We’re still several hours before exit poll numbers start spreading around the ‘net, but Josh Marshall raised a good point this morning that warrants attention.
Exits come out in a several batches over the course of the day. Democrats, on average, tend to vote later in the day than Republicans. Not always, but that’s the pattern, for fairly straightforward demographic reasons. And for that reason their exit poll numbers tend to get better over the course of the day. That was strikingly so in 2000. So if you see less than perfect numbers plastered around in the early afternoon, don’t let that rattle you.
This is worth keeping mind for the rest of the day. Stay calm, no matter what the early numbers say.