Exit Polls, Meltdowns And Florida (Again): Things To Watch For Tonight

Veteran pols know that you don't need to stay up all night watching election returns or listening to the TV pundits to get a feel for which way the political winds are blowing. There are certain places to watch and clues to look for over the course of the evening that will provide strong signals about the eventual winners and losers. Here is Politico's guide to five key things to keep an eye on.

The exit polls

If you believed the early 2004 exit polling data, Democrat John F. Kerry was on his way to victory over President Bush. Those numbers, of course, turned out to be half-baked. But the premature circulation of the data created enough of a stir that the National Election Pool -- the consortium of ABC News, The Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News formed in 2003 to provide exit poll data -- implemented a "quarantine" policy in 2006, designed to keep the numbers under wraps until at least 5 p.m., when the data are more reliable.

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Exit Polls, What You Need To Know