Tonight is election night in America, and you should watch it on cable news, not on the networks. Cable will give the event its full attention, while those networks will be sure to miss half the good stuff.
I can hear you grumbling. You’ve read or heard the predictions. You think you know how the story ends.
But despite the pundits’ almost unanimous belief that Republicans will win, there’s always some suspense, and you can count on the cable channels to wring every last drop of drama out of the proceedings.
As Jim Newell writes in Salon.com today:
It’s really the only night of the year that we’d recommend watching cable news. It’s funny and it’s the best way to monitor election returns. Actually, that latter, informative aspect to the recommendation is now mostly moot with Twitter … so, OK, just watch cable news for the funny. Hell, you can even invite your friends over and have a cable news election returns party.
At least you will have had an amiable evening with driends even if the election results prove disheartening.
Newell provides a guide to the various all-news channels, so you can decide which suits your taste. (Click on the link at the bottom of this blog.)
His view is that CNN is “neutral” but with no “passion, insight or visible life,” while MSNBC will be gloomy and Fox News will be full of zest, rooting out – or making up – election fraud wherever black voters are lined up.
I don’t necessarily share Newell’s view. CNN has its biases, if you know how to spot them. And it could be Fox that’s gloomy. The polls could be wrong; they’ve been wrong in the past. Besides, even Fox must realize by now that the “voter fraud” scare has been thoroughly debunked. Nobody is going to believe that one any more.
I would also suggest you switch from channel to channel to maximize your entertainment. It won’t take much inside knowledge to spot the “spin” as you compare and contrast the various interpretations of the night’s events. You are also sure to enjoy their attempts at providing “drama” for you.
Anyway, you an be sure there will be lots to talk about tomorrow if you and your friends tune in to cable news tonight.
And however it all turns out, remember it’s just one election. There’s another one coming up in a couple of years.
The good thing about American democracy is that here are so many elections so often at so many levels of government, that none of the winners have time to implement an agenda. Before they can do too much harm, they have to face the voters again.
Are we ready for Hillary?
Click for the Salon.com article.
