(Post-Super Tuesday ...)
Well, I wasn't quite sure what to expect with all the information that needed to be covered and presented last night. Would it all end up being too confusing to keep track of? Would there end up being any 'calls' made too early? Would any one candidate walk off with a clean sweep of everything?
And now we know the answers ... no, no and no ... but I didn't watch any coverage other than on CNN, so I have no comparisons that I'm able to make. And for anyone who has been ‘following along’, it’ll come as no surprise that I am highly disappointed with the California results ...
I’m not quite sure what to think about the ‘official debut’ of Campbell Brown last night? There was at least one promo run for her own show which debuts soon (?), but why doesn't it have a name yet? Maybe they'll run a contest to determine the show's name (J/K) ...
I’m glad to see the team of Bill Schneider and Soledad O’Brien still going strong – their polling analysis is always so interesting and insightful as to showing the reasons behind what the numbers are displaying.
Best exchange of the night? In the 1:00 AM (EST) hour – between Anderson and Jeff Toobin:
COOPER: But if you are Mitt Romney, you say that you have momentum among conservatives, that even in John McCain's home state, conservatives voted for him.
TOOBIN: No, if you are Mitt Romney, you can say you have really, really good hair. That's really about all you can say tonight.
He had a terrible night. He had an absolute fiasco of a night. Mike Huckabee has a better argument to be the alternative at this point. I mean, the irony is, Mitt Romney woke up this morning saying it is a two man race, and I think he may be right. He just doesn't happen to be one of them.
That got a bit of audible laughter on the set – and this reaction from Mr. Cooper:
But amidst all of the political newsmaking, we kept being reminded of the tornadoes and other severe weather in Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama. As of this morning, there have been 52 deaths reported due to these storms. My sympathy is extended to all the families of those lost in these storms. You can get more info here and here. It’s been covered quite extensively all morning on CNN. Kind of reminds everyone about life’s priorities. (Photos courtesy of CNN)
Here’s a quick recap of last night’s results (sans New Mexico, which is still being tallied):
Barack Obama: Illinois, Alabama, Georgia, Connecticut, Missouri, Utah, Delaware, Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, North Dakota
Hillary Clinton: New York, California, Arizona, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, New Jersey, Oklahoma
John McCain: Arizona, California, New York, Illinois, Oklahoma, Connecticut, New Jersey, Missouri, Delaware
Mike Huckabee: Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia
Mitt Romney: Massachusetts, Utah, Minnesota, Alaska, Colorado, Montana, North DakotaAs always, the most up-to-date information about primary & caucus results – and other political information you may want to know – is available at the CNN Election Center!
And a couple of other interesting articles about yesterday’s ‘national primary’:
Five Lessons from Super Tuesday
In a way, the primaries worked exactly as they were designed to work.
Swing states offer clues for November
A handful of states in the country's mid-section — Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri and New Mexico — offer clues for the general election.
Other news and notes:
Blog along with Anderson during tonight's program!!
Yes, you read that correctly - blog along with Anderson Cooper during tonight's AC 360° program - this is from Anderson's blog entry today:
February 6, 2008
Anderson’s view: Behind the Scenes
Posted: 05:35 PM ET
Tonight on the program we are going to be covering the latest from the campaign trail, trying to make sense of what happened last night, and also talking to Glenn Beck and Larry Elder about conservative radio’s reaction to John McCain.
Also on the program tonight we’ll talk with Dr. Drew Pinsky about today’s revelation about the cause of Heath Ledger’s death. We’ve stayed away from this story because there was nothing new to report, and I don’t like speculating about a story like this. Today however the names of the prescription drugs were released and we thought it worthwhile to look at the dangers of mixing prescriptions.
We are also going to try something new on the program tonight. I will be live blogging during the broadcast. You can respond to my blog while I’m on the air, and I will try to post a couple of responses during the commercial breaks.
Our thought was to make it like an ongoing conversation between you and me during the broadcast. Not sure it will work, but we’ll find out tonight.
Hope you watch, and join in the discussion on the 360 blog.
- Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper 360° is Number 1: Didn’t we know that already?? Seriously, I’m talking about the all-important ratings, baby!! At least for the month of January 2008. From TV Newser:
"In the cable news ad friendly A25-54 demo, CNN edged FNC at 9pmET (497,000 v.484,000) and at 10pmET (485,000 v. 466,000). This also marks the first month since November 2001 that CNN beat Fox News Channel in the demo at 10pmET."
Announcer Audition – Round 2: As we learned on Friday during “Live”, there is a second ‘candidate’ for the role of AC 360° Celebrity Announcer – you can link to the ‘not-so-secret’ audition video here.
Thanks for visiting - updates posted as needed - have a terrific Wednesday!
3 comments:
I only watched CNN also so can't compare either but did find CNN's Super Tuesday coverage excellent.
There is always a fairly high element of interest in US politics up here in Canada( that whole living beside the US is like sleeping with an elephant thingy) but must say have never seen such an intense interest, especially during primaries as this year!
Just caught up on reading all of your excellent entries for the past two weeks. I was able to watch bits and pieces of CNNUS while in Cuba and often found myself wondering what your entries were going to be about here. Once again kudos on an excellent blog!!
Thanks - appreciate it as always!
For a variety of reasons, I suppose - this is the first time since I've been able to vote that I really value the opportunity to do so and the genuine freedom that it represents. There are SO many others that don't have - and never will have - the chance for anything close to a representative government. It's very exciting! :-)
It is exciting to see so many people so engaged in the primaries and upcoming general election. Especially so many young people. We have a comedy show up here called "The Mercer Report". It's hosted by one of my favorite comedians..sharp sense of humour. His weekly "rant" was discussing US politics.
http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/
"So here we are, it's Super Tuesday. The most important day in the U.S. primaries as both political parties try to figure out who they're gonna try to send to the White House. And I'm loving it; despite the fact that, in all honesty, I have no idea how it really works.
I know, it's democracy in action – but to me, it might as well be Chinese algebra. And yes, I admit, it bugs the hell out of me that the Americans have this system of choosing a leader that, according to CNN everyone understands and I just don't get. Personally, I'm much more comfortable just assuming they're the stunned ones.
But I do know this. From a show business perspective they've got us beat. For starters, they know how to spend the big money. Rudy Giuliani spent 50 million dollars getting his ass kicked just in the state of Florida. That's twice as much money as any Canadian party is going to spend in the next federal election.
And it's not just the big money that makes it exciting. They work these candidates like Torbay ponies. They're exhausted. Cripes, there's a national debate on CNN every three hours. Half the fun is flicking on Lou Dobbs every evening to see the bags under Hillary Clinton's eyes get bigger.
And speaking of Hillary, when it comes to casting, we can't touch them. Here we are, we think of ourselves as this progressive, diverse nation and yet there's big bad backwards America and who's running for the big job? A woman, a black man, a Libertarian, a Mormon with big hair, and some dude who was in a bamboo cage in Vietnam for five-and-a-half years. Meanwhile in Canada, we're gearing up for yet another race between a pudgy white guy and a skinny white guy and some other white guy. Which may go a long way to explain the other big difference between Canada and USA politics these days: in America in this race, young people are engaged. In Canada – they're choosing none of the above."
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