He says there are 500 votes between Bush and Gore. Tim Russert with a Magic Marker and Tom Brokaw with a sheet of rumpled paper, gleaned from a website in Florida, telling the world it could still go to Gore. NBC retracts its Bush announcement. Dewey beats Truman, repeated as farce. I'm part horrified, but part thrilled.
Television is so over.
For years, the evil tube has assumed the mantle of the real world. When the networks call an election, it's over. Ditto the Constitution. Suddenly, it dawns on us that this election will be decided by a recount in Florida, an electoral college, and maybe even Congress. It's the Founders versus Peter Jennings.