IT’S time to check out those little election footnotes, now that the major headlines have captured attention everywhere.
A huge production like the US mid-term election would spawn 1,001 tales and Tuesday’s polling was no exception.
New York’s cosmopolitan nature means that notices put up at the polling stations had to be written in several languages like Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese, besides English.
Interpreters were available for those who can’t read English and do not know how to operate the voting machines.
“Some of them even asked me whether they should go for the donkey or the elephant,” said Moses Loo, a Chinese interpreter. These animals are the symbols respectively of the Democrats and the Grand Old Party.
Loo acknowledged cheekily that he was tempted at times to influence them.
“One woman asked me who she should pick for the New York comptroller post. I told her not to vote for Alan Hevesi,” he said, referring to the Democratic contender who made use of a state employee to be his wife’s chauffeur for three years.
“But the woman was smart, too. In the end, she did not vote anyone for that post.”
For the record, Hevesi survived his political scandal and was re-elected for a second term.
Loo observed that voters had their own peculiarity. “Some of them would pick the same party for all the posts without knowing the candidates. They would just vote blindly.”
(Besides major positions like the senator and governor, the mid-term election sees a long list of posts such as judges, and state and local officials being contested.)
News reports on Wednesday showed that Murphy’s Law was in full swing on polling day, affecting even 26-year-old Chelsea whose parents are the very important Clintons.
The former first daughter could not find her name in a Manhattan polling station because the list had been sent elsewhere.
At one Bronx polling station, the cops had to be called in to break into the building when no one knew why the place was still not open at 6am as scheduled.
Countless people complained to the blogs about hitches and mismatches. One site experienced such high traffic volume that it had to make certain restrictions.
A Tennessee guy wrote: “I went to my precinct to vote and all the three machines were not working. You would think they would have at least been tested before the actual election day.”
(When George W. Bush announced the resignation of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, someone blogged: “Right now I think I’d rather you keep Mr Rumsfeld and replace yourself with Mr Cheney.”)
Bloggers had their night out when CNN hosted 25 of them for an “E-lection Nite Blog Party”. This was something new, according to Andrew Tyndall who issues an online weekly report that tracks night-time news coverage on ABC, NBC and CBS.
“In five years, the news will be presented online,” he predicted.
As for the election TV coverage, Tyndall picked ABC anchor Charles Gibson for doing a great job.
“He clearly knows a lot. I thought he was the best and most informed,” he said, adding that Gibson’s background as a congressional correspondent was obviously an advantage.
TV stations had been cautious this time to avoid a repeat of the blunder made two years ago when exit polls showed John Kerry was the likely presidential winner. The final outcome showed otherwise.
While this has been described as the nastiest mid-term election in US history, things were pretty calm in New York where it was clear that the Democrats had the upper hand.
Eliot Spitzer, who won the governor’s post, was so assured of his victory earlier that he did what the New York Times said was unheard of: he stopped campaigning in the final 24 hours before the race.
Since this had been a political blood sport, a tabloid helpfully guided its readers on where to find pubs that indulged in their political affiliation.
One bar owner was quoted as saying: “Democrats are more likely to drink single-malt whiskey and bourbon. Republicans like blended scotch.”
And the best drink for voters to drown their sorrow is Jack Daniel’s, apparently.
The following day, America’s top two tabloids did not neglect their pop princess amidst the big front-page news about the Democrat sweep.
So, appearing also on page one of the New York Post and Daily News was news about “Splitney Spears” seeking a divorce from her husband.
(Sunday November 12, 2006)
