05 November, 2008

Election Day Redux

It's been a whirlwind 48-hours at NHPR and in newsrooms across the country in preparation for the myriad unknowns and inevitable craziness of election night coverage.

Americans went to the polls yesterday, and even those infamous undecided voters--whom, it turns out, were perhaps not so undecided--chose their candidate.











I crunched numbers for the New Hampshire State Senate races, last night, while national electoral college results were tallied and the state's Democratic candidates declared winners of all U.S. Senate and House seats, as well as the governor's post. Today, my election night partner Dan Gorenstein reported that Democrats retained control of the State House, though the top of the ticket wins for the party didn't translate into sweeping victories in the lower races, as some had projected.

I left NHPR at 11:30 pm--late, but earlier than anticipated. Driving home along the quiet streets of Concord, I heard the official news of Barack Obama's election, and of John McCain's concession. Once home, I carried my laptop around the apartment as I made lunch and laid out clothes for the morning, not wanting to miss a word or a beat. And just before turning out the lights, I watched Obama speak to an excited downtown Chicago and to millions of Americans across the country, like me, glued to their television screens.
















My alarm sounded at 5:15 this morning. Post-shower and post-espresso I hit the streets, coffee shops, and gas stations of Concord with my microphone to talk to Granite State voters about the emotional aftermath of this hard-fought election. We heard one McCain supporter's grievances on Word of Mouth today and I also produced a montage of my conversations with voters that aired later on, during a local break from All Things Considered.

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