Michael Bloomberg’s close re-election caught everyone, including the MSM, by surprise. Now NYT readers are beating down public editor Clark Hoyt’s door wanting to know how come the results were such a surprise?! One of the answers appears to be that the Times couldn’t afford to do their own polling.

I’ve run a few campaigns in my day, making me officially an old-timer – but why the numbers were close was obvious. Bloomberg’s vote total dropped precipitously. And Thompson, it turns out, had a base.

It looks like maybe a lot of people were more displeased with their lack of kitchen tables than was previously let on! Perhaps the biggest shocker to come out of last night’s elections was just how tiny the margin Bloomberg’s margin of victory was!

Election Day is upon us. But in the age of media overload, how do you decide how to follow it? Fortunately, Mediaite has put together a web-focused list of blogs, Twitter feeds, publications, and cable sources to guide you through the day:

It’s Friday, which means it’s time to separate the chumps from the champs in Mediaite’s new “Winners and Losers” — our scorecard of who rocked and who flopped in the week’s headlines. This week’s contenders include: Tracy Morgan, dropping F-bombs on former co-stars, Rush Limbaugh, dropped from his NFL bid or Meghan McCain, threatening to drop Twitter.