Did you watch any part of last night’s election coverage? Having worked in the TV news business I can honestly say it is much more relaxing to sit on the couch and watch the coverage than to put in a 16-hour day ad-libbing recycled results while waiting for final numbers to come in, then jockeying for a comment from the winner… or loser.
After past botched calls on winning candidates, the networks say they approached last night gingerly… though, I can’t tell you how many races I heard anchors “call” based on exit polls even though just 2% of the precincts were in.
In any event, such is life in the fast-paced world of electronic media. I’m not here to discuss results; rather this blog is dedicated to my favorite election night quotes from various network TV reporters and anchors. I got a kick out of them, perhaps you will too.
In regards to resolving the night’s looming questions: Had Democrats seized control of the House as anticipated? And would the Senate hold onto its Republican majority? Fox News Channel’s Chris Wallace, said: “We’re gonna give you what we know, but you should take it with a grain of salt.”
Early in the evening MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann spoke briefly about the night’s other big story—the divorce plans of a famous pop star. To which he quipped that an overwhelming Democratic victory might signal “some sort of shift to get out of the (Iraq) war faster than Britney Spears got out of her marriage.”
Meanwhile, Dan Rather (who left CBS last June) logged some election-night airtime, too: as a “special correspondent for the night” for make-believe anchor Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s “Midterm Midtacular” broadcast.
“We knew Hillary Clinton would win in a landslide,” said Stewart, seeking Rather’s expert assessment. “But how would you describe the largeness of her victory?”
“It was a healthy margin,” Rather said. Then, quickly added: “She ran away with it like a hobo with a sweet potato pie,” Rather cracked.
Finally, another celebrity tie-in to the night’s festivities: John Hall, the musician who wrote the 1970s pop tunes “Still the One” and “Dance with Me” defeated a longtime Republican lawmaker. Hall, who founded the band Orleans and produced albums for Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt, ousted Sue Kelly, who swept into office as part of the 1994 GOP revolution.