It was a surrreal night and morning. I am writing you shortly after 5 a.m. after 12 straight hours on the air at KANW-FM, and still New Mexico remains undecided, although Bush had a lead of over 10,000 when we concluded. It will be hard for Kerry to overcome such a lead with the estimate 40,000 ballots still to be counted. The night was exhilarating as the contest remained so close all night and all morning. But in the end my longtime broadcast colleague Scott Scanland and I were disappointed. Not so much over the results, but that once again we have a disputed election that will lead to further political division.

What happened? So much. Southern NM roared from the beginning totaling up big margins for Bush. The Hispanic North underperformed for the D's, responding, some said to Bush's conservative message on things like abortion and family values. Kerry appeared to carry Bernalillo County by 5,000 or more votes, yet he appears to have lost the state. Very unusual. Turnout appeared to be near the 70% mark, higher than four years ago, but not enough to push Kerry over the top, not with reluctance demonstrated by many D's who went to the polls Tuesday.

For now, let's find out today what Kerry says and how the Bush team goes forward. Let's keep our eye on the NM vote-counting. History says it is not quite over. I will check back in with you on all the incredible events in the days ahead. I welcome your comments and emails.