Boy, do I remember this one. “Too close to call.” On election night I settled in, ready for a long night of nailbiting suspense . . . and when NBC’s election coverage signed on at 7:00 PM, John Chancellor was shocked, his face pale, as he looked into the camera and informed us that all indications were that there would be a decisive victory for (gulp) Ronald Reagan.
I remember it the same way! On the way home from work, I heard on the car radio that the election was too close to call. Then I voted and went home to watch the results. And, guess what? Ronald Reagan won a landslide victory! What was the media thinking? What were the pollsters thinking? Were those statements honest? Or were they part of a continuing propaganda campaign to encourage one side and disspirit the other side? Since that time, I have ignored all polls, except the final poll — the election returns, themselves!
It’s one of my fond memories. I came out of the college cafeteria, glanced up at the television in the lounge, and asked myself: “Why don’t they have any results yet? The map is still almost all one color. And then I realized....”