this is decision 2012, president barack obama vs. romney for the future of our country and the ties of uncertainty. we are with the voters in the heart of the obama rally in his sweet home chicago.

>> wgn american viewers are now joining us, thanks for coming on board. let's go right to what you are most interested and that is the presidential battleground state florida. it looks like president obama has a smidgen more overall vote. now we go to pennsylvania, 62 percent barack obama. in ohio that is very similar to the type of voter in pennsylvania 36% of the precincts reporting a slow going their 54-46 for the president at the moment. and as they say no republican goes to the white house without ohio now let's

check in with the hometown crowd. you are on jackie. >> i am here with the co-chair of the obama campaign bill daley also former chief of staff welcome just a few minutes ago so,. so calm. >> there has been no major change. >> are you hearing more than what you are seeing at the media? >> things are rolling out as was expected virginia is the same way, ohio is still early into that looks very close with the

president is in a strong state what you think the keys were so far in getting these votes? >> i think they are incredible campaign operations in the volunteers. i think it's really unprecedented in the history of american politics. it's good, organized and efficient. you should see volunteers staffing, an enormous number of offices. they have done a spectacular job, it's not over still a long way to go this evening. at this point i would say people feel pretty good about where they're

at. >> could anything be done differently? >> i think the people that ran his campaign made the right decision this president, for four years was beat up on mercifully by the opposition sometimes an embarrassing way for them and i think that president stood up to that in this campaign organization did and a very solid tough way but politics is a bean bag in america today. i think it's too early to begin this kind of decisiveness and slice into dice this thing, it's too early. that's what the president wanted a very broad base. you think the turnout is higher than it was four years ago?

>> i think it will be because people know what is at stake in this election. these are very tough times for americans in this world and i think the president knows it on both sides. it's to bring those forces together we have been separated and i believe the president as our leader will do that in this term and i hope the opposition loyal as they must will give them the chance to really bring this country together. >> what if he loses? >> i don't expect him to lose and even if he was to that would want romney to bring this

country together. my brother is traveling out of the country on business and in joy in life right now. i talked to him today yes i haven't talked to him tonight that. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> whenever you see bill daley on election night you think of al gore he was the campaign manager for al gore witchy won the overall vote but he lost to the electoral race. he was ready to pull the plug until he said you are not quitting. before we

get to this gentleman let's go to boston where the boston globe reported that the medical marijuana issue has been taxed in massachusetts. i don't want to accuse anyone of heavy mood swings that we are not there yet. at one point it looked like it was going to be a disappointment for republicans in this room and again a very quiet room but great cheers when the numbers regarding florida 85050 split is i think what i'm getting for you guys and virginia also looking good for romney right now this room lit up right now people are actually just watching the numbers role in right now and it is a full

room everybody here waiting for the romney to show some signs he came and spoke to the crowd and we also heard from the communications director and she said to us that she believes that romney i'm sure you have talked about it a little bit performing where he needed to cross the country but obama is underperforming in some areas. slightly under performing so it is worth mentioning in that case we also need to talk about the biggest issue out here for mitt romney over the last several months has certainly been the economy he said i'm a businessman i want to get to work i can fix this, he is the numbers guy was this enough? it's been a lack of

connectedness with the people. when they went to the polls today was there a better connection with him, i think people are saying they have seen more connecting than in recent days the debate certainly being a big turning point to him the question is does it translate with someone who is going to cast a ballot? we are live in boston. >> less introduced officially our guest for the night. also have to say is everybody cibber downsimmer down. we go to the obama

camp there is lots of music and lots of chanting and we go to the romney camp in boston and what does it tell you? >> these people in boston are drinking. is it over? why don't you just go home. that's what is? >> i understand they just have one horn to blow. everyone would be eating a lot of jello. by the

way florida at the moment to 86 percent of the vote, 50-49 president obama. let's look at how the electoral votes are looking across the board. barack obama electoral votes right now, 147 mitt romney won 48. if you look at the map you can see a lot of red there, what does it all mean? does it mean a romney when? no it doesn't. these has

been 5050 all night. obama is doing all lot better. and we have been talking about this state in what we are seeing is that they are not reporting it, the county is very heavily democratic. the president is doing very well there over romney. he is actually doing better now than he did in 2008. virginia may or may not be going romney, we will see. as you look at this map and you look at all of the states,

>> michigan is surprising because it is romney's home state we have to talk about pennsylvania, because this is a state that he went after today so without pa. he is set on a high a we don't yet know what is going to happen if he did get

his pass it would be florida virginia, ohio. so he has just lost that option which means now if we get even some of these other battleground states of iowa has not yet been called. this is all about the electoral college, this is not about the popular vote as we kick off the state's we begin to redo the math and think what do we need? we will continue to talk with paul lisneck throughout the night, thank you so much for that. >> let's talk about the second congressional district a little while ago jesse jackson jr. said that he has been suffering from bipolar we haven't seen him at all he is at the mayo clinic he

has won this race. there is really no place for you to be tonight. he is not here, sandy is not here his family is not here as a matter of fact the rev. we hear tonight is in ohio. can you hear us? >> that's why we are at an election night party here in the second congressional district in madison at the sports bar and grill you know jesse jackson jr. had problems, lots of well-documented problems in the past few months but winning this election was never expected to be one of them, tonight we can confirm that he remains at the mayo clinic in minnesota he voted by absentee

ballot and there was no party for him so that's why we have been here talking with these constituents i just want to tell you a few minutes ago i did get a text message from his spokesperson and i will read it back to you know, the tax says my deep and sincere thanks to the people of the second congressional district i am humbled and moved by the support shown today, every day i think about your needs and concerns and i assure you that once my doctor gives me the release... i continue to feel better every day and look forward to serving you. as i said we have been talking to constituents in the second district of want to bring

one of them in now carlos who actually lives in home and voted for jesse jackson jr. why did he get our support? >> i'm a staunch democrat in die be strong proponent of anyone who is helping people in need. what did you think about the way the congressman jackson's office handled the release of information regarding his health problems now that we know that he has been battling bipolar disorder? >> i think those health issues are very severe. he owes it to the public to explain what he is going through do you think congressman jackson can recover from this and return to office? of course. i am praying for his

family. and jackson was known for never missing a house vote he has been fighting to get the airport off the ground he had opsaspirations of being a u.s.

senator but his political on raveling has been well documented in the media he is under investigation by the house ethics to mitty under investigation, federal investigation for alleged misuse of campaign funds constituents had not heard from him besides a roll-call that ast in that rubble called the * constituents for patients and they granted him that, he gets another term in the second congressional district but still many questions remain tonight when will he return to work? for now we are reporting from madison i will send it back to you in the studio. is it unfair? of reporters to ask the question to raise the issue that beyond his

medical concerns perhaps he is hiding behind the medical concerns because of some the things that gaynor hall talked about things we have all reported on. the other's a federal investigation and many of us heard about it before we heard about his illness. you are not capable of standing before the public? right? then he should have dropped out, this is a joke. there is no conspiracy mark, this is raw politics you have on one side, the fact that they're going to push him through and on the other side you have the more interesting story which should be a mini suit with reverend jackson played by someone and highly berry is sandy jackson and

they're fighting each other over who was going to get the power. >> clarence should aldermen jackson and sandy jackson be up there tonight? >> somebody should be out there tonight. i understand and sympathize with his condition it looks very suspicious and it looks really odd to be running a non campaign we see it happen and we see people like him enough. here's what i did a

while ago you have to ask yourself this question if you didn't show up to a broker for one month in didn't call and didn't right, what would happen to you? i know what would happen to me. and finally tonight here is what it comes down to for me. i wish he would go way. the thing is that this guy, jackson his father the media still remembers the days when jackson would comment or demand something and everybody would tremble. i don't think it's the

same shoes but at the same time i think the residuals are there i know we have been chasing him we have all been chasing him. there is no new news coming out of that investigation. we're going to take a break but first we want to report that clare b.

todd eakins. wgn election coverage continues well into the night. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet but they're gonna fall in love get married have a couple

of kids [ children laughing ] move to the country and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. we saw that last tide commercial with the parents and the cute little baby triplets... well wait until your triplets move back home after college. we were enjoying our empty nest. and now it's just a nest full of laundry. lucky underwear. we were going through so much of that bargain detergent... and the clothes didn't look as good. but since we switched to tide, we use much less. their clothes are looking much more...uh... what's the word? clean? employable.

[ female announcer ] one cap of tide gives you more cleaning power than 6 caps of the bargain brand. [ mom ] that's my tide what's yours? hey buddy, i bet mom would love this, huh? jack? jaaack?

jaaack?! jack?! looks good ladies! jack! come on, stop the car. jack! no, no, no, no, no! the only thing more surprising than finding the perfect gifts.. niice. ...is where you find them. how did you know? i had a little help. this is how to gift. this is sears.

welcome back to wgn election coverage 2012 he looked as some of the results coming in let's go now to the trip tahawwur first of all where

does the latino vote and how much impact does that have in this race this year? >> its expected to have a considerable posted nationwide. last time i saw the results from florida they were within 600 votes apart and this is out of roughly four-5 million votes cast already so it's expected to have a repeat of the 2000 election so it's critically important that major states like florida could decide the outcome of this election with colorado and nevada still being held there it could go either way as well. i know this happens a lot

in the african-american community but you are thought of as the monolithic electorate but that's not true is it? >> no, that's not true at all i am very bipartisan. you have a large indepepdent i i i i i intnt whf whooooooactually. had the lowest% of the hispanic vote among republican candidates at 21 percent back in 1996 so it is very bipartisan, but always support the democratic candidate for president. >> i had a very good turnout in

the hispanic community how would you compare it to a mitt romney appeal had met ronnie been able to come anywhere close to the demand 35 or the upper 35 percent the outcome could be considerably different. in states like florida and like

nevada or colorado his message about immigration would have been a little bit kinder and gentler if you will his percentages may have improved but at the moment it didn't appear likely that he will break 30 percent. gov queen is joining me right now number one how does it feel to be here? we need four more years to help illinois and help america. >> you were part of this for years ago at grant park. we are facing such a huge budget deficit. he is helped out every

state especially the auto industry in illinois. saving the auto industry in america was very very important and it helped with jobs in illinois. >> if he does when what would you like to see happen? what are you expecting for the president? i think the most important thing is more economic growth, i think we always have to work on education that's the best way to strengthen our economy and also think it's important that we really fight hard against violence that really affects a lot of cities in america. i talk to the president along the way

right now in illinois we have to do is get the president across the finish line, we are not done yet may be a long night may be a long couple nights but as long as we win illinois will be better off in america will be better off. what kind of advice would you give the president on a night like this? >> one more than the other guy is a landslide, that's what i would say. you have to hang on for a long time but as long as u.n. and the majority rules we go forward and we make it better. you were mentioning some of the swing states in really paying attention to that. it was really important in the midwest.

i think it shows that anything can happen in america. gov paquin, thank you very much for joining us. good to see you. gov pat quinn and obama at headquarters and we will eventually get meier romijn

emmanuelle i know he is around here. it's nice to see governor clinton talking about him shaking the federal money tree. i have some thoughts on something else and derrick smith, $7,000 in a bribe. and he has been elected. overwhelmingly so. take the money now that he is not convicted. that's why i call him leaving it in the

envelops smith. what does that say about the district? by a vote of 100-6 when does the district have to take responsibility, when did they start getting shame for what they do? because they put them in here is a guy that allegedly took the money. thatif that is not the chicago way, i don't know what is the chicago way. >> the voters voted for him. they put him in. >> who put derrick smith and in the first place a year ago? >> mike madigan is the boss of

all and he kicked him out. because people vote by party and that tells you what chicago is about, take the money, be on pace leave it in the envelope, 1000 2000, then let's elected. we are getting those numbers from exit polls and we will look at party affiliations in three states why are these three

states important? these are the states we are waiting for we are waiting for two of them now let's start with pennsylvania. as we look data we said there is in terms of party affiliation 44 percent when you look at that we talk about it it looks like obama. so let's come to the states. florida is so indicative of what is going on the areas that have not common, president obama scoring very well in miami better than he did in 2008 that could tip these numbers even though they looked even here and ohio of course is leaning towards the president according to party affiliation de that president looked good coming out of ohio. he ran over to

pennsylvania thinking if i don't get ohio, give me pennsylvania. so now let's see how the numbers are shaping up when it comes to gender she leads battleground states and we start with pennsylvania women 53 percent voted for robb obama 45% voting for mitt romney. and then you can see 48% and 51% and then let's move on over to ohio. 46 percent of men voted for obama. and the last one is pennsylvania or sorry, florida. you'll notice everything you

were saying is pretty much the same in all the states we're seeing the president do better with women than he did with men. we look at the battleground state we already know where pennsylvania came out keep in mind for the effort went in this campaign. the analyst always breaking down this data and the demographic i'm wondering how effective or how accurate they have been where they accurate than in 2008? the candidates learned from them how to use this data to go forward for future elections. >> paull lisneck breaking down

these numbers for us tonight. >> thank you for joining us. also we should sit on the telephone right now is the rev. jesse jackson, hello sir. >> i am in columbus ohio tonight and... you push away blacks you push away labor and they stayed away. sir i'm sure you are aware that your son has been reelected in his district tonight and i'm sure that makes you very happy but a lot of us are wondering why there wasn't a campaign headquarters or someone here to talk to about that. because doing this expression

again thankful for the people expressing things but he is under medical volition right now and we pray for his recovery. your daughter in law sandy junior's wife fights for it. listen let me assure you that johnson is a businessman a

wife in the city council person. but the focus has been on his health. >> high rev. this is cliff and of course let me say to john that i talked to dennis today was on my show every thursday. the gentleman is great and people ask me can he come on a regular basis and people just love him. >> the rev. should think

about supporting sandy his daughter in law. >> there is a negative campaign tried to suppress the vote as becoming stimulus i think people will wait until they are asleep. more americans now are insured more troops are out of iraq, more americans are working so his track record has earned him four more years in washington. rev. to thank you so much for joining us from columbus ohio.

we're going to take a break on that note we will be right back. [ female announcer ] over every holiday season your mouth has been sipping, snacking, yellowing. nutcracking, gift stacking yellowing. mistletoe'ing, ho ho ho'ing yellowing. and every holiday season, your teeth have been yellowing. fact is if

you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest 3d white whitestrips remove over 10 years of stains, and whiten 25 times better than a leading whitening toothpaste. crest. life opens up when you do. in a hurry? try 2 hour express whitestrips just in time for a white holiday. it's really hard to look fierce when your clothes don't match so i switched to tide total care to keep all my colors looking great. and by all her colors she means... black. my wife's a ninja. i'm not a ninja. i'm a ninja. that's my tide for keeping blacks black.

these are my polar bears. he used to wash them in hot water. he didn't get the irony. i'm not the tree-hugging type. but i am the saving money on energy type. so we switched to the cold cycle and with tide coldwater his teddy bears are clean. polar bears. that's our tide for conserving

energy. man, chanting, snapping fingers: oh, those boys are much too much! those boys are much too much! we got the spirit we're hot, we can't be stopped! we got the spirit! we're hot! we can't be stopped! we're gonna beat 'em and bust 'em... announcer: the smallest moments can have the biggest impact on a child's life. both chanting: let's...get... a little bit rowdy. r-o-w--whoo!--d-y. announcer: take time to be a dad today. one more time. call or visit fatherhood.gov to learn more. hi. we're spreading the word about honey bunches of oats fruit blends and their unique taste combinations. like peach/raspberry. with one flavor in the granola bunch and one on the flake. two flavors. in harmony. honey bunches of oats. make your day bunches better. it's strange, i'm getting gray but kate -- still looks like...kate. nice'n easy with colorblend technology gives expert highlights and lowlights. for color that's true to you. i don't know how she does it. with nice'n

easy all they see is you. >> battleground states and the ones that you are interested in as we tried to counted down to see who will become the next president of the united states let's go to the headquarters. we're standing by with my year romijn emanuel and he is looking over his shoulder right now to see the latest information. what

are your thoughts on it? >> we are in the right direction. is that the biggest worry, ohio? even florida is in the right direction but that said the president has what we call that midwest fire all all of the industrial base the decision he made that was right for america and then you will be able to see that he has that possibility. it's not there till it's there. you have been very active in this campaign so much in the last couple of days has there been a feeling of being frantic of getting everybody out there to get the votes? we're all here we have been exercising a strategy to make sure that you know who your voters are on the other hand this election has not been clear it's clear about the

mandate that he has for the policies that will help middle- class families. to help manufacturing and education policy so i think on a host of issues there is an even higher energy turnout now. seanni think he has a clear mandate to govern. he expanded women voters in ohio we saw this

decision on the auto industry go back four years ago mitt romney took the popular position and the president took the on popular position and today we are. is the kind of strange not being a part of it this time around? >> i couldn't be happier i love this kind of stuff. as the mayor now of chicago would you want him to bring. we can be an

economically competitive city and create jobs in the state. will you be talking to him tonight? >> know at some point i am sure we will talk and if we don't we will talk sunday in the state ahead. a commercial breakthe differences

between candidates were claire and is certainly the presidency did better now than it did in 2008. have you seen a lot of gathering in the government? there is a lot of energy is the president's home town, he couldn't be happier. >> no problems security wise? >> no problems. >> thank you for joining us. romijn emanuel heading off to a another group of media. i think dan ponce is about to break some news to the crowd. everyone here is really excited but they do not know there is about a 10 second delay between what i'm

saying right now and the big screen behind me there watching wgn and they are just about to find out the news you will hear a lot of cheers i believe they will get ready to call this race here people just now finding out with most of the precincts reporting, the court's leading by 14,000 votes, joe walsh will not be able to overcome that amount. you can see people again finding out about this news right now word is spreading quickly here at her campaign headquarters. she told me earlier she is very confident about the race and that lead

really never subsided it's just a matter of time now before she actually comes out to meet the crowd some people in her campaign were telling me they were waiting for the associated press but everyone here is very excited and we are waiting for duckworth she is now coming out to any second i've not really know how long that is going to be this is been one of the most exciting and one of the nastiest races that has had national and even international attention there. and there are even some international alex reporters are here from thailand. the crowd is very excited anxiously awaiting you can hear the music behind me people are dancing people are waiting for dock were to

take the podium. duckworth to take the podium. she is being projected as the this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

♪ ♪ ♪ pop goes the world ♪ ♪ it goes something like this ♪ [ female announcer ] pop in a whole new kind of clean with new tide pods... just one removes more stains than the 6 next leading pacs combined. pop in. stand out.