Election Night TV

I don't normally talk politics here but watching the returns on each of the major networks on election night made for pretty good TV.

The most compelling, however, was when the networks called Ohio for Obama because then we knew Obama's win was assured.

What I found interesting, at that moment, was the way in which FOX News and CNN handled the call. From my perspective CNN was much better, more sophisticated and succinct. But FOX had better drama even though with regards to technology they still seem like they are locked in the 1980's.

What does CNN have? A beautiful interactive map, which John King would use to bring us informative visuals. He could zoom in on a state and drill down to each county and show the number of votes and percentages reported. This was the exact method King used to show us why CNN called Ohio when only about 65% of the vote had been counted. To the point, all the Republican counties were counted at close to 100% and the only areas on the map left fully uncounted were Democratic areas.

FOX News, on the other hand, did not have an interactive map. They had talking heads and graphics that only showed states and overall numbers. When Ohio was called they had no way of showing us why it was called. So that lead to a good bit of off-the-cuff live television that began with the now famous meltdown, rant by skeptical Karl Rove. So what did FOX do? In order to get answers they sent co-anchor Megyn Kelly into the basement [!] to get facts. Here it is.

Yes, rather than have the decision desk be right there in the studio they have it located downstairs nowhere near any cameras. The fact that FOX News has such an antiquated system is a bit unbelievable considering that they are hardly some small time network. They are usual #1 in ratings and owned by one of the wealthiest men in the world. 

I should note that an article in New York Magazine claims that an insider at FOX said the call to send Kelly walking downstairs was a good one because it gave them an opportunity to show the audience her legs. Yes, they sent a woman to do the work so audiences could look at her legs. What can I say? Good television and bad television in part because it is so old fashioned and out-of-date. But then again their core audience is predominately older, conservative and white.

Brown ads

Okay the election is over so I don't have to make any political pitches now. I can view them in an historical entertaining context. These two ads by Jerry Brown were brilliant. They may not have alone won him the election - but they were to the point in a way that voters could understand.

demon sheep!

Mutton marketing!

It started with this political ad by Carly Fiorina, running in a CA Republican primary for Congress against a fellow Republican Tom Campbell.


[Longer version here]

Then the Democrats got on board and both parodied the ad and ran with it.

Severe cuts

Why are they smiling?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders will begin working today to line up votes for the budget agreement they reached Monday evening to close a $26.3-billion deficit and allow the state to begin paying all of its bills again...
The plan has not been formally released. But... it does not include any broad-based tax increases, relying instead on deep cuts in government services, borrowing and accounting maneuvers to wipe out the deficit....

Tens of thousands of seniors and children would lose access to healthcare, local governments would sacrifice several billion dollars in state assistance this year and thousands of convicted criminals could serve less time in state prison. Welfare checks would go to fewer residents, state workers would be forced to continue to take unpaid days off and new drilling for oil would be permitted off the Santa Barbara coast.

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So again, why exactly are they smiling?

Handshakes [and smiles]

Khrushchev & JFK


Mao and Nixon


Bush and Abdullah


Obama and Chavez

You getting the picture people? Diplomats shake hands. This is how the world moves forward.

Inauguration...celebration, liberation, transformation, revelation, standing ovation, respect for nation and hopefully job creation.

Electoral predictions

Electoral College predictions compared to reality:

Markos Moulitas, DailyKos / Obama 390 McCain 148
Morton Kondracke, Fox News host / Obama 379 McCain 159
George Will, conservative columnist / Obama 378 McCain 160
Final Electoral College results / Obama 365 McCain 173
Larry Sabato / Obama 364 McCain 174
Alan Abramowitz, Emory University / Obama 361 McCain 177
Sandy Maisel, Colby College / Obama 353 McCain 185
Ed Rollins, Republican strategist / Obama 353 McCain 185
George Stephanopoulos, ABC News / Obama 353 McCain 185
Eleanor Clift, political writer / Obama 349 McCain 189
Mark Halperin, Time editor / Obama 349 McCain 189
Nate Silver, statistician / Obama 347 McCain 191
Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist / Obama 343 McCain 197
Matthew Dowd, former Bush strategist / Obama 338 McCain 200
Karl Rove, Bushie / Obama 338 McCain 200
Chris Matthews, MSNBC host / Obama 338 McCain 200
David Plotz, Slate editor / Obama 336 McCain 202
Tom Doherty, NY Republican consultant / Obama 331 McCain 207
Paul Begala, Democratic strategist / Obama 325 McCain 213
James Carville, Democratic strategist / Obama 330 McCain 208
Dan Gerstein, Dem media consultant / Obama 318 McCain 220
Arianna Huffington / Obama 318 McCain 220
Chris Cillizza, Washington Post / Obama 312 McCain 226
Charles Mahtesian, Politico editor / Obama 311 McCain 227
Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard / McCain 286 Obama 252 [?!]

Info source from here.

Yes, he did

The first chapter from a Newsweek book on how he did it. [some excerpts]
Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter four
Chapter five
Chapter six
Chapter seven

Obama quote

It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign, that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.

Obama quote in context.

Pauline said...

I came across the phrase; 'Pauline Kael Bubble' the other day on a blog.
Knowing who Pauline Kael was I was interested by the phrase and guessed that it had something to do with a critic who is out of touch with real life - or some such thing.
Sure enough, the phrase originates from a quote attributed to Kael after the 1972 landslide that Richard Nixon won over George McGovern. She was reported to have said something like: "How can that be? No one I know voted for Nixon!"
Nice.
Only, she didn't say it just like that.
A little digging revealed very little at first [There are 8 links that come up in Google as of this post].
Then I found a blog comment referring to a 1972 New York Times article. It said this:

"'I live in a rather special world,' Miss Kael said, continuing: 'I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don't know. They're outside my ken. But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them.'"

Now, in context this makes sense. She lived in New York and frequently went to New York City - one of the more liberal cities in America.
But, ultimately, this Republican meme - as it is used - is without merit because she didn't actually say it the way they understand it.
Plus, she was not out of touch. She very well knew where she lived and what her friends and connections thought and politically expressed. The comment: "But sometimes when I'm in a theater I can feel them" is the one that could be problematic since it could be construed as a bit condescending - but she very well could have been joking. So we'll give her that.

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Look, someone was kind enough to put Kael's blurb reviews online.
I always get a laugh out of a line she wrote about Frank Capra's 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington':

No one else can balance the ups and downs of wistful sentiment and corny humor the way Capra can--but if anyone else should learn to, kill him.

Obama's Grandmother

Here are two guys who get what Obama meant when he mentioned his grandmother in the same breath as Jeremiah Wright.
Nice to hear a sane position.