Firstly, I would say in general today's mainstream media love hyperbole. They are better than any sector of our society when it comes to making mountains out of a molehills (although they also manage to turn many Everests into dirt piles.) However, I believe to call this an historic election, is not hyperbole. I don't necessarily believe Pres. Elect Obama is going to institute sweeping changes, and alter how this country is run. I don't necessarily believe he will be without poor decisions and slip-ups. I do not believe this means racism is eradicated in our country. I do believe, however, that is says something about a country with such a racist history, that Americans came together and elected an African-American to the highest office not because or in spite of the color of his skin, but because of the content of his character.
That is all I will say in the realm of rhetoric and poetics ... now for the good stuff. The past 36 hours have produced some classic media moments. I've boiled it down to a top 5:
5. Holograms ... and other gadgets. You have to love cable news. Now I see why we haven't seen a lot of in-depth reporting in the past 22 months. In lieu of paying for quality, well-trained reporters, CNN has been saving up for a machine from the Jetsons. All I could do was laugh.
4. Karl Rove speechless ... unusual I know. As Rove was explaining that McCain's only chances for winning rested on Ohio, Brit Hume informs him that Ohio has gone to Obama. It was priceless to see Rove struggling to figure a way that McCain could still pull out the election, talking about McCain possibly taking Washington, or Oregon ... or California??? or Hawaii????
Further on this point, I watched a lot of FOX last night and I almost fell out of my chair when I heard one of their anchors, it may have been Hume, it may have been Megyn Kelly, said FOX was being ecspecially cautious when calling states to "maintain the integrity of their bi-partisan election results panel." This was laughable considering what we know about 2000.
3. Displays of Corporate Clout ... on a night that garnered almost as many viewers as the Super Bowl, the media giants made sure the viewers knew it. NBC used the ice skating rink in Rockefeller Plaza to construct an electoral map. ABC News plastered itself all over Times Square. I wonder how much advertisements were going for last night???
2. "He is a progressive, who will govern from the center and reach over to Republicans." --- W...T...F??? I'm not even sure I understand what this means but it is exactly what Howard Wolfson (former communications director for Hillary Clinton) said on today's episode of the O'Reilly factor. I pick this quote because it basically demonstrates everything I have heard post-election from the talking heads. This 'socialist' who drives in the "far-left lane" is now expected to "govern from the center" and "reach across the aisle." I don't understand how it can work both ways. I have also learned that this 6 point victory is apparently not a mandate for anything. Interesting, considering Bush's narrow 2 point defeat of Kerry in 2004 was a mandate. I guess the definition of that word has changed in the last four years. Who knew?
1. The number one moment of the election for me was not watching Wolf Blitzer call the election for Obama...but reading on Talking Points Memo (the site I have been monitoring), seconds later that Obama had won the election. I say this because I truly believe that the Internet, and independent media had a greater effect on the coverage and outcome of this election than anything else (the economy, race, Sarah Palin). I believe historians will look back on this as the online election. I'm not the only one. The New York Times, the other outlet I have been monitoring had an interesting piece on this a day before the election.
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