Election Day stock market rally biggest since 1984:

U.S. stocks advanced more than 305 points in the biggest presidential Election Day rally in 24 years, led by energy and banking shares, on rebounding commodity prices and speculation the Treasury will bail out more financial companies.

General Electric Co. added 7.6 percent while CIT Group Inc. and Principal Financial Group Inc. climbed more than 22 percent after people briefed on the matter said the government may broaden the focus of its rescue program. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. led all 40 energy shares in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index higher as oil gained. Archer Daniels Midland Co. rose 15 percent after profit more than doubled at the world’s largest grain processor.

Curtis Gans is one of the nation’s leading experts on voter turnout issues as director for the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate at American University:

“Because turnout can only accurately be ascertained by getting actual tabulated vote numbers and because to make any real sense of the numbers, one needs to wait until at least 90 percent of the vote has been cast in an individual state, any judgment on this year’s turnout probably won’t be available until late in the evening–probably around midnight before one can make an educated stab at how much turnout might have increased.”

Pollster.com’s Mark Blumenthal on exit polls:

“Everyone wants to know as much as possible about the outcome of this election as soon as possible. But you will do yourself a favor if you ignore what leaks out before the polls close, or at least try not to jump to any conclusions about the likely outcome based on what you see. Why? First, the McCain campaign is right: Historically, the leaked exit poll results have ‘tended to overstate the Democratic vote,’ and as I reported in March, and the early leaked results during the primaries tended to overstate the Obama vote as well.

Mark Salter, senior McCain aide, on achieving endurance through the candidate’s one-day seven-state swing:

When asked how he was planning to get through the marathon seven-state day, Salter quipped: “Crystal meth. Me, personally, that’s how I’m going to do it.”

More than $73 million spent on Prop 8 campaign by both sides, double the total spent in all 24 similar measures contested throughout the country since 2004:

Opponents of Proposition 8 had a slight lead in contributions as of Monday, having raised $37.6 million. Supporters of the gay marriage ban had raised $35.8 million. A little less than $33 million was spent on campaigns to pass or defeat gay marriage bans in the 24 states where they appeared on ballots in 2004, 2005 and 2006, according to the National Organization on Money in State Politics.