If my colleague John "the Beltway Belter" Eggerton can reference Schoolhouse Rock, I guess it's OK for me to name-check '80s HBO laff-fest Not Necessarily the News. With a tip of the Stetson to Rich Hall, I offer an entry to his brilliant "Sniglets" ouevre. 



EX POSTER FACTO: Signage on buses and phone booths advertising new programs even after the programs have been cancelled.  

Usage: It appears the marketing campaign for NBC rookie My Own Worst Enemy has outlived the actual show. 

[image telegraph.co.uk]

Nov 20 2008 9:34AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

I've long heard tales of B&C Washington bureau chief John Eggerton's legendary golden throat. Though I'd listened to his bass tenor over the phone nearly every day for the past two years—and found it unfailingly melifluous, even when roughened by the occasional chest cold—I had yet to hear John break into song...until now.

As loyal readers of his Washington blog know, John recently proposed the revival of ABC's educational interstitial series Schoolhouse Rock as a way to address renewed demand for high-quality children's programming. To demonstrate his investment in the idea, he posted his phone number and encouraged readers to call him up if they wanted to hear his rendition of "The Preamble," Schoolhouse Rock's catchy ode to the Constitution. (Indeed, the Radio and Television News Directors Association took him up on that and received a command performance via speakerphone.)

Well, for those of you who may be too shy to call, I asked John to record a quick snippet. Click here to listen...and if you're not tearing up by the end of it, well, then listen again.

And for those who are nostalgic for the original, here's the clip:

Nov 17 2008 11:09AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

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October Road may have been cancelled last spring, but the ABC series appears to be enjoying something of a second life…on Mars.

Despite a promising midseason start in 2007, the primetime soap didn't make it to a third season, and its creators went on to become the showrunners on ABC's Life on Mars. But the producers have been sprinkling the cop drama with sly call-backs to their dearly departed show.

In the Life on Mars pilot, moments before a car accident mysteriously catapults the main character, a modern-day police detective, back to 1973, a sign on a row of tenement houses is clearly visible through his window: "Welcome to Cataldo Houses."

October Road fans no doubt caught the reference: Ray "Big Cat" Cataldo was the name of October Road's arch villain, who owns a successful construction business.

"We had to come up with a name for these tenements," executive producer Josh Appelbaum told B&C last month, "Why not use the name of our favorite evil contractor?"

"In our minds, we are living in one creative universe where Knights Bridge, Mass., does live in the same workd as Life On Mars," he added. "The Cataldo thing is a perfect example."

Appelbaum also mentioned plans to reincarnate several denizens of October's fictional Knights Ridge, Mass., in Mars, albeit as the names of crime suspects or victims.

"Somehow in 1973 New York, the members of 2008 Knights Ridge are dying in bulk," he joked. "We're doing a loving burial for October Road by killing off some of these people in Life on Mars."

Appelbaum said the call-backs have been therapeutic for him and his partners, who are "still mourning October Road." They even worked one into Samurai Girl, a summer show they produced for ABC Family in which a character is shown in a T-shirt that reads "I'm Sam's Father," a reference to a key October plot point. (The team decided against putting the T-shirt in Mars, since the lead character's name is Sam.)

Of course, Appelbaum said, there's a limit to the grieving: "The generosity of ABC in letting us do [Life on Mars] wasn't so we could purge all our demons from October Road."

Plus, he added, "Life On Mars does deserve its own reality. We would never do something that is too overt, that would jump out as a fan of Life On Mars. But it is always fun to put in stuff that fans of October Road could notice and say, 'That's cool.'"

So are these references akin to Alfred Hitchcock making cameos in his own movies?

"Unfortunately, nothing that we have done this far, or at least October Road doesn't have the iconic status of Alfred Hitchcock," Appelbaum said. "So for us at the moment it is more like an Easter egg. Down the road, if October Road takes on a huge afterlife on the Interent and DVD, maybe it will seem more like Alfred Hitchcock."

Nov 16 2008 7:42PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (4) |

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When the history of the 2008 presidential election is written, Martin Eisenstadt just might make it as a footnote.

But two weeks after Election Day, the tale of this fraudulent Republican gunslinger is the perfect capper to an often ridiculous political season.

Last week, Eisenstadt—a blogger who described himself as an adviser to Sen. John McCain's campaign and a "senior fellow" at "The Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy"—claimed to be the source of a post-election smear aimed at Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. You know, the one about Palin not realizing that Africa was a continent, first reported by Fox News' Carl Cameron.

The New York Times then reported that "Martin Eisenstadt" is actually the invention of two filmmakers who conceived the character as the basis for a TV pilot—but not before the pranksters had punk'd a number of major news outlets with other claims during the past year, including MSNBC, whose David Shuster reported Eisenstadt's Palin claim before backing off moments later. (The pranksters admitted to TV Newser that they were not Cameron's source on the Africa story.)

The satire should've been obvious to anyone who had visited the Eisenstadt blog or watched the faux documentary clips, including a fake Iraqi TV interview in which "Eisenstadt" proposes building a casino in Baghdad's Green Zone.

Watch the clip below:

And the multi-part documentary profile of Eisenstadt, The Last Republican, which he slams as a BBC hatchet job, is just plain hilarious.

But the hoax fell into that sweet spot where plausibility meets parody. What's more outrageous: Gov. Palin's purported geographical cluelessness or claiming to be the story's anonymous source? And though he never made it on TV, as far as we know, Eisenstadt might've passed easily as a member of the ballooning punditry that made cable-news panels look like The Last Supper.

We can't help but be reminded of Karen Ryan, the PR contractor whose video news releases promoting Bush administration policies too often passed as straight news. But when it's hard to tell the parody from the real thing, something's not right.

Nov 16 2008 7:09PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

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OK,  maybe "flash" was parrot overkill. It is clearly one of those end-of-a-long Friday items, but I am convinced by the press mavens behind a new online joke book, "new" being the absolute least appropriate adjective imaginable, that they are on to something.

Online self-publishing site, yudu.com (get it?,) has just released a new version of a 4th century BC joke book, Philogelos: The Laugh Addict, with over 200 jokes and witticisms ascribed to a pair or Greeks, Hierocles and Philagrius. BTW: I Googled them enough to conclude there actually is an ancient joke book of which this is a new translation.

Anyway, according to the book, which was being hawked with the headline about tracing the roots of the Python's famous TV skit, the dead parrot sketch, can arguably be traced to the following joke:

"A man goes up to a student dunce (apparently the Greek generic for the butt of jokes) and says, 'The slave you sold me died.'  'By the gods,' counters the dunce, 'when he was with me, he never did any such thing!' 

Followed by the Greek equivalent of a drum riff and a cymbal crash, both of which were likely used by the ancient Greeks since the date from perhistoric times.

Nov 14 2008 2:26PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |

The election has come and gone, but stories from the hotly contested campaign remain near the top of the media rotation, right under the cratering U.S. economy and speculation about Barack Obama’s cabinet.

William Ayers, erstwhile bomb-builder and now pillar of the Chicago community, will break his silence on ABC’s Good Morning America. Anchor Chris Cuomo will conduct the interview live in GMA’s New York studios Friday morning during the show’s 7 a.m. half hour.

Obama’s connection with Ayers – they served on a charity board together, Ayers hosted an event for Obama when Obama was running for the Illinois state senate – became Exhibit A in Sarah Palin’s stump arguments decrying the now president-elect’s anti-Americanism and shifty collection of pals.

Ayers, a public education reformer, is the Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The McCain campaign also attempted to use Obama’s connection to another academic, Rashid Khalidi, to fan insular sentiment. Khalidi, is currently the Edward Said Professor of Arad Studies at Columbia University and the Director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. Obama was friendly with Khalidi and his wife and attended a 2003 farewell banquet for Khalidi when he was leaving the University of Chicago for Columbia.

To date Khalidi has not agreed to sit for a post-election television interrogation.

 

Leaks from frustrated McCain aids alleging Palin's clashes with McCain loyalists, her rogue behavior on the trail and desire to make her own Election Night speech (highly unusual, some would say inappropriate), plus additional tidbits about her temperament, familiarity with geography and global policy and her shopping habits, spurred Palin’s post-election I-am-not-a-shopaholic media tour. Over three days earlier this week she appeared on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren, on NBC with Matt Lauer and on CNN with Larry King.

Palin’s lap on the media circuit began before John McCain made his own premiere post-election appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

 

So far, the real McCain staffers leaking unflattering details about Palin have not sought their own 15 minutes of TV fame. But the pranksters (and aspiring screenwriters) who created “McCain policy advisor” Martin Eisenstadt – who was credited on MSNBC and in The New Republic for being the source of the claim that Palin did not know that Africa is a continent, not a country – have emerged from behind their ruse.

Eitan Gorlin and Dan Mirvish gave an interview to the New York Times. Surely television is next.

But Joe the Plumber (real name: Samuel Wurzelbacher), another character in the McCain campaign, has mostly fallen from the radar post-election – despite acquiring the services of a Nashville publicity firm to jump start a country-music recording career. However, if Wurzelbacher’s brush with fame and public scrutiny has precipitated invasions into his privacy by various Ohio officials, it may have also helped him avoid a moving violation near his home in Toledo. The Associated Press reported that Wurzelbacher was stopped for speeding days prior to the election but the officer declined to issue a ticket because the department was already in hot water for looking up Wurzelbacher’s address on a state computer database.

 

Bill O’Reilly meanwhile is doing his part to keep the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. in the spotlight. The Fox News pundit has extended an open invitation to Obama’s former pastor to appear on The O’Reilly Factor. One of O’Reilly’s producers caught up with Wright this week in Connecticut but Wright declined to slow down for a chat. He did allow that the election results were “wonderful” before disappearing into what looked like the back door of a church.

Nov 13 2008 12:46PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

Everyone and their mother was throwing an election night bash Tuesday, but very few could say they were one of the hottest tickets in town. One of those parties, without question, was Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008 shindig, held at The Park in New York’s meatpacking district.

 

The Atmosphere

 

Each room had a different vibe. The main room, which had trees and a park-like atmosphere, was the center of the party, with two bars, a buffet and more TVs than you could shake a stick at. There was also a blogging area, where many distracted bloggers sat, typing away all night, while people just a few feet away crowded around another bar. As for the crowd, it skewed young, and was overwhelmingly pro-Obama. Afew TV related celebrity sightings: 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer, Lonny Ross and Jane Krakowski, 30 Days’ Morgan Spurlock, Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi and the correspondents from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

 

The Food/Drinks

 

There were a number of buffets. The “pro-American” buffet served delicacies such as “small-town patriotic chicken strips,” “red state burgers,” “blue state pizza,” “lone state quesadillas,” “Joe The Plumber’s good ole’ mac n cheese” and of course freedom fries. The “un-American” buffet served “$150,000 makeover steak,” “elitist mixed greens,” “socialist salmon,” “old world rigatoni” and “imported grilled vegetables.”

 

After the meal, waitresses walked around with cookies, brownies and cupcakes emblazoned with the picture of John McCain or Barack Obama (left). Not many people wanted McCain cupcakes.

 

There were also many many bars. Seriously, you couldn’t walk ten feet without running into a bar. The crowd seemed to appreciate this.

 

The Fun

 

Upon arrival, each guest received a bag of comedy central coins, for use in slot machines spread throughout the party, and a scratch off card. If you got three of the same, you won a prize! (my Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin, Lemon didn’t cut it, as you can see below).

 

Comedy also set up photo booths, where guests could snap photos of themselves. The showpieces of the night however were the 20 foot high Indecision 2008 plinko boards (pictured right). Guests would travel in pairs up to the second floor, where they would compete against each other in plinko. The winner got a t-shirt and a Subway gift card.

 

Did I mention there were lots of bars?

 

The Show

 

Comedy was fair and balanced when it came to which networks got screen space. They were all represented. That is, until 10, when The Daily Show live special came on. All screens turned to Comedy Central at that point. Of course, you couldn’t always hear what was being said. The crowd noise and the laughter often lead to viewers missing a few key jokes, but hey, all in good fun. When Jon Stewart called it for Obama a few minutes after 11 p.m., the crowd went nuts.

 

For both John McCain and Barack Obama’s speeches, the music was shut off, and the audio feed from CNN was piped into the sound system. The rooms almost completely stopped during both, with everyone glued to the TV sets.

 

Afterward celebratory music was turned on, champagne was flowing and everyone had a good time till late. 

Nov 5 2008 1:15PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (5) |

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11:22 p.m.

Celebrations all over as The Daily Show calls it. McCain is not popular with this crowd.

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11:18 p.m.

MSNBC shows shots of celebrations including one of Jesse Jackson with tears flowing then cuts to John McCain’s 10 minute speech in front of supporters holding off supporters’ boos with his hand when he mentioned Obama.

He urges supporters to support Obama and acknowledges the historic aspects of the outcome of the election, ending with: “Americans never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.”

He came across more genuine and at ease than we have seen him appear on TV for months. Perhaps now that he finally has a conclusion.

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11:17 p.m.

Extraordinary sight: Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his face, standing at Grant Park.

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11:16 p.m.

MSNBC says Obama gets Florida, we still don’t know about indiana

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11:13 p.m.

MSNBC says Colorado went obama

11:11 p.m.
AP reporting McCain has called Obama to concede and congratulate

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11:10 p.m.
Rachel Maddow admits to being teary. “the idea of America … has always been built on a moral house of cards. Built on slavery. To have amoment that means this much that you can put along side the emancipation proclamation…it’s sort of worth crying about.”

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11:09 p.m.
Gene Robinson, an African American and audibly moved: “It is a moment of demarcation. It feels different to me to be an American tonight."

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11:06 p.m.
MSNBC heads start talking after six minutes of scenes of celebration

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11:03 p.m.
"Race has been a curse for America for a long time and this young man, instinctive and cool, comes to us at a time when politics has become so exclusionary, and he invited everyone in. It's a great commentary on this country."

Nov 4 2008 11:23PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

10:56 ET -- Leading up to the 11 pm hour when polls in the west will be closed Chris Mtthews pondered on what it means if Obama wins. “If this happens in the next few minutes and we announce it every reality we grew up with in terms of ethnicity will be different.”

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10:53 ET -- Mark McKinnon on ABC: "The fat lady has not yet sung. She's just warming up."

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10:41 ET -- Brian WIlliams finally comes close to an admission about the end, talking about the great history of Chicago's Grant Park, "History that's about to be doubled tonight."

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10:21 ET -- MTV's Kim Stolz reporting from the McCain viewing party in Phoenix, Ariz. "Although McCain's camp still remains optimistic, there's a sense of reality filling the room," she said. Talking about Obama's victory in Pennsylvania, she said this makes a McCain victory look a little less probable.

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10:17 ET -- I am starting to wonder who MSNBC will have actually call the election. I am betting on Matthews, but interested to see if the collegial spotlight sharing that has gone so well tonight among him, David Gregory, Keith Olbermann, Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow will continue through that momentous, historic tell. Surely they have worked this out in advance, but you never know. It is live TV -- Melissa Grego, Executive Editor

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10:04 -- MSNBC shows more Grant Park images. David Gregory says Obama is at home having dinner right now. Keith Olbermann notes everyone in business clothes like they came from work. Similar scene in Harlem, ny. 
Chris Matthews: As people look at these images I must say, although, we have to be careful about not getting ahead of the story. The world is looking at America once again with wonder … it’s great to see America surprising the world again in a positive way. And these crowds are sending a message to the world that something is happening here. 

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9:43 -- CNN didn't call it, but John King very clearly went through a state-by-state scenario where McCain won't get more than 266 electoral votes. He said that McCain won't win Iowa or any of the West Coast states.

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9:40 ET – MSNBC is flirting hard with calling this race

David Gregory shows images of grant park “where the celebration will be. Or people think there will be a celebration”

Then to Chuck Todd

Chuck todd: “There’s a potential path here for obama to 270 that is very real and I don’t know yet if there’s a path that is plowed anymore for john mccain.”

---

 

9:30 ET -- Starting with the Obama win in Pennsylvania, firmed with the Ohio win and reinforced with the way the close race in Florida is looking, the chatter on MSNBC seems to have turned toward the assumption that this election is going Obama’s way.

 

Conversation turns to a post-mortem tone. Examples:

 

Gene Robinson: “Everybody is concerned with the economy. Obama came to them with a message that they responded to. … John McCain with his handling of the economic crisis gave a lot of people the feeling that he was not the one to bring relief.”

 

Rachel Maddow: “The American people don’t believe the Republicans can help with the economy.”

Nov 4 2008 7:49PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

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10:43 ET -- PBS' Lehrer says CBS and Fox call Virginia for Obama.

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10:42 ET -- ABC calls South Dakota for McCain.

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10:38 ET -- NBC and MSNBC call South Dakota for McCain. 207-138. Chuck Todd says we could have Nebraska splitting it's electoral votes for the first time.

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10: 27 ET -- The other Big O weighs in. WABC's Dave Evans, reporting from Obama HQ in Chicago, Ill., talks to Oprah Winfrey, who doesn't hold back on her Obamamania: "I feel like I’ve been pulsating all day and now I’m in, like, full vibrational mode."

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10:14 ET -- MTV is still lacking any sort of real-time election coverage. With Obama at 207 and McCain at 95 electoral votes respectively (according to CNN.com, my only current source of up-to-the-minute election coverage), MTV can't even donate a corner of their screen to an electoral vote counter. What's going on here MTV? Can't our youth still get their dose of Paris Hilton while knowing where our country is headed in the next four years? 

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10:14 ET -- On MSNBC, Chuck Todd says of Florida, "Don’t expect us to call this one until all the votes have come in. This is one we’re going to let go all the way. 

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10:09 ET -- MSNBC projects Mississippi to McCain 

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10:08 ET -- On PBS, talk about how they are waiting on Florida -- speculation. 51% Obama, 48% McCain as of now. Amy Walters thinks Obama will win state

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10:03 ET -- MSNBC reports Mccain ahead by about 9,000 votes in Indiana with 87% votes in.

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10:01 ET -- From Comedy Central's election party: 10 o clock and all monitors (and eyes) turn to The Daily Show. You can barely hear it over the screams and applause in the room.

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10:00 ET -- MSNBC calls Iowa for Obama

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10:00 p.m. ET -- Watching WABC, I've eaten a Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookie each time anchors Bill Ritter and Liz Cho say the word "historic." Halfway through my third package. (Kidding.)

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9:55: ABC News' Bianna Golodryga reports on the youth voters gathering virtually on Facebook and Twitter (ABC and Facebook have partnered on election coverage this year). Charles Gibson reiterates that the network will not make a call until one of the candidates reaches "the magic number" of 270 electoral votes.

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9:56 p.m. -- Sway reporting for MTV from Chicago, Il. -- speaking with hip-hop artist Common about the election and hopes for Obama as the next president comes closer.

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9:43 -- CBS has a clip of Hank Williams Jr. performing, and mention of some "very pungent" lyrics about Obama, says Greenfield. WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan discusses just how angry Americans are about the current state of affairs. "It's a bad, bad time to be a Republican," she says.

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9:37: ABC goes remote to Kogelo, Kenya, Obama's "ancestral home." Unfortunately, ABC correspondent Dana Hughes is talking but no sound is coming.

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9:37 -- CBS' Schieffer says it's "virtually impossible" for McCain to pull it out. "I just think you can't find the numbers on the map for John McCain to win," he says.

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9:33 -- CBS gives New Mexico to Obama, 199-124. Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey discusses how Obama won the state, and how his basketball game was earlier that day. Greenfield calls it "an astonishing moment" in American history and tells the story of passing a weeping African American man during a civil rights march in the '60s.

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9:30 Starting with the Obama win in Pennsylvania, firmed with the Ohio win and reinforced with the way the close race in Florida is looking, the chatter on MSNBC seems to have turned toward the assumption that this election is going Obama’s way.

Conversation turns to a post-mortem tone. Examples:

Gene Robinson: “Everybody is concerned with the economy. Obama came to them with a message that they responded to. … John McCain with his handling of the economic crisis gave a lot of people the feeling that he was not the one to bring relief.”

Rachel Maddow: “The American people don’t believe the Republicans can help with the economy.”

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9:28 Lehrer shows a map with states colored red and blue if they were called for McCain and Obama, respectively.

After watching CNN earlier (since PBS didn't start coverage until 9:00 p.m.), this map seems beyond basic. It can't move, or expand, or float. It's just a map. Lehrer mocks the map, "Can we see the map one more time. I'm so impressed with it, we spent a lot of time on it." Hey, at least this guy has a sense of humor.

McCain projected to win Louisiana

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9:26: Joe Scarborough doesn’t officially call Florida for MSNBC but says “it looks like Florida will also go Barack Obama’s way."

David Gregory: Louisiana goes McCain

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9:24 Charles Gibson breaks into local coverage with “major projection to make”: Obama carries Ohio.

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9:22 MSNBC calls Ohio for Obama.

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9:20 Analysis, analysis and more analysis. Lehrer delivers on this promise. Discussion of Obama winning Pennsylvania with Stuart Rothernberg and Amy Walter, Editor in Chief of Hotline. Obama projected winner in Ohio says Fox News, say Jim Lehrer.

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9:11: MSNBC’s Chuck Todd: As optimistic as Obama folks might be right now in North Carolina and Florida, they’re very much wound a little bit tight when it comes to Virginia, Ohio and Indiana right now.

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9:10 Fox News’ Chris Wallace asks Bret Hume, "Why don't you come over here, big boy?" recognizing an odd middle aisle between the two anchors. At that, Hume rolls his chair over to sit next to Wallace to go over some data.

On NBC, NY Gov. David Patterson compares Obama to Henry V. Brian Williams doth not protest.

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9:09 -- "If Republicans can't beat a lunatic like Al Franken, we're in bad shape." --Republican consultant Alex Castellanos on CNN

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9:04 MSNBC calls:

NY Obama

Michigan Obama

Minnesota Obama

Wisconsin Obama

Rhode Island Obama

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9:00 ET: PBS finally starts 2008 election coverage in Los Angeles. Finally. Doesn't look like the technology bug has bitten PBS. There are no holograms here, oh no. An old-school style Election 2008 graphic opens the show.

Jim Lehrer explains how the coverage will be:

"This is a one-stop approach. The News Hour itself will not be calling races."

He says all of projections will be announced as soon as they're made and that they come from the AP and major TV news organizations that are using official exit poll numbers.

Instead, he says this show will have updates from battleground states, historical perspectives, analysis, etc.

He updates by saying where the candidates stand now:

Obama -- 103 electoral voted and McCain with 69.

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9:00 ET -- NBC calls: 

Michigan: Obama
Minnesota: OBama
NY: Obama
Rhode Island: Obama
Kansas: McCain
North Dakota: McCain
Wyoming: McCain 

Arizona: too close to call: Amazing
Colorado: Too early to call (not enough data in)

Electoral Count: 175-70

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CBS:

At 9:01, CBS gives Kansas, North Dakota and Wyoming to McCain and Michigan, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Minnesota to Obama. Obama 174, McCain 100.

WCBS cuts in at 8:55, with Gov. Paterson saying how he never expected to see a black president in his lifetime.

At 8:45, Dan Bartlett discusses the risky choice of Palin as McCain's VP candidate.

At 8:49, Couric quotes an unnamed McCain aide saying "At this point, we need a miracle."

Schieffer seconds the miracle concept. "I think they do need a miracle," he says. On the Palin Factor, Schieffer credits Couric for exposing her lack of experience in a recent interview. "She made a terrible impression" on CBS Evening News, he says.

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8:55 MSNBC

As the night wears on, the team at MSNBC is living up to expectations. David Gregory remains the guy with evermore straight-ahead delivery and Chris Matthews grows edgier. Not long after giving a member of McCain’s campaign no word edgewise, Matthews brings on Republican Tom Delay, the former majority House leader. 

Delay tells Matthews that it looks like Nancy Pelosi is going to be “the most powerful speaker in a generation.”

 “As you well know, Chris, it’s the one who controls the purse strings and, that’s the House of representatives, that gets things done,” Delay says. “And they’ve been waiting for 14 years for this moment.”

 Delay goes on to indict the Democrats, “and the damage they’re going to do to our economy in the short term is going to be unbelievable right off the bat. You failed to mention they’re probably going to double the minimum wage in the next six months.”

Matthews asks who is going to be the boss, with the power united with one party, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker, or Barack Obama if he wins the presidency?

Delay says it’s going to be Nancy Pelosi the speaker.

 “They’re going to run circles around Obama and if he doesn’t play ball they’re gonna make him look bad. They’re going to give him a little honeymoon at the beginning,” Delay says. “But over the next two years for sure nancy Pelosi will get her way and be able to do whatever she wants to do

 Chris Matthews goes out there with: “You know I like the way you hate, Sir. The great thing about hating is you really understand where a guy stands. There’s no b.s. from you. Thank you for joining us.”

 Delay: “I don’t hate,” with a laugh.

9:15: ABC’s Charles Gibson recalls starting his career in solidly Republican Lynchburg, Va., where Obama has pulled ahead.

9:29 With the electoral votes climbing into the high 100s for Obama, MTV still feels that Paris Hilton's new BFF is more important than who becomes the next president of our country.

Nov 4 2008 7:38PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

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9:42 p.m.

John King just went state by state and made a case that the race is over.  He then kind of caught himself and said that if you live out West, by all means, please vote.

9:31 p.m.

I'm watching John King work his magic wall and suddenly I'm a bit sad for both of them. Where does this love affair go from here after the election?  I am among the people who think King is a rising star, but what of the magic wall?  Poor thing may end up like that other guy from Wham.

Nov 4 2008 7:10PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

It was already 8:16 but Univision special correspondent Lourdes Meluzá was in Phoenix, AZ still urging voters in the West Coast to go out and vote. During a live interview, U.S. Senator Mel Martínez says that what is happening with the Hispanic electorate (which has shown to favor Obama overwhelmingly) is a real “tragedy” for the Republican party, especially because McCain is a “real champion of immigration reform.” 

For the Spanish-language networks this is not only the most analyzed –and polled- Presidential election, but it is also “unprecedented” in terms of the importance of the Hispanic electorate. According to Univision and Telemundo analysts, this year Presidential election will see an unprecedented number of Hispanic voters, with 1 million new voters who registered to vote this year.  

In a lighter note, Univision's star news anchor Jorge Ramos today was able to vote today for the first time ever. Ramos, 50, arrived in the U.S. 25 years ago but had never gotten around to getting U.S. citizenship. Tonight, though, his longtime co-anchor Maria Elena Salinas informed viewers that Ramos was able to vote today for the very first time.

At 8:36 pm (ET) Ramos projects Pennsylvania has gone to Sen. Obama. This, say Univision analysts, will pretty much anticipate the race will end up early tonight. Pennsylvania is important, as Hispanics in that state favored Barack Obama 3 to 1 versus John McCain, something that is “ironic,” say analysts, given the fact that McCain has been an immigration champion. “McCain will now have to win Florida, Nevada, Indiana… if he really wants to win the presidency,” says pollster and political analyst Sergio Bendixen. Not surprisingly, McCain wins Alabama at 8:46 pm (ET), but Obama is winning overall electoral votes.

At 8:40 pm (ET) neither Univision nor Telemundo are willing / ready to project results for Florida, whose polling stations have already closed.

By Laura Martinez, Freelance Contributor

Nov 4 2008 7:01PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

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8:35 p.m. ET

Brian Williams is defining the difference between too close to call and not enough information.

Chuck Todd stands in front of a county-by-county hanging map of Indiana.

Kay Hagan beats Dole in NC.

8:31 p.m. ET

WABC is plugging its web coverage on 7online.com. Jeff Pegues reads emails from the site’s Interaction section, one from a McCain voter, another from an Obama voter.

8:30 p.m. ET

Comedy Central is going all out. Massive 15 foot high plinko board, photo booths. Prizes and more TVs than you can ever imagine, food and drinks are flowing.

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Poll closings in Arkansas – too early to call

Virginia too close to call.

Break in that Elizabeth Dole lost senate race in N. Carolina seat to Kay Hagan.

Matthews says arguments have been that she didn’t spend enough time in the state. “This may be first senator history to lose for not talking enough.”

8:15 p.m. ET

I've peaked at CNN and it's obvious to me that maybe Fox is spending money on research, but it's not obvious it's spending it on great or even passably intense graphics. This is another night on the job for Fox. Again, the smarts are there but Fox coverage has no special-ness. This is the Super Bowl of politics but it appears on the air like something close to a baseball game between Kansas City and Cleveland. Fox at 8:29 p.m. ET called Pennsylvania for Obama, but somebody must have done it first because we heard it from a friend about ten minutes ago.

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Brian Williams remarks how Harold Ford Jr. and Mike Murphy, Democrat and Republican are here working together in an almost bi-partisan way. On-screen, they're separated in graphic frames, as if they're in different cities. But as soon as Williams says what he says, Ford looks off to his left, presumably right at Murphy, sitting down the table somewhere. Kinda weird that they have to make it seem like they're on different sides of the room at least.

Big gains in the house, surprisingly big gains in the seenate.

The economy, the economy, the economy is what Harold Ford Jr.  says is the important issue. Another Obama rep had earlier said the race would come down to "Virginia, Virginia, Virginia"--both big tributes to what Tim Russert said in the last presidential election. Russert's enormous presence hangs over the proceedings and you know how much he'd be enjoying this.

8:10 p.m. ET

NBC: Jean Shaheen beats John Sununu in New Hampshire; Dems now have two more seats in the Senate
Obama leads 103-34 at present based on what NBC is calling

8:09 p.m. ET

Ok, the blue stripes are showing on MSNBC.

David Gregory brings on former presidential candidate and now head of the Democratic National Committee Howard Dean. Chris Matthews interviews Dean, kind of openly getting a little gooey, calling him John the Baptist, which Matthews and Dean agree Fox News will probably make fun of them for.

“I’m just trying to get you to agree how great you are,” Matthews says to Dean.

Howard Dean: “The most terrific thing about this campaign has been its discipline. I’ve never seen a Democratic campaign more disciplined than this. Even the fabled 92 Clinton campaign, which was a terrific campaign. Barack Obama has reached out to people in a disciplined way, there of course are mistakes like everybody makes but there were no big ones. It was thoughtful, there were no leaks. There was no backbiting. Win or lose, Barack Obama has set a real mark for what will happen in this country, we hope will happen in this country.”

8:05 p.m. ET

“It’s not New Years Eve, it’s just Election Night,” says Gibson, but there’s a nice crowd cheering outside ABC’s Time Square studio.

8:02 p.m. ET

It's hard to say Fox News doesn't do promotion well, because they do, and they don't couple partners together well, because they do, but Chris Wallace and Brit Hume, if you are watching live, are worth watching for your television memory book. This is Hume's last election and he is loose as a goose and he obviously works well with Wallace.  They aren't quite Brokaw-Time Russert, but there is a chemistry there that is warm and sort of sweet, as it is unlikely to be  between two men, on the air at least. Look at them. They're fun, without hardly a new gizmo to speak of--and what they have Megyn Kelly has just tried to prove she can use as well as Bill Hemmer. From what I can tell, Fox is not all over the place or doing anything splashy, but it's doing a solid smart job.

Chris Matthews: “I thought it might happen tonight. I have to say right now: The McCain campaign strategy for victory has crashed. Their plan to win was to go through Pennsylvania. The seconed battle of Gettysburg has gone the same as the first, a failure. … This is the killer state. Everyone knew the only way McCain could win this race is to win Pennsylvania.

8:01 p.m. ET

ABC projects Pennsylvania and New Hampshire (“a sentimental state for John McCain,” says Gibson) as going to Obama

ABC calls several more:

For Obama: Maryland, Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, Washington DC, Massachusetts

 For McCain: Oklahoma, Tennesseee

8:00 p.m.

MSNBC ticks off a series of calls one after another, with anchors alternating:

Calls Pennsylvania to Obama
Illinois to Obama
New Jersy to Obama
Massachusettes Obama
Tennessee McCain
Maryland Obama
Oklahoma McCain
Connecticut Obama
New Hampshire Obama
Maine Obama
Delaware Obama
DC Obama

This leaves electoral votes at 103 Obama, 34 McCain

David Gregory: “Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Chris Matthews.”

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7:56 p.m. ET

Darn commercial break! Charles Gibson returns from a break to tell viewers they went to commercial just as South Carolina was projected for McCain. That’s gotta hurt.

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7:51 p.m. ET

In Palm Beach, Fla.

First Luke Russert apperance. The exits polls now show the young voters are at 17 percent but it's still early.

Makes an analogy with the Berlin wall that I sadly missed, but that Brian Williams appreciated.

In Palm Beach Florida, people were asked to not check an arrow that was listed on the piece of paper, but instead to connect the arrow to the outer edge of the arrow. Completely totally, predictably stupid. We will in the coming days and weeks be looking at the paper ballots in Palm Beach florida and expressing outrage. Voters were complaining that they had no idea of how to vote.

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7:48 p.m. ET

Chicago Sun-Times Website has a Webcam streaming a live picture of a growing hoard at Grant Park, site of the Obama election rally in Chicago.

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7:46 p.m. ET

NBC: South Carolina goes to McCain

7:45 p.m. ET

Keith Olberman reports on what McCain says will be last statement, sets up a tape of McCain speaking on his campaign plane. “I’m looking forward to the election results tonight. Feeling good, feeling confident,” McCain says. “It’s been a great ride, a great experience.”

MSNBC’s David Gregory jumps to a projection that John McCain is winning S. Carolina.

Keith Olberman adds a note on Indiana, “a state we’ve decided is yet to be called,” but says AP found 1/3 of those who voted for the Republican governor in that state voted for Obama. He says this goes back to Chris Matthews’ point earlier in the night about Indiana being “born red, born Republican” and perhaps going the other way.

This deference is worth noting for what it says about the chemistry on MSNBC so far tonight. The team of David Gregory, Keith Olberman, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow are so far playing along well and respectfully, if not slightly subdued.

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7: 45 p.m. ET

Scratch that “barren” comment about the ABC studio—here comes the pundits gallery: ABC regulars Cokie Roberts and George Will, CNN regular Donna Brazile and former Bush pol Matthew Dowd.

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7:45 p.m  ET
Nancy Pfotenhauer talks about going into a headwind with this thing, though she's still confident. Thinking of clips of her on Jon Stewart, perhaps she waiting for the returns from the Real Americans to start pouring in.

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7:39 p.m. ET

After watching so much cable news coverage this year, with huge gaggles of analysts lined up at school-lunch-table-like desk, ABC’s in-studio troika of Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos looks downright barren.

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7:30 p.m. ET

At about 7:30 Fox's Bret Hume reported that Sen Mitch McConnell, (R-KY) is fighting for his seat and jokes to Chris Wallace that he ought to be on the line trying to get McConnell booked as the most powerful Republican, another sign McCain's not going to cut it. Wallace admits he's making that try, but since McConnell may not win, he's also put in a call to another Republican candidate

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7:25 p.m.

In 2004, according to WNBC, the big issues people were concerned about: Iraq and Terrorism tied at 23 percent and the economy was 19 percent. This election, the economy is at 60 percent and Iraq is 9 percent. This is, however, amazingly obvious; to me it's akin to reporters noting that presidents look older when they leave office than when they get in.

Early in the coverage (7:05), Brian WIlliams points out that Ann Curry, who's in the exit polling set, is not being "hit" by flying stats. They erase everything and it turns out she's on a green-screen empty background with all the stats coming up when they come up. In other words, pay no attention to that anchor behind the curtain; the Wizard of Oz has spoken!

7:22 p.m. ET

MSNBC shows live pictures from Grant Park in Chicago as people gather to see Barack Obama.

7:26 p.m. ET

Rachael Maddow has been weighing in throughout the evening but makes the first remark that really connects with a seemingly off-the-cuff thought: “Obama,  what we’re going to learn is whether or not he’s going to have spent a lot of resources to lose by a smaller margin in these states that republicans have always carried by 20 points. It’s not in the bag for Barack Obama. We have very little information at this point.”

She seems to be starting to warm up just as David Gregory takes things into a commercial break ahead of the 7:30 p.m. poll closings in Ohio, N. Carolina and W. Virginia.

7:30 p.m.

David Gregory comes back right at 7:30, saying N. Carolina and Ohio are too close to call and W. Virginia is too early to call.

Hearing lots tonight about the important difference between things being “too close” and “too eary” to call.

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7:17 p.m. ET

At 7:17, CBS has McCain winning the popular vote, 300,000 to 270,000. Couric has some audio problems while trying to connect with David Plouffe. Finally they appear to be straightened out. "Can you hear me now,  David?" she asks. "I sound like a Sprint commercial."
 
They discuss why Indiana is deemed in play based on exit polls centered on issues, then start fading to a commercial, with the pipes playing and the shot going long. The commercial break never happens, but Couric offers viewers a "Welcome back!"
 
By 7:26, McCain has extended his popular vote lead to 425,000 compared to Obama's 368,000. More importantly, the electoral vote is 13-3 in McCain's favor, as CBS has given him West Virginia.
 
At 7:32, Obama leaps ahead in the popular vote, 49% to 46%.

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7:14 p.m. ET

Brian Williams mentions, beautifully, that in 1968, that phrase "The whole world is watching" was attached to that convention, and here Grant Park is in Chicago, with the crowd building as Obama watches election returns. A really really nice comparison.

Tavis Smiley: "If these numbers hold up. I was born in 1964 in Mississippi. . . 40 years ago we lose Dr. King and Robert Kennedy in the same year. it amazes me to see how far we've come."

"What I've said is don't sell your soul (re: Obama) For all strategic reasons, he didn't want to talk abou race during the campaign. I understand. The mainstream was so quick to talk about race transcendence in the campaign. I see america trying to move beyond this moment. If he wins, it's important NOT to think of America as post-racial."

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7:07 p.m. ET

Brit Hume did a whip-around of correspondents at about 7:07 p.m., and there was Cameron looking anxious to be first but Hume went to Major Garrett, who's covering Barack Obama. Pleasant night in Chicago, and Garrett reminded us that Obama planned outdoor events in Denver and Chicago, and lucked out. When Hume switched to Cameron, it apparently was a cue to another correspondent, who spoked through most of Cameron's night. Hume quipped that Fox was adding people to coverage and "sometimes we let you hear from them at the same time.We hope you like it."

At 7:15 p.m., commentator Bill Kristol began to eat his own words about the apathy of Americans, suggesting that this might be the highest percentage turnout in the 20th Century.  

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7:00 ET -- On MSNBC, David Gregory announces at the top of the hour the “the first important news of the night: We can project now that John McCain is going to win Kentucky.

The crew is citing NBC News projections. They called Kentucky with 10 % of votes in. At the same time MSNBC calls Vermont for Obama.

Olberman says this is what the polls suggested all along.

This puts McCain at an early lead 8 electoral votes to 3.

However, the MSNBC team says there are several calls they can’t make at this point, Indiana is too close and Georgia and Virginia too early.

Indiana is clearly emerging as a big story of the night as these guys see it, they pulled in Carol Marin from Chicago to talk about it and Chuck Todd had a map of Indiana going before that.

The headline from this first batch of info, says Chris Matthews is Indiana.

“I’ve been telling people for days so I’ll be consistent tonight. That you look at Indiana, a state was was born a Republican,” he says. “Hoosier country, the fact that it is too close to call. Too early to call is one thing. Too close to call, if Indiana is too close to call it’s very telling and a very good thing if you are rooting for Barack Obama. If the Republicans have to fight the Hoosier country that means they probably have to fight Ohio, are probably going to lose Pennsylvania and you can figure out where it’s going to go along from there.”

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6:50 p.m ET 

Katie Couric starts the national broadcast with reports of perhaps record voter turnouts. Some 126 million voters are predicted, with states ranging from 75 to 85 to even 91% of eligible voters turning out. As opposed to the local WCBS broadcast, voting problems are scarce.

Couric flips it to Dean Reynolds in Chicago, where hundreds of thousands of Obama supporters may just turn out for a victory part in Grant Park. Chip Reid is in Phoenix covering Camp McCain. Couric likens the tireless McCain to the "Ever-Ready Bunny"--somewhere, an Energizer brand manager cringes and a Gawker live-blogger jumps with joy.

Corresponent Anthony Mason offers numbers showing just how hungry voters are for change, how dissatisfied they are with the current administration, and how large the economy figures into their voting. "It's a very disenchanted electorate," he says.

Still, no exit polls showing how states are voting. Jeff Greenfield talks about voter views on the issues, and Bob Schieffer offers historical perspective on a black man and a war hero both in the running for the presidency. "It's a wonderful moment in the history of America," he says with a wide smile.

Dee Dee Meyers and Dan Bartlett then offer insights as to exactly what's going on in the two candidate camps right now.

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6:40 p.m. 
ABC World News set looks brighter, better lit than usual. Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos are standing at an electoral map and Charlie’s writing in poll closing times with a green digital marker—nice and clear.

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 6:35 ET
 
Wolf Blitzer calls in the BPTOT, and Jeffrey Toobin immediately closes his laptop. All of the others kept theirs up. Concerned that maybe he would be caught checking facebook again?
  

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6:32 ET
NBC Chuck Todd sets the schedule: Virignia at 7 p.m. will tell us how tight it will be for John McCain. At 8, we'll have polls closing in Ohio, North Carolina and Florida, this is the McCain political survival triangle. 11pm: This is when the numbers will be starting to add up. This is when we're getting closer to 270. 1 a.m. Ted Stevens in Alaska. Could this be the 60th seat in the senate for the democrats?

Nov 4 2008 6:57PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

Related entries in: Programming | Washington | 

8:05 p.m. ET –  NBC does a very nice photo-essay ode to the late Tim Russert. Not too much, understated but very classy.  Tough line to walk not to make the story about NBC, but Russert deserved that…as well as the toast Tom Brokaw promised would take place later in the night.  Nice.

 

Nov 4 2008 7:05PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Mariel Bird

British reporter Sharon Carpenter was at the republican rally in Phoenix.

Andre Showell was in Chicago, Ill. Who said the “mood here is electric.”  “A very celebratory atmosphere. People here have high expectations and they are fired up.”

Pam Centry was at a club in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

“Jenae Johnson is holding it down at Spellman College in Atlanta.” She said while introducing Fonsworth Bently in front of a crowd said, “I know that these people are rooting for this man and the man that this man
represents.”

Fonsowrth Bently stumbled a bit during an interview at Spellman College.

“This is thank you to Martin Luther King, this is thank you to the grandparents, this is thank you to all of the unsung heroes that have sacrificed so that Barack Obama could Run.” – Fonzworth Bentley

Q: As a black man, what does this day mean to you?
A: When they took us from our homelands and put us into ships we were certain that this day would come, when they told us to sit on the back of the bus, we were certain that this day has come. – Not a full quote.

Shared the experiences of first time young voters.

By 8:10 P.M. no real mention of the polls. Only a short breakdown of the updates they will eventually have and then a lengthy interview with Fonzworth Bently at Spellman College in Atlanta Georgia.

First results come in after first commercial break at 8:14 p.m.  “Right now Obama has 76 electoral votes”

Monitor shows Obama with 78 electoral votes.

Nov 4 2008 6:20PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |