Covering an Historic Election

I'm recovering from what can only be described as a post-election hangover. This being the first presidential election I've covered in earnest (I had the much-dreaded man-on-the-street assignment in 2004), I was very excited to learn that I'd be appearing on St. Louis' PBS station, KETC, to talk about my reporting on youth voter turnout.

Throughout the day I checked in with the St. Louis City Board of Elections to see if the projected record turnout was coming to fruition (The jury's still out). I did do some interviewing of voters at the polls, including a trip to Washington University, where the Obama t-shirts and buttons outnumbered McCain apparel about 15-1.

The TV interview went well -- I'm far from an experienced pundit but I got my points across, even if I only got to use two of the many stats I'd memorized. Three minutes on TV goes really fast. My segment was part of an hourlong local broadcast of the election. There were no beamed-in reporters or magic touch screen monitors, but the program was well-conceived and executed.

I spent the rest of the evening at a party for a Republican Missouri state senator who was running for attorney general. It was a surreal scene. Fox News was on every TV set, and the crowd's mood soured little by little as it became apparent that Barack Obama was going to take the big prize.

Finally, at around 10:45, the state senator concedeed, and the place cleared out real quickly. I drove home equally as quickly, rewound the DVR to MSNBC and relived the later part of the evening. History was being made, and I didn't want my lasting memory to be from a party that resembled a funeral.

It's hard to fully appreciate the magnitude of the story I was able to cover this Election Day. Years from now, when I share the story with my children, maybe then it will hit me.

P.S. - Yes, I realize my hair looks kinda ridiculous in this photo. Too much hair gel + closeup profile shot = oh boy.

Waiting to Exhale

That collective sigh you're hearing on TV is coming from the pundits, anchors and reporters who are nearing the end of Campaign 07-08 (think it's really just been a one-year process?). The collective mood you're sensing from reading political blogs and last-minute MSM election coverage is one of, say, exausted elation.

Speaking of exausted... having covered pretty much every angle of the presidential race, journalists are down to talking about how they're ready for it all to be over. Understandable. Months and months on a bus with campaign aides will do that to you.

Funny thing, though, is they are probably the only ones in the industry who feel that way. It goes without saying that readership and ratings are way up when political races steal the headlines. News editors love it. And TV ad managers will be crying once political spots go off the air -- they've been propping up a struggling industry for months.

Programming note: I'll be blogging for the St. Louis Beacon all day tomorrow, and making a brief appearance on KETC, the St. Louis PBS station to talk about youth voting, which I wrote about for the Web site recently. More on covering the Big Day later in the week...