GOD BLESS PETER JENNINGS….If you’re still watching television, switch over to ABC News. Peter Jennings is stubbornly (and, I believe–taking a look at the margin and the ballots still outstanding–correctly) holding off calling Ohio for either candidate. When Kerry campaign correspondent Dean Reynolds went off the reservation and said, in essence, well, everyone else is calling Ohio for Bush, Jennings chided him and reminded viewers that there was no reason to rush.
This is just a shot in the dark, but is it perhaps that ABC has no cable presence and doesn’t feel the same kind of pressure to be first or keep up with the competitors. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to see someone insist on waiting until all of the votes have been counted. Reynolds, on the other hand, contributed to the Bush spin by responding to a question about provisional ballots with “That sounds like a long stretch…it has the whiff of a legal challenge.”
Update: Okay, CNN and CBS are holding off as well. But I’m still sticking with ABC. After spending most of the evening flipping between hyper anchors and shouting panelists, I find Peter’s even tones calming.
