stu rothenberg has the rare ability to report on the political happenings in the nation with unbiasedclarity and nonpartisan precision. rothenberg's unparalleled expertise has earned him appearances on myriad news programs and in countless top-tier must publications. for decades this pair has been washington's most trusted and most accurate voice on all things political, whether it is the outcome of a congressional, gubernatorial or presidential election, they are the source for people who want to be in the know. now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome charlie cook and stu rothenberg. [applause] >> you know, i look at that, and i think you know what? i really need to find maybe using chris christie's personal trainer wasn't such a great idea. [laughter] anyway, thank you all for coming, and, you know, we always ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. ray, thank you for having us back. and, you know, we always -- for stu, you know, leading authorities put our kids through school, have fed them, put clothes on and do a wonderful, wonderful job, and we always love dealing with

then we'll talk to stu rothenberg of the stu rothenbe rothenberg political reports. allen stanford of the university of virginia center for politics, democratic pollster anna greenberg, and republican analyst leslie sanchez of the impacto group. and our own cbs news elections director anthony salvanto. we're coming to the end of the campaign 2012, and we've got it all on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news in washington, "face the nation" with bob schieffer. >> schieffer: good morning, again. most of the country is looking forward to election day, or at the least, looking forward to the campaign being over. but in large parts of the northeast, it is still the aftermath of the storm that is in the forefront of many people's thoughts. at least 110 are dead, more than 2 million are still without power. close to 1 million in new york city alone. 80% of new york city subway service has been restored, but it may be days before gas shortages are rer stored and the national guard has been called in to keep order at gas stations. the storm has caused

stu rothenberg is one of the most respected political analysts in the land. he puts out the rothenberg political reports. anthony salvanto is the cbs news political director. he's the director of elections. anna greenberg is a senior vice president of the democratic polling firm greenberg, quinlan, and roster upon and last but not least our old friend larry sabato, the political guru of the university of virginia center for politics. stewart, let me talk to you. and you i talked last week. >> we did. >> schieffer: you said, don't look at me. i have no idea who is going to win. and this is what you do for a living. right now, how do you think this thing is breaking on this last weekend? >> i think the popular vote looks even or close to even, bob. i think anybody would be crazy to confidently predict how that's going to go. i still think the electoral college is easier for the president to get to 270. it's not impossible for governor romney, but all the pieces have to fit together for him. there are a number of must-win states so it's more difficult. >> schief

after that, a discussion on the election with charlie cook and stu rothenberg. later, we will rea error the event with senator chuck schumer. on tomorrow morning's "washington journal, the executive editor of the weekly standard will take your questions about the election and the future of the republican party. we will discuss the hispanic vote. the washington bureau chief with the los angeles * will look at demographic changes in the electorate. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> i need some help over here. >> did he try to get up without anybody knowing? >> he just rolled himself out. >> where is our robert gates today? we ended up following him and he ended up entering himself into an innovative program at walter reed where they ended up using acupuncture, medication, other techniques to ween him off of all the drugs he was on. he was able to walk out of walter reed on his own 2 feet. i commend the military for two things -- allowing us to tell the story, both the good and bad, and for recognizing this problem by recogni

>> ifill: susan page, stu rothenberg, andy kohut, thank you all very much.e are already getting a taste of the legal issues, challenges and battles at polling places that could decide the election. geoffrey brown has that >> brown: a number of voter >> brown: a number of voter identification laws were litigated in recent months, and largely put off to be decided after this election. but that's hardly the end of it: the campaigns, as well as outse groups, will ve thousands of lawyers at polling stations and campaign headquarters, ready to challenge any irregularities. here to walk us through all this are curt anderson, an "associated press" legal affairs writer based in miami, and michael waldman, president of the brennan center for justice at n.y.u. school of law, a nonpartisan public policy institute. i want to start with you, kurt anderson, because down in your neck of the woods southern florida over the weekend, a lot of problems with long lines and then a lawsuit filed. bring us up to date. where do things stand >> it began are reactions to the shortened

charlie cook and stu rothenberg here on c-span2 at 8:30 p.m. eastern. shortly after that, 9:00 a.m.astern on c-span3, american enterprise institute poses a question on what the election results mean for education policy. we will also be live on c-span with the election review hosted by roll call. it includes authors thomas mann and norm ornstein. >> moldavia and ukraine. it had the prices are the highest in the world. you pay on average with taxes in the u.s., $160. in france, you pay $30 u.s. and get worldwide calling to 70 countries. not just to the u.s. and canada. your internet is 20 times faster uploading and downloading. all these countries understand a fundamental principle. in the 19th century, canals and railroads were the key to economic growth as industrial and industrial growth came along. >> now, the joint center for political and economic studies. the african-american vote. this is about an hour. [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon. i am part of the joint center for political and economic studies. we are one of the leading institute and policy centers. we focus

political editor christina bellantoni and stuart rothenberg of the "rothenberg political report" and "roll call." hello for the first time. stu, start with this question of exit polls. we're going to be looking at them all night. what are they though. >> exit poll is actually a series of polls, 25,000 of them to be exact, this year of people who have voted. the poll is conducted in two ways. one thousands of in-person surveys done as people are leaving the polls. they're handed a little card with many questions on them. they simply respond. then the cards are gathered up and the results tabulated but in addition to that, jeff, now there are thousands of telephone interviews on top of that. because, remember, somewhere around 30% or a third of all voters will have voted early. so you can't rely on people walking out of the polling place. you've got people who aren't even showing up at the polling place. edison research, which is the company that actual he'll conducts the exit polls for the consortium of media companies that buys into the polls has this overlay of phone calls. >> brown: that early voting has changed so much. th

rothenberg political report. so if we start to look at the senate, they were talking about early for mitt romney on the presidential side. stu, that is not the case in this important senate race. >> we thought it might be when we first looked back months ago. >> brown: you mean months ago. richard murdoch ended up defeating richard lugar long-time senatorick lugar in a rathi bitter nasty republican, an ideological racea where murdoch attacked lugar for not only being too liberal on questions of guns and national security but also not hingn ang residence in the state, not living in the state. murdoch seem to be the clear favorite to win the seat to hold on the seat for the republicans but stumble after stumble he looked sometimes unwilling to compromise, angry, bitter. and i think itorked on voters. then more recently we had a o controversy on rape a abortion and whether it was a misstatement or misinterpreted, whatever you want to say. it has hurt him in the polls. joe donley is a credible candidate but frankly would not have won a u.s. senate race in a normal year like this. >> when you look at the early returns that we're

rothenberg political report and roll call, my side-kick and our go-to analyst last night during our election special. a very long special. welcome back, stuart. >> thanks. >> brown: hello to linda. stut me start with you. on the one hand you end up with the status quo in congress, right. on the other hand, given where things started the democrats did quite well, especially in those tight senate races. so a at a later, what can we say? >> absolutely. you're right. things stayed the same bought they didn't. the taste in ourselves mouths at the end of this election was better for the democrats than republicans. in the senate, the democrats added two senate seats, really a remarkable outcome upon. if a year ago you asked me what would happen i would have told you republicans would pick up between three and six senate seats, and instead, instead the democrats gained two. it was a dramatic event where the democrat won republican seats in maine, massachusetts, and indiana. but even more importantly, held seats in north dakota, ohio, montana, virginia, wisconsin. so it's a disappointment for republicans. i don't think there's any doubt about it. >> brown: linda killian, what can you read fr

rothenberg political report. so if we start to look at the senate, they were talking about indiana called early for mitt romney on the presidential side. stu, that is not the case in this important senate race. >> we thought it might be when we first looked back months ago. >> brown: you mean months ago. richard murdoch ended up defeating richard lugar long-time senator dick lugar in a rather bitter nasty republican, an ideological race where murdoch attacked lugar for not only being too liberal on questions of guns and national security but also not having a e, not living in the state. murdoch seem to be the clear favorite to win the seat to hold on the seat for the republicans but stumble after stumble he looked sometimes unwilling to compromise, angry, bitter. and i think it worked on voters. then more recently we had a controversy on rape and abortion and whether it was a misstatement or misinterpreted, whatever you want to say. it has hurt him in the polls. joe donley is a credible candidate but frankly would not have won a u.s. senate race in a normal year like this. >> when you look at the early returns that we're seeing in that ind