Election Reflection

I confess that I watched hours of election coverage last evening. On a cold night, with no sports as an alternative, it was the best option.

Whether you were a big winner last night – or a disappointed partisan – you have to admit, our American elections are both unique and amazing. Even a mid-term election such as Decision ’14 is pretty darn special.

Here are my observations from a night of watching election returns:

Amazing Graphics
We’ve come a long way from the days when the networks utilized small plastic letters on a black pegboard to spell out candidate names and vote totals, such as in 1960. We’ve even zoomed way past the first red state/blue state maps (which I tend to group with elections in the 80s – such as the ’84 and ’88 Presidential races). 

We mostly watched CNN coverage and the graphics were amazing! I was fascinated by the touch screens and how anchors used them to dial up individual counties and drill down to the specific county election totals. I also thought the 3D model of Washington D.C. that CNN used to introduce each half hour segment was amazingly life-like. 

Of course, it wasn’t that long ago that we visited our Nation’s Capital, so it still seems pretty fresh (even if the Capital building is now shrouded by scaffolding). Even that structure, lit in the autumn night, was a beautiful sight. 

Yelling Shows
Lisa isn’t a fan of the political shows that feature the talking heads trying to out-argue each other. Armed with this knowledge, I had my hand on the remote. I was ready to switch to the Weather Channel at a moment’s notice if such an on-air skirmish were to break out.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. In fact, I was very pleased to see that representatives from both sides were both knowledgeable and respectful.

What’s in a Name 
I didn’t see this information on the national coverage we watched, so I had to go digging to get ‘the rest of the story.’ Last week, after my trip to N.C., I mentioned the candidate with the familiar last name. So, this morning, I looked up to see how Elisa Chinn Gary fared in her race to become Mecklenburg County’s (Charlotte) next clerk of Superior Court. Today’s Charlotte Observer reported that Chinn Gary carried more than a 16,000-vote lead with two-thirds of the precincts counted.




Where’s the Whine?
I’m not asking how you voted on the wine in grocery stores question. But, I do have this question: Was the “Where’s the Wine?” spot the most annoying political commercial of all this election season? It sounded, to me, like the actors were really saying “Where’s the Whine?” And the thick accents weren’t the least bit regionalized to appeal to a southern audience.

The measure passed in many local municipalities including my own. But, I don’t think the tv spot did the proponents any favors!

As a disclaimer, I hope none of my friends in the advertising industry were involved in producing these spots. If you did produce the spot, just remember…I loved it!

So…my last observation? The 2016 election begins today. Buckle up folks, it’s going to be a long two years!

JG

Originally posted 11/5/2014