During the 1988 election, I was a CBS-TV news reporter covering a critical precinct in Indiana. Following a breakdown of the voting machines, the votes at that precinct had to be recounted three times, keeping the CBS report on the Hoosier state from being reported conclusively. My boss on the other end of the phone line asked in desperation if I could give a 90-second live report on the hangup, hoping I was a radio or TV guy...nope! Pure newspaper guy, all the way- but The Show Must Go On, so I agreed, wrote out a quick piece, timed myself reading it [85 seconds- close enough] and gave him the go. There was a TV on in the polling place [a veterans club] that they'd helpfully turned the volume down on for me, but I could see Dan Rotten reading the state results off, and when they showed ours as *results still not yet in* they started the five-count for me to begin, four...three--two--one, and I was on.
I told how the beautiful weather had resulted in the highest numbers of voters turning out in the memory of most of the poll workers and observers, certainly the largest turnout since the end of WWII. And that there were important local issues at stake, including a bitterly-fought mayoral race with an independent challenger. So those were factors in the breakdown of the mechanical vote-counting machinery, resulting in the additional delay as the certified clerks manually tallied the voters' choices. And their job was made even more difficult due to the large number of voters in this particular precinct, including residents of a local nursing home, and those residing in the nearby cemetary, several of whom had risen from the dead to cast their ballots....which was true; there were later vote fraud issues raised that had registered, deceased voters using the Willow Street address of the cemetary as their *home address*....
I saw Rather's face on TV as he cracked up giggling. It was promised that I'd never work on TV again, which was a lot like telling B'rer rabbit that he was gonna be tossed into the briar patch.
And Dan didn't send me a Christmas card, either. But I got paid for my coverage, and surprisingly, the CBS check didn't bounce.
-archy-/-
18. Republican Full Bore Victory in Florida
Bush reelected governor in a landslide.Katherine Harris wins House seat
Liddy Dole topples Klintoon retread Irksome Bowel
Saxby trouncing Cleland in JoJaw
Mitt Romney winning in Massachusetts
Not even close in the Texas Senate Race
Guess the SinkMaster just can't get out the vote. Should have
attached Twinkies and Food Stamps to the ballots for the illiterates.Gonna be a long night for Tommy Daschle.
He'll have to put an extra phone book on his chair if he wants to watch TV.
Guess all the voter fraud in Flori-duh, South Dakota, Massachusetts and Minnesota just won't save his bacon. Gephardt (look at the spelling Babs) will resign and the Dems look for a sacrificial lamb for 2004.
Ouch. Better put some ice on that! Freeped!!!!!!!!
THAT IS THE BEST ELECTION STORY I HAVE EVER READ!!!
