Now that the euphoria has died down a bit, a note or two about the US mid-term election coverage.
On Tuesday night, I mainly followed the CNN reports. In what looks like an over-lit hockey rink, CNN has used a one big room approach over the past couple of elections. The walls are basically giant whiteboards where returns and giant graphics are flashed. The projections are big and bold (and mainly, on Tuesday, blue). The state head-to-head boards were all very legible. It is a brightly-lit forum, generally very effective.
Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper worked both ends of the room. Tapper tried to keep his rooting interests in check generally. Remember that a) CNN is now part of the Ellison- Skydance family and so there is some uncertainty as to where it may eventually be punted, and b) two years ago, as Trump defied most polls and swept mightily back to power, these same hosts and correspondents all looked like Toronto Blue Jays fans minutes after the LA Dodgers crushed their dreams in the 2025. Having been disappointed once, people were trying to keep their giddiness in check.
All but Van Jones. Tucked into the back of the room, he did everything but handstands Tuesday night. This was in sharp contrast with his desk mate Scott Jennings, who looked like he’d been kicked in the nuts. Jennings, at least, did not try to talk himself out of the horrible night the Republicans were suffering. He singled out the mean, cheap shot, election ad Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy used to assault eventual winner Amy Actor during the campaign as the mistake that cost the Republicans the most.
While he wasn’t called on a lot, it was good to see David Axelrod still had a place in this team approach, sitting alongside Kasie Hunt. Most impressive was the long list of reporters Tapper could throw to for up-to-the-minute reactions at campaign headquarters across the states.
John King, who looks like a president, was his old self at the Magic Wall, calling up state ridings while Tapper looked on. Two years ago, King was trying to will late returns to tilt left. Tuesday you could sense he felt things were in the bag for the Democrats but made the effort to look less partisan.
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In the middle of the room, steady and unflappable Dana Bash and her colleague Kaitlan Collins provided analysis throughout the night, although there were times when Bash was trying to make a point and Collins would interrupt with a “this just in” bit of insight.
I did flip over to the Fox News as the Blue Wave began to mount. Two guys who looked like morning zoo radio hosts were visiting a bar down south where the patrons did not look happy. Two women were interviewed who clung to their drinks as well as hopes that the polls and pundits were all wrong. I waited a few minutes for a brawl to break out but no such luck.
I sped past some CBC reporting, which was set in a much darker newsroom and just seemed less compelling, although I may have simply hit a dead patch. Truth is I was also hopping in and out of coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs playing the Utah Mammoth on TSN. There was no blue wave in that game with Leafs losing 3-2.
