep and widespread. pgh jenna so brad wood house is the communications director for the democratic national committee. brad, good morning on this election day. >> good morning, happy election day pgh jenna happy election day to you, and welcome. that sounds like a sound byte that could have been from three years ago, i've got to tell you. is the feeling within the obama campaign still that one of the strongest campaign points would be to point out how deep the hole was four years ago? >> look, it's not just about how deep the hole was, it's about where we've come. i think a stronger point is that over the past 32 months we've created 5.5 million private sector jobs, more than were created in the entire bush administration. so clearly our record compares well over the past couple of years to what we did inherit. i don't think it's wrong to let people know where we've come from, in fact, that's what you do in elections. the more important question is

where we're going. and certainly where we want to go is not where we were when we did come into office pgh jenna that is one of the big questions. you hear governor romney on the campaign trail and his argument is that we haven't made enough profplgt he says wha progress. he says what you're going to get is more of the same. the similar lust that did not work. the job creation that is not what it could be if he gets to take over. >> i mean, look, that is governor romney's argument. the statistics are different than that. we have created 5.5 million jobs over the past 32 months. we've had consistent economic growth, it's not fast enough. but, you know, the last three months of the bush administration it was nearly a loss of 10% of economic productivity and we've had economic growth every quarter for the pao*s two years. so, look we're headed in the right direction. no one is satisfied. if the president thought his work was tkoepb wouldn't be running foree rehrebgs. he's running because there is more work to do. pgh jenna david axelrod says

we're not throwing hail marys in states we'll never win to try to get to 270. that's the difference between the two campaigns. i thought this was interesting because in some ways it's an acknowledgment. governor romney got so much heat for that 47 pefrz commen 47% comment -pt. he said there are people out there we won't be able to persuade. isn't david axelrod in that statement saying exactly the same thing? >> i don't think so at all. what he was referring to i think was pennsylvania where governor romney is trying to make a late play, because he's really -- his hope is basically lost in a state like ohio where he's been behind in something like 20 of the last 21 public polls. i think what he's talking about is we're not making a mail mary for a stat state that is going to be hard to win at the end and that's what we think is going on in pennsylvania on the romney side. pgh jenna it's going to be a

fascinating night. thanks for coming in. bill: the rnc responds as the romney team makes a last-minute pitch to voters. next what the republicans have to say, as america, as you head to the polls and vote. >> i love this country, i love the people that i've seen in this country, but more than anything i have loved hearing the voices of the women that i've heard all across this country. [cheers and applause] it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip.

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>> we have the communications director, shaun spicer. how are you doing. >> i feel great. happy election day. bill: happy election day to you as well. we heard from the democratic counterpart from you. he said, we inherited a mess. we've done our best to clean it up. the job is not done, do not turn back. your message is what. >> there are a couple of

problems with that argument. the unemployment rate is higher than when barack obama came into offers, the debt is substantially higher. he came in it's 10 trillion it's now 16 trillion. bill: i apologize, hold onto that thought. we want to take you live now to jamesville, wisconsin, that is the republican vice-presidental nominee paul ryan there with i believe that was his wife screen left a moment ago. these are live pictures coming to us now. we'll continue our conversation here with san antonio, if our viewers were with us some 45 minutes ago you saw mitt romney and ann romney cast their ballots in bellemont, massachusetts, and now we see paul ryan back home, the southern part of the state in wisconsin, a guy who has represented that district now for 14 years martha: he's taken his children and his wife to the polling place with him. the kids have been a big part of all of this process, cute pictures have come out of them. they've clearly been enjoying it all. so many people across the

country want to bring that you are children with you to see you vote so they will see that happen and want to be active parts of the process themselves. >> it was a tradition for my mother and me. we'd walk you have tree view drive and cast our ballot and walk back martha: and here you are, still in the whole process, as am i. bill: san antonio you were saying, what is your best argument for mitt romney means today. >> i would be glad to be interrupted by congressman ryan any tkaeufr th day of the week. that was great to show that. barack obama said he would fix the problem, he understood the breadth of them and he was going to fix them. the argument brad made doesn't hold water. listen to what governor romney has been saying on the trail. he's not going to complain what he's going to inherit, frankly it's going to be worse than what barack obama inherited. he's day one going to get the job one and fix the problems.

these what america is looking for right now, someone who will tackle the bold problems that this country faces with real solutions. bill: you know what their argument is, losing 7,800,000 jobs in the first month and on from there. as you look at the math today and all the data you've crunched, what concerns you? >> nothing, really. i actually feel very good today. we have the issues on our side. in poll after poll people talk about how governor romney's leadership and economic solutions are what this country is looking for. we have the intense see of our base, they are fired up much more season the other side. we're making more voter contacts than we've ever made in the history of our side. again, go to the polling and look at independents. the independents from anywhere from 9, 10%, all the way up to 20 is braking for governor romney and that is a very positive sign. bill: it is true in 2008 that

president obama beat john mccain by 8 points among independents. some of this polling we've seen this week has governor romney up 15 points in that category. this is what we're hearing though in polling places in the battleground states now, not outside the battleground states, in places like ohio and especially new hampshire, they are talking about record turn out numbers at some of these polling stations already. now does a strong turn out, does that help you or does that hurt you? >> obviously it depends on who is turning out. as i mentioned before we've had probably the most robust and enthusiastic and energetic get out the vote effort in the his traoeft republica history of the republican side. if we are doing our job and getting these folks out then absolutely this is a good thing. the obama side did a really good job of touting their early vote numbers but they can a belizeed what we refer to as the high propensity voters, those who would vote on election day. our early vote numbers came from

low propensity voters and we spent our time and effort getting those folks who are less likely to goat really out there to vote and nothing that our high propensity voters would do what they always do, get out there and vote on election day. if they are our guys it's a great scene for you. bill: i will ask you in the five seconds you have left, if your side wins, what is the margin? >> it's going to be close. 3% maybe, 2, 3,%. i think it's going to be a close election but there is no question governor romney is going to be elected the next president night. bill: san antonio spicer, thank you from the rnc, appreciate your time. >> you bet. >> big turn out in florida where 29 electoral votes are at stake, also a big senate race happening. we'll bring you all the live coverage as america votes on election day. we'll be right back in "america's newsroom."

bill: decision day november 6th, romney surrogate, marco rubio out of florida explaining why he believes voters will make president obama a one-term president. >> look, the truth of the matter is that obama 2008, the reason tk he did so well is that he promised to elevate the country, unite us, bring us together. he said you may not agree with me on everything but i'll bring us together. that barack obama is long gone. what you have is a divider, a person who deliberately pits americans against each other, has run a very negative campaign from start to finish, has very little to talk about about what he'd do in the future. that has turned off a bunch of voters that were with anytime in 2008. >> senator rubio also commented that governor romney will carry his home state of florida, and this is a live look there.

that is a long line there, north miami florida, we are keeping an eye on that and throughout the state getting reports in orange county and orlando lines are long there as well. expect that as we move throughout the day. martha: no weather trouble there. nice day. so speaking of that, a new storm -- i can barely even say this. okay, is taking aim as some of the same areas that are struggling to recover from sandy. let me tell you, people are still without power, and still struggling from this storm regardless of what you may have heard. this nor'easter, this new thing is forming off the east coast and it is bringing very cold temperatures to people who are living without power, over a million of them in this area. this storm could be packing enough rain to cause some new problems in the coastal areas that are trying to dry out right now, and david lee miller, who has been outside and covering all of this joins me this morning now from queens, new york with the latest. good morning, david lee. >> reporter: good morning, martha. we are actually in the rockaway

section of queens. now there is a race against the clock to clean the streets, remove the debris in anticipation of the storm that is now on its way. take a look over my shoulder, down the street here you can see a sanitation truck removing the debris left from the last storm. they don't want this stuff flying around. additionally they want to make sure that there are clearly evacuate waeugs routes that are iroutes that are in place. many people here say even if there is a second storm we're not going to leave good we are saying here right now. we are not going to evacuate. we have to protect what we have. we don't want looters. we work hard for what we have and we have to protect it. >> one thing notable, mart that, many of the residents here have been cleaning the streets themselves, because city crews have been unable to get through. martha: that is a huge part of this story, david lee, thank you very much. bill: we are getting concerns about malfunctions voting machines. we'll tell you where that is happening. as america makes a choice today we start in prime times, actually before that, 6:00

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martha: the speeches, the ads, the babies' kiss brought us to this historic day. america has a huge decision to make as we choose the person who will walk in every morning to the oval office and gets to work. we are excited around here because it is finally election day. good morning to you, i'm martha maccallum. bill: it's november 6 on your calendar. governor romney will be in cleveland, ohio, then pittsburgh, p.a., then the president has returned to his hometown of chicago to wait things out there. ohio considered to be one of the most critical states to win

today with 18 electoral votes on the table. bret, good to have you here in york. we are ready to go, right? >> it will be quite a day, quite a night, quite a next morning. martha: we all brought our sleeping bags. when you take a look at this, i have never seen so many prognosticators and watchers of this events who believe this is so tight. we just heard scott rasmussen who says information the first time in his career, he can't call this. i want to play this from karl rove. >> i have 285 for romney, 253 for obama. i have romney carrying the mccain states plus indiana, florida, ohio, new hampshire and colorado. >> reporter: both sides have a lot of confidence. you heard karl's prediction.

there are a lot of republicans who think that path is a path that's realistic. city the depend on turnout and it would depend on these polls don't factor in who is going to turn out. republicans are focusing on independents saying all the polls in the battleground states show mitt romney is ahead in independents. and that makes a difference in these states like ohio, and virginia. independent registration is up almost 15% in battleground states since 2008. democrats say listen, the polls are right. our turnout is right and our machine -- our ability to get out the vote is going to materialize, and we may lose the popular vote but the electoral college will go our way. the disparity here is unbelievable. but the enthusiasm on this day is palpable. martha: both sides make a

legitimate argument. if you look down the columns of the battle ground states you will see by a small margin president obama is ahead. but when you break it down to the independents, and there are more than ever before you can understand the romney argument. in the moment i have left with you. if you can take us through the early parts of the evening. you have five of the battleground states that come in fairly early on the east coast. >> reporter: the biggest of those early closes 7:00, virginia. if we have a sense of which way virginia is going, if it's going one way or another that will paint a picture for the evening. if president obama manages to win virginia that makes mitt romney's path to be a lot tougher. but we could know early in the evening as the polls start to close at 7:00 how the picture goes. the exit polls will get some sense of where people are. but as we have seen in years

past sometimes exit polls are not exactly what the real voters turnout is. so we have to be very careful about what we are seeing early on in the day. martha: sometimes the exit polls are accurate and sometimes they turn out not to be. but they will be our first look at what's going on. we'll see you later. okay. all right. tune in tonight. our special prime time election coverage, complete analysis from the best team covering this election, folks, begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern. headed by bret baier and megyn kelly. a whole bunch of great folks will be on there. brit hume, chris wallace and the whole gang. >> take a closer look at what's happening for the biggest prize in this election among the battleground states. florida 29 electoral votes will be decisive one way or another. biggest tossup state of all in

tampa in hillsboro county. >> reporter: two hours of pouring rain has subside so we are expecting the voters to start showing up en masse again. the lines are long statewide according to election supervisors county to county. that's typical for a presidential election. this ballot in florida is the longest in state history. it takes 20-25 minutes to felt out if you didn't do your homework. there are multiple dozens of people in line. there have been issues down there. people saying they got to the precinct they didn't have the printout delivered yet. others were letting people vote alphabetically. some minor delays. buffering so looking smooth. bill: what about robocalls giving voters bad information? what do you have on that?

>> reporter: that came out in three key swing states. florida, virginia and north carolina and voter rights groups say what they are seeing here is the early morning crush at our precinct of tampa voters casting their ballots. the three swing states of virginia, north carolina and florida, robocalls were coming in suggesting they could vote by phone. that's not the case. you have to vote in person and you have to have a photo i.d. i just spoke with a woman heading home to get her passport because her birthday was saturday and her license is now expired. bill: the center part of the state, these are where your swing voters live. your independent voters live. it's right down here around tampa up to orlando and daytona beach. you can circle it here. why is this so critical? you can watch two counties to figure it out throughout the night.

one i would point to is orange county. that's orlando. this is a county the president won easily by 18 points. in 2004 in that same county this is a dead even split between senator kerry and president bush. the other area, the i4 corridor. watch tampa, too. in 2004, president bush won by points in but from 2008 that's a county that went blue. hillsboro, the president a win every or john mccain. 29 electoral votes on the line in the sunshine state. martha: a judge in pennsylvania has issued ordinary force reinstate republican elections officials in philadelphia. there are reports this morning that some of them reported being thrown out of polling sites and

replaced by democrats. crazy stuff we are getting reports of this morning. each party is allowed to have an election monitor at each given location. in one instance a female inspector, in charge of checking voter i.d.s claims she was shoved by a poll worker, laughed at and asked to leave. the philadelphia sheriff said they will make deputies available to protect these inspectors. eric shawn has been following this throughout. he will keep us posted on these developments. state officials in the swing state of colorado are looking into reports of malfunctioning voting machines. we always get some of this on election morning. william lajeunesse is live in los angeles. what are they doing about that problem? >> reporter: two states under the microscope. in colorado officials had to

test two terminals -- several terminals that where voters were putting in for romney and the terminal was voting for obama. turned out that these were overly sensitive to accidental touches. but they are were not deliberately diverting votes according to the secretary of state. while the touch screens do have voters twice to review their choices. they are being told at the polling places to pay attention before casting their ballot. several county election clerks were criticized for saying they would send home their staff at midnight no matter how close the election counties. martha: what about early voting in nevada? >> both colorado and nevada are early voting states. 80% of registered voters are vote. 56%, nevada. the gop is battling harry reid's

political machine. a growing population has a voting edge of -- voting edge of 90,000. despite obama's 2-point statewide lead they can make it up in reno and democratic turnout, early voting is down 5 points over 2008. martha: thanks, william. bill: we heard for several years that the economy is issue number one for you at home. if that's the case, how does this race break today? fair and balanced debate on that in a moment. martha: a handful of swing states that will likely determine the outcome of this election. which states fall into that category and why? bill: the race seems to be tightening by the day. why does one political analyst predict a landslide. >> you watched what happened in this country the last four years with an interview.

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bill: this is new mexico. some skirt a battleground. now not so much a battleground. we'll see how they vote there. lines are now open. martha: nice to see everybody out there this morning. the economy we learned from pretty much every poll is the top issue on these voters' find as they place their ballot today. motley unemployment number ticked up to 7.9%. no president since franklin roosevelt has run for reelection

with an unemployment rate as high as now. lanny, monica, good morning. happy election day. it's a great day in america and a great day to watch everybody as they head to the polls and clearly lanny we know the economy is uppermost in most voters' minds. how would president obama be able to eke out a win if he does based on these numbers? >> it is amazing and would be historical. there are two reasons i think he will win. the first is things are still pretty bad, but he's at least as perceived having dug us out of a deeper hole he was in four years ago. that's a tough argument but he made it pretty successfully. the data has turned from the very negative wrong direction,

pessimistic about the economy towards a more optimistic more right direction trend and those trend lines on election day seem to count more than the fact we are still at 7.9% unemployment. martha: governor romney on the trail says don't settle. he thinks that kind of growth could be a whole lot stronger. that's his argument. >> it's a reaganesque happy warrior argument he's making. romney is saying we are the united states of america, we don't have to settle for this and we don't have to live like this. lanny is correct some of the right track-wrong track numbers are moving in the right direction. the president has been in office now for four years, martha. he did inherit an economic mess, but he took a bad situation and made it so much worse.

staggering high and stubborn unemployment. unprecedented spending, record-breaking deficits and debt. unpopular and bankrupting socialized medicine. record numbers of people in poverty and on food stamps. ronald reagan turned it around in one term by doing the exact opposite of what barack obama has done. martha: it strikes me that tomorrow morning if we get a decision tonight we'll be sitting here analyze where the american people are right now and whether they think we need a change or whether they trust president obama to continue on this course. president obama, his critics say he has not put out a positive vision for war he's going to do differently over the course of the next four years if he is reelected. can we expect basically the same course? >> monica is really good, that's why she was successful.

i here is my answer. when you are running and it goes back to bill clinton's second term. when you are running for reelection, disappointingly to me barack obama spent much of his four years worried about his base and not reaching towards the center towards republicans. bill clinton proved he could work with gingrich and the republicans, balance the budget and leave behind a trillion surplus. i doubt obama will leave behind a surplus. but i suspect if he wins ... martha: mitt romney keeps hammering, the president hasn't spoke within republican leadership since the middle of the summer. and lanny, it raises a big question. why on earth would the president have not sat down -- you are such a big proponent of meeting in the middle and the purple

nation. why would he not have done that? it makes no sense. >> i wish he had. i won't take bake said. he should have endorsed simpson-bowles. he should have called in john mccain and lindsey graham. but it takes two to tango. you have the senate minority saying our goal is to defeat barack obama. part of that goal is to say no to everything. i think he could have done a better job and in a second term i expect he will. >> barack obama had huge majorities in both houses of congress the first two years. when the republican house came in in 2010 they put up bill after bill that went to the senate that the democrat leadership killed. it wasn't for lack of republican trying or lack of republican leadership. it was the democrats.

the reason barack obama will not reach across the aisle is because he cannot. lanny davis worked for the last democratic president who understood the virtue of bipartisanship. obama is a pure leftist ideologue. martha: she snuck in a compliment for you, lanny. bill: one last swing state push for governor romney. how much can he accomplish in we'll have the cohost of our special coverage. megyn kelly is in early today. martha: it all started in iowa and new hampshire back in january. but where will this end? will it end there as well? we are going to see how much of that is paying off next. >> your primarily vote put me on the path to win the republican nomination and your votes and

your work here in new hampshire will help me become the next president of the united states. >> i come back to iowa one more time to ask for your vote. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else mes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy?

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martha: we have voting problems to report in northern virginia. there are reports coming in that say lee hill elementary school in fredericksburg where voters were told the electronic machines are broken and they only have 50 paper ballots available. these are the situation wheeze see in isolated situation across the country in every cycle. we'll keep an eye on the other situation as they arise and let you adapt as possible. right? everybody hang in there. we'll get through this election

day, promise. bill: you must have some of these states memorized. want to remind you about four dates we are watching be georgia why north carolina, virginia and the state of ohio. back in 2008 all four states went blue for the president barack obama. in florida 2.5, 3 points the different there. in north carolina a difference of 14,000 votes. it cannot get much closer than that. virginia checked in for the president. the first time a democrat won since 1964. the critical battle ground state of ohio, the president one there as well. later tonight you will be watching these 11 states marked in gray outlined in yellow. that's where we leave the race will be decided in these battleground states. you will see this map start to fill in, they will tick off in

red and blue based on the county returns. watch cincinnati, columbus and cleveland, hamilton, franklin and cuyahoga county in the north. 1 statnorth. 18 critical votes on the line. good morning, senator. >> your poor viewers you go from man cat beautiful to alphonse the beast. bill: there is early voting in ohio. what do you make of what you are hearing about early voting? what can we report about what we are picking up? >> i'm going out on the line to give you what the numbers were four years ago, what they are now. democrats carry -- more democrats voted in early voting by 500,000 more. republicans on election day, about 230,000 more came out.

the democrats carried the state by almost a farther million votes. this time you are 250,000 more democrats than republicans. that's a loss of 250. and the enthusiasm with republicans coming out election day, it's a 5-point swing. romney will carry ohio. that's my prediction by 100,000 votes. bill: bush over kerry by 118,000 in 2004. >> i'm telling you there will be a swing. there is energy in the republicans and a lack of enthusiasm and energy. just look at the numbers. 250,000 viewer democrats in early voting this year in ohio than four years ago. bill: what about african-americans, hispanics, young people. that was the triad in 2008. do they come out with the same

amount of support as they did four years ago? >> they come out with almost the same support but where the democrats are lack is the independents who went overwhelmingly for obama are not going overwhelmingly. and moderate democrats are days point and some of them will stay home and a few will even vote for romney. so that's the big difference. you see the same thing taking place in florida. where the vote between democrats and republicans -- colorado, 2% more democrats voted early voting last time four years ago, it is down by 2%. the republicans have taken a 2% edge. that's a 4% swing in colorado. that will give the state to romney. so you see this taking place, early voting in pennsylvania, the same trend. bill: you are predicting a

romney victory, the way you are describing this. you are chalking up 3000 electoral votes for him. >> 300-plus. i think he will carry those battleground states. bill: do we come back tomorrow and say bring the beast back? >> it's the economy, it's because people don't like the deviciveness, it's because people are genuinely afraid for this country. bill: i know you folks are struggling on long island. >> it's devastation. bill: are local officials and the federal government giving you what you need? >> we didn't get the generators into the places they should have been quickly enough, for example. and it wasn't because of a lack of effort. these things have to be preplanned. you have to know when gas stations go down you have to have generators so you can pump

out the gas. that's why you have huge gas lines. hopefully we learned a lesson. there will be storms in the future. bill: thank you. sir beast we'll call you. martha: let's go to live pictures from columbus, ohio. governor romney heading to ohio. the state that could be the main focus tonight when the results start coming in. megyn kelly joins us live on that next. as the chair of the democratic national committee chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz talks about today. >> we have always point in's going to be a close election. we have been preparing from the obama campaign for a close election the whole time so we focused on standing up to the most significant, the largest and most dynamic presidential grassroots campaign in presidential history. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink.

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bill: surprise election day visits today by governor romney. you'll see him in cleveland and pittsburgh. what you're looking at live now are polling stations open in las vegas nevada, screen right. six electoral votes, and las cruces, new mexico. the governor announced he will head to two important swing states today, ohio and pennsylvania before he goes back home in boston, massachusetts. >> this is a campaign about america, and it's about the future america that we're going to leave to our children.

we thank you and we ask you to stay in it all the way until victory tomorrow night. [cheers and applause] bill: look who is up early. megyn: me. bill: megyn kelly, anchor of america live and cohost of tonight's election coverage. how are you doing. megyn: i'm doing fine. bill: we tried to dissect these numbers for months now. and you can drive yourself crazy just by going to five or ten web sites trying to figure out on your own which way a certain district or state will go. how do you see things right now as you get ready for your coverage later tonight? megyn: here is what i want to tell the viewers. being here at the fox news channel, having access to such smart people on both side of the aisle i'll ask them behind the scenes, you know, what do you really think, depending on their partisan affiliation i know what they want. but i say, what do you really think. what i am concluding is that a,

no one truly knows. and b, depending on your partisan ideology you think one way or the other. the people who lean right, they'll tell you i really think romney will win, and on the left, i really think obama will win. and what i have gleaned is that no one knows. the polls in a swing states show a slight advantage for president obama. and the gallup poll and rasmussen poll who looked act the entire election threat and said is it a plus democratic election threat or a republican election threat. they concluded that it's a republican election threat, that it leans republican slightly but republican. much more so than four years ago. what is it now in 2012? is it plus 7dem still or is it plus 3r, plus 3 republican?

if it's plus 3 republican in those swing states it's tough to see how obama wins and that explains the conflict. bill: the point you make is well-taken, because you can dissect these numbers anyway you want and you can find information to confirm what you're looking for. megyn: right, right, that is exactly right. truly having tried to just be an honest consumer of what everybody is putting out on screen and off screen on all the channels my impression today is no one knows, they are all trying to spin us, the democrats want us to believe that this is a forgone conclusion that obama will win the states, republicans want us to believe the same thing about the three critical swing states that romney has to win. everything to this point is manipulation that is not to be trusted. the only thing we can trust at this point is the raw data and exit poll results we'll get in starting this evening. bill: in years past some of that exit polling was not necessarily reliable. megyn: in 2004 they con gat

lated john kerry for being president. bill: and that changed at 11:30. peggy nonnan says you can ask anyone you want, they all have an opinion but they are all guessing. rasmussen says he has no idea and it pains him to say that. megyn: ask a different person we'll get a different answer. tonight woeulee know. you know how it works at fox. we'll have a meeting, the exit poll people, the decision desk will tell us how it's looking so far. we can't share all that we know with the slewers when we go on the air at 6:00pm for special coverage. we don't share that information until the polls close, 7, 7:30 and so on. we'll know a lot when the broadcast begins at 6:00pm eastern. and virginia is the first state to close, the first big swing state if that is decided significantly one way or the other, but especially if it goes blue. bill: it will be a good night for one man or the other. megyn: if it goes blue it will be very hard for romney to make

it. if it goes reddit will tell us something about the election threat. bill: watch 7:30, that's when chicago closes. megyn: what is this kaj a hoag georgia county. why does anybody care? people in new york don't care. bill: i will tell you later. check out "america live" 1:00 eastern time. later tonight with megyn and bret will ann our prime-time coverage. i'll be at the board. martha will be crunching numbers. we'll have a big old time. these are the days you live for when you're in this business. this is the super bowl for us. martha: i'm so excited i can barely speak, it's very exciting today. and we're going to be all over it. coverage gets started at 6:00pm. let's talk about this. where should we go right now? how about des moines, iowa, they kicked off this election and very well could end it. seven electoral votes up for tkpwra*bs in iowa. they have got even a ton of attention, including the president last night. during a visit there he laid out what he thinks is at stake in

very plain terms. >> it just comes down to each of us as citizens. all of it depends on you bring your friend, your neighbor, your cowork, your mom, dad, wife, husband to the polls. that's how our democracy is supposed to be, the single most powerful force in our democracy is you. martha: six electoral votes in iowa. shannon pwraoepb is live. hobream is live. >> there has been a steady team of iowa citizens turning out. the secretary of state's office tells us any problems with voting has been rectified. they are watching the presence of international monitors who indicated they want to be inside the polls here in iowa. here is what the secretary told bus that. >> we were very firm inletting everyone know that u.n. observers are not allowed at iowa polls. obviously there's been a little

bit of controversy. it's not something i thought i'd be talking about the week before the election, but my job is to enforce the law and that's what we are going to do. >> reporter: those observers have been warned. they face arrest if they do try to enter polling places here in iowa. something else to watch in the hawk-eye state is the battle over same-sex marriage. in 2009 the state supreme court here legalized same say the marriage. that galvanized conservatives who have been battling that every since. also at stake is the state senate. if they gain control of the senate they'll control both houses. that is critical for them to try to ban same-sex marriage. that organization fight which is very carefully crafted by evangelical christians in iowa can affect the top of the ticket. here is a professor. >> i think the presence of this same-sex marriage issue in

control of the iowa state senate and retention of an iowa supreme court justice, all those together provide coattails for mitt romney other than the other way around. >> reporter: instead of the top of the ticket mandated what happens down ticket it may work the other way around here in iowa. martha. martha: very interesting. thank you so much. bill: this race coming down to the wire with a razor-thin margin for both according to the poll link we're seeing. one pundit's math those a landslide victory from one man. who do you think that is? we'll get his answers and spaeupbgss. >> w explanations. >> we got a government that we never voted for and we never wanted. and we've got a got that we can turn around and get on the right crack. we can fix this. we can get this done. [chanting]

martha: the political pundits are out with their predictions for tonight. most see this as a very close race that could be decided by one or two of the swing states. our next guest says that governor romney, in his opinion and he's been watching these things for a longtime, he believes that he will win big and he's out there with us so he'll be either very right or wrong come tomorrow morning. joining me is michael pw baron, a political analyst. good morning. you say romney 315, obama 222. that is a big number. your headline is that you're going out on a limb here. how do you back it up? >> that is going out on 0 limb. basically what i did was to take a look at the target states, in light of what i believe are the fundamentals in this election which is that basically people are opposed to barack obama's major policies and disappointed with the economic recovery.

there are a lot of indicia indicating that republicans are more enthusiastic than democrats so we're going to get a turn out that will look different from the 39 democratic, 32 republican turn out in the 2008 exit poll and that romney has pretty consistently been winning independents. there was a moment after hurricane sandy that he didn't seem to be doing so, he seems to have got even them back in more recent polls. if you put that arithmetic together it's a playing field that tends to favor mitt romney, not just one or two but in most of the target states in my opinion. its not really a landslide that i was envisions. president obama got 52.9% of the vote in 2008 an carried 365 electoral votes, 50 more than i'm projecting here. so this is more in the variety of predicting something like an unambiguous victory but not a landslide. martha: we are looking right now by the way at las vegas, nevada as the voters head to the polls. you believe that mitt romney

will take nevada -- >> no, no, i picked mitt romney not to get nevada. martha: with the exception of nevada. >> yeah. martha: show me the pocket that you believe he wins in mitt romney that people are not expecting that got you to this number. >> i think if you look at ohio, which everybody has identified as a key target state, the polls have been running just about even in ohio, most of them. those that show obama with a bigger lead also have an election threat that looks more democratic than the 2008 election threat in ohio. i think that is unlikely. early release of the early voting total number of voters shows that they are down 2% in counties that obama -- that john kerry carried. they are up 14% in counties carried by george w. bush and john mccain. i think the enthusiasm factor likely to produce a narrow romney victory. in pennsylvania which has only been a target state really the last two weeks, western and

central pennsylvania they've got big energy issues there, coal, shale, natural gas. i think you'll have a higher turn out there and it's going to be much more anti-obama than 2008, and the philly suburb seems to be moving somewhat in romney's direction as well. those are some of the factors i looked at to make my debatable predictions. martha: very interesting, michael. i've got your numbers on my desk. we'll see how you do tomorrow. we'll be looking at a lot of the balance of power issues this evening with interesting senate races out there as well. we'll talk to you next time about that. >> thank you. bill: what was that line in pulp fix. check out the brain on brad. check out the brain on baron. martha: literally the history of politics in america and he tph-s every single nook and cranny. bill: back live to a swing state, new hampshire, we'll take you there live after this. >> i am just so moved, i'm just

so emotional to be here and have this kind of reception from ohio, a state that is going to make the next president of the united states. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ...but you still have to go wooohooo....hahaahahaha!

martha: you're going to see a lot of ohio today, folks. as we heard from mitt romney's campaign he does not like to sit still, so today he's squeezing in a few more campaign stops. you're look at a empty tarmac but looking at a place where you'll see mitt romney arriving moments from now in cleveland, ohio. all eyes are going to be on ohio tonight, county by county as those results come in starting at 7:30 p.m. this evening. we will watch and we'll bring you his arrival as soon as it gets underway there. there goes the white car. bill: it's not unheard of but quite unusual on that. we'll see him in pittsburg later

today. huge turn out we are hearing at some of the polling locations in the critical state of new hampshire. workers saying that crowds are much larger than four years ago. what does that mean in the end? four election controller votes at stake. molly line is live in manchester there. what are you seeing this morning, molly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are at the webster school i in manchester. there are enormous lines this. is just one room. this stretches down the room, out the door, up the stairway and out the building. they had 400 people voting here and it's even bigger than they saw in 2008. absolutely incredible. i had a chance to speak to some of the voters here today and here is what they said. >> romney. because of honesty, number one, and transparency, two. i want to know what is going on. i want the president to tell us the truth. that's all we want, and he's going to do it. >> i vote for obama. i feel he's the right person for

the job. he's done a good job in four years, and the next four years will be excellent. >> reporter: the secretary of state bill gardener is expecting a big, big turn out all across the state, 7 22,000 people expected to vote, that is seven out of ten people here in new hampshire that are of voting age. you know, new hampshire voters are active participants in the democratic process. they vote big every year. in 2008 they were the second highest across the nation, they were beat out only by minnesota. big numbers here today, big numbers expected, and by the end of the day it could possibly be record-breaking. we started the day earlier in dixville notch, it was a tie there. that's another interesting aspect of new hampshire, they don't vote early unless you count midnight as the early voting. bill: to be clear, there is not early voting in new hampshire, correct? >> reporter: there's not early voting. you can vote by absentee but they don't have the bigger lee voting you see across the

country and other states. that's why they have these huge turn outs on election day despite the fact they don't have early voting they still have this enormous amount of participation all across the state. bill: thank you, molly line in new hampshire. we'll check in throughout the day there, thanks. martha: the big question, what will we see tonight when these polls close and you've got as we mentioned five of the battleground states that are all up and down the east coast. there is -- that is las crusas, new mexico. we'll take a look at the voting in florida. all of those up for grabs tonight. coming up karl rove and brit hume after this. ÷g÷w

bill: big night tonight. martha: you have to pace yourself through a day like this. there is so much anticipation and excitement as we get ready for this big night and get ready to cover it. but we will be learning about the exit polls, i'll be bringing those to you tonight as we start to get the information about what motivated people to vote, which will give us some