Many of my Democratic friends and colleagues face Election Day with apprehension, worried that some last-minute disaster would befall and our candidate would lose the election. Not me. Any anxiety I feel over the election results is motivated by purely selfish considerations.

With regard to who is elected president, I am not at all anxious. I'm as calm — complacent, some would say — as I've been since mid-February, when it first emerged that Obama was very likely going to be the next president. No, of course, I never thought victory was guaranteed — not even as late as last night — but for the past eight months, even while the public opinion polls bounced up and down, Obama's underlying prospects have steadily climbed from good to better to still better. Now on the final day, as they make the final step from 99% to 100%, I feel a sense of finality but no sense of suspense.

Not about who wins the election, that is. I am, on the other hand, very anxious about who wins Indiana, which is shaping up to be a real nail-biter. As I mentioned a few days ago, I am in a betting pool in which several us took our best shot at predicting which candidate would win each state. Our predictions were made back in September, but mine have held up pretty well. One of my opponents' predictions also look very good — not surprising, since they're almost identical to mine. The key difference is that he called Indiana for Obama and I called it for McCain. I won't rehash the details again. Suffice it to say that Indiana is the state that will make or break me. If McCain wins in Indiana, I probably win the contest. If Obama wins in Indiana, I definitely don't.

So I'm like the guy at the Super Bowl who likes the favored team but bet $100 on the underdog to cover the spread. A truer fan would no doubt say, "I'm happy to lose the bet, so long as our team wins." Not me. Call me selfish, but I'm rooting for McCain in Indiana. Obama is going to be president either way; I want him to do it with exactly the 353 electoral votes I predicted. I want my $100, dammit.

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