Posted on 11/20/2004 3:56:12 PM PST by Vigilanteman
There is no media bias. Just look at the way our 2004 presidential election was handled. I was working a precinct in Pennsylvania, a state slighty larger than Ohio, when the state was declared for Kerry. We were still voting when this happened. All the networks did not declare Ohio for Bush until Kerry conceded the following day-- even though the margin was wider.
Meanwhile, the networks called Minnesota and Michigan for Kerry before all the polls closed in Alaska. New Hampshire was called for Kerry shortly thereafter. Who can forget how giddy Dan Rather of CBS was when New England was colored entirely for Kerry?
When all the polls closed in Alaska, a couple of the networks who decided to go out on a limb and call Ohio for Bush, finally declared he had clinched a tie. But CBS and NBC refused to call Ohio. Wisconsin (with Kerry leading narrowly) and Nevada, New Mexico and Iowa (with Bush leading by a greater percent) also remained uncalled when most of us went to bed. Except CBS and NBC were confident enough tocall Wisconsin for Kerry before most of us woke up.
The next morning, the news shows indicated Bush would be comfortably re-elected, except CBS and NBC. Nevada had finally been put in the Bush column, but New Mexico, Iowa and (of course) Ohio still remained in doubt.
By mid-morning, it became apparent Kerry would not find enough votes to challenge the results in Ohio, but New Mexico and Iowa still remained undecided, even though Bush now had 4 more electoral votes than the 270 needed to guarantee a clear majority.
It wasn't until a full week after the election that Iowa and New Mexico were finally put into the Bush column. Were the margins of victory so much narrower in the late-declaring Bush states, or was the result just not what NBC and CBS wanted. Look at the margins and you decide.
Bush margin over Kerry in Ohio: 136,483 votes
in Alaska: 79,178 votes
in Nevada: 21,500 votes
in New Mexico: 7,471 votes
in Iowa: 13,077 votes
Kerry margin over Bush in Pennsylvania: 129,927 votes
in Michigan: 151,891 votes
in Minnesota: 98,319 votes
in Wisconsin: 13,646 votes
in New Hampshire: 9,309 votes
I don't watch CBS but in retrospect maybe I should have. Just to have a good laugh at old Dan.
The bad news is the net works are terribly biased. The good news is we don't have to watch them.
A suggestion. Your table of comparisons would be a lot more meaningful if you added percentages.
DITTOS!!!
What's new? Of course the MSM held out as long as they possibly could to declare several states clearly leaning to Bush. You're absolutely right on in that they called PA and WI while they were still up for grabs. Can I say that I hate these liberal jerks? Okay, I hate these liberal jerks.
Yes, the Pope is Catholic, but John Kerry is not.
The doubt that resided in the heads of the Network Anchors was simply the one that was declared by Commander Kerry with a few words whispered over the phone to the alphabet networks:
"Ohio Is In Doubt - Make It So".
Good point.
I got a huge charge out of watching the alphabets on election day and late into the night. Their glee at Kerry supposedly being ahead in the exit polling, and their letdown when President Bush started winning was fun to see.
Same here. My daughter and I got tired of watching Fox and tuned in to CNN and CBS for some comic relief.
I suspect someone in the networks had inside information on just how many ballots the Rendell machine would be able to manufacture just in case.
More clear to me was the refusal to call the election over when Bush got to 269. Given the state delegation split in the House, Bush needed 269 to win, while Kerry needed 270.
I guess it could have been being guy-shy after the last election? I guess it could have been hoping to hold on to views at 1 AM? But most likely it was bias.
Please note, USA Today reports as follows:
" In the exception to TV networks' caution in projecting winners on election night, Fox News Channel and NBC awarded Ohio's crucial electoral votes to Bush shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, more than 12 hours before Kerry conceded the state and the race.
ABC, CBS, and CNN held off on declaring Ohio red for Bush or blue for Kerry. CNN added a new color to the palette of red and blue states —green, for "too close to call" — until finally awarding it to Bush on Wednesday when Kerry conceded."
Actually Fox was the first to call Ohio. Brit Hume saw the lead go from 140000 to 100000 for Bush in like 10 minutes. You could see it in his eyes he was starting to sweat it, kept looking for reiforcement from Barone the Ohio SOS etc. I could just see him saying to himself "Oh sh1& not again" thinking about 2000. But 10 minutes later the lead was back up to 130000 and he was visibly relieved. If i wasn't so worried myself i would have sympathized LOL
I think this was because CBS needed to give people some reason to watch (I realized that was the reason I kept turning to them) and Fox didn't want to be accused of calling too soon.
If you weren't watching Dan Rather after 1:00 AM pacific then you missed one of the greatest displays of contortionism of all time. He was trying to figure out all the different wats that Kerry could still pull it out.
Classic!
FNC and Tom Brokejaw called the state for Bush and the rest of them cowered before the dems and made no call.
Most of Kentucky and most of Indiana closed at 6:00; when the remainder of those two states closed at 7:00, they were instantly called for President Bush, and actual vote totals were released. Both of those states adjoin Ohio, and the results foretold good news.
The Indiana returns showed President Bush running 2 to 3% ahead of his 2000 performance from the start.
The early Kentucky returns showed President Bush running a couple of points behind his 2000 numbers, but it was clear from the Congressional race (won by Anne Northup) that most of Louisville had already reported. Recall also that Senator Bunning was trailing badly early on. So it was evident that Dubya would outperform his 2000 figures in two states adjacent to Ohio.
Then, at 7:48, West Virginia, which also abuts Ohio, was called for the President. I don't recall seeing any hard numbers from WV until much later, but the fact that it was called so quickly indicated a comfortable win, as indeed turned out to be the case.
Of course, the networks had two good reasons to delay the call in Ohio: their obvious bias in Kerry's favor, and the desire to maintain some drama deep into the night. The whole production was annoying, but I can honestly say I wasn't worried after 8:00 PM.
finally, Fox was smart enough to sh*tcan the exit polls altogether, which is why they were able to call ohio earlier -- in some cases seven days earlier -- than other networks.
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