Well, the day is finally here… I didn’t think it would ever arrive but it finally has. CNN was live all night, I was hoping they’d have a certain “passionate” Aussie on to inject some life into the proceedings, but alas, he got to sleep in, apparently!
Since Tommy is in Baghdad, he presumably voted absentee… I wonder whether he’ll be losing some sleep tonight to watch the returns?
Whatever the results tonight, one thing is for sure: it is the beginning of the actual end of the Bush Era, praise be to God! 76 days left! Not that we’re counting or anything!
Phebe and I (and possibly some of the others on the team) will be live blogging the returns over at ATA today starting at 7pm ET. Come and say hello over there, or here, or wherever. (Did I mention the heavy drinking that will be happening? We’d do a drinking game for every time McCain says “my friends” but we are concerned about the potential for alcohol poisoning.) I don’t suppose Michael will be on, they will probably be up to their ears in pundits today and not have time to discuss things like, oh, the two wars we’re currently fighting, but if he shows up, I will put out the word and of course get the clips “cooking.”
So… what happens to CNN=Politics now? Do we go back to CNN=News???
UPDATE: Michael has been on three times overnight. Clips are converting.
23 responses so far ↓
jenmelia // November 4, 2008 at 7:11 pm |
I feel sorry for all of the people that have waited hours in line today. I certainly can’t complain about 45 minutes! I did my duty and it felt great- although a McCain victory would mean a move to another country
I have heard the “red headed step child” before along with the “cookie” comment Michael Holmes used yesterday. I am originally from the South (Texas) and these are phrases I heard all of my life- hey, maybe we Southerners have something in common with Aussie’s!
Go Obama! currently needs less than 100 electoral votes.
cyn // November 4, 2008 at 7:16 pm |
jen, I’m from NY and have heard the redheaded stepchild all my life, too… although it has been a few years since I can last recall hearing it. I think with today’s mixed families, it makes a lot less sense…!
delie // November 4, 2008 at 7:49 pm |
Watching the live coverage for hours and hours now… No drinking game needed so far! But I am starting to feel sleepy. Almost 4 a.m. here. Time for a coffee! I think if I could hear someone else than Wolf, it would cheer me up…
cyn // November 4, 2008 at 9:08 pm |
I am as proud of America now as I was horrified in 2004.
Congratulations to all of us. A new era starts now.
delie // November 4, 2008 at 9:16 pm |
Congrats to all of you!
Drinking champagne alone has never been an option, most of all at 5 a.m. ! But I’m close to…
maxie1218 // November 4, 2008 at 9:22 pm |
I could not be happier!!!!
cyn // November 4, 2008 at 10:52 pm |
Posted on the AC360 blog:
Tommy Evans
CNN Iraq Bureau Chief
The limited Iraqi reaction I have gotten so far is a stunned one… It was a very commonly held conspiracy theory that the election was fixed and there was no way a black man would win… But even so at the end of the day they don’t really give a s***… Iraqis are so disillusioned by America they don’t think this changes anything.
mwmcfan // November 5, 2008 at 12:48 am |
Thanks Cyn for pointing out Tommy’s comment tonight on the ac360 blog. I went to the Tommy appreciation page and made a comment about it on that blog.
Also thank you for pointing out that Tommy’s title is not the Baghdad bureau chief, but his title is: CNN Iraq Bureau Chief!
Congratulations to Tommy on his position that has so much responsibility, he works so hard and deserves this title a lot.
jodi54 // November 5, 2008 at 1:30 am |
Congratulations to all of us. This is the first time in my life that I didn’t vote for the lesser of two evils. This time I voted for the human being I wanted as my President. I am so happy.
Sorry to hear my sentiments have no echo in Iraq. Of course, why would they? We invaded their country for no reason and we blew the shit out of everything. (Hey – if Tommy has to write s*** … do I have to?)
Thanks for saying it like it is Tommy. I could not regret it more, but I have no idea how to set it right. And, even as a stranger, I worry about you. Like Michael, we rely on you for a truthful vision of what’s going on. It seems that Iraqis, our troops and journalists have been all but abandoned during this election. But we are still here listening, (especially at ware~abouts).
Thanks for cutting through the celebratory din. Please don’t relent. Push and prod us …. yell at us. And keep blogging, please Tommy. Few can give us the perspective that you can … even fewer who are willing to … so make sure we pay attention … and make sure we know you’re safe.
It was smart of CNN to make you Iraq Bureau Chief. Congratulaions. Amidst the mess we created, you have distinguished yourself and you should be proud.
Well, it’s an emotional night …. hope I didn’t get maudlin.
cyn // November 5, 2008 at 3:07 am |
There’s no way to blame the Iraqi people for not having hope that things will change. I grew up in this country and had given up on sanity being restored. And they know far less of the good side of the American people than I do. They have suffered at our hands. If we want to be seen in a positive light in Iraq, we will have to earn it, and it is going to require some very heavy lifting. If we hope to show them that democracy is not synonymous with death, destruction, humiliation, and occupation, then we need to prove it.
Some day they, too, will Know Hope. But we have a hell of a lot of work to do before that will be possible. It’s on us.
cyn // November 5, 2008 at 3:39 am |
Michael is on live, at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM ET!
In fact, he was on during the 3:00 and 4:00 hours, as well!
mavis // November 5, 2008 at 6:24 am |
It was great to see Tommy’s 360 post. Again, Congrats, Tommy on your new position.
Michael seems to think America is on a good path. So do I.
I can honestly say, I’ve never been prouder to be an American as I am this morning!
May I also say, that I had another bonding moment with Cyn last night. We were on the phone when the announcement came!
maxie1218 // November 5, 2008 at 7:00 am |
Thanks for the updates Cyn! Why do they relegate Michael to these obscure hours of the night? Anyways, I am hoping they send him back out to the field to do what he does best.
mebz72 // November 5, 2008 at 11:20 am |
*happy dance*
cyn // November 5, 2008 at 2:35 pm |
There’s a clip on CNN.com of Nic Robertson showing the UK papers, and the headline on one is “One Giant Leap for Mankind.” Which really struck me, because while I was attempting to get some sleep overnight, I was thinking about the paradigm shift this election has been and trying to think of a parallel. And the closest thing I could come up with was Neil Armstrong’s “small step.”
It’s hard to believe, if you are too young to remember it, that there was a time when the idea of a man on the moon was the stuff of fiction and fairytales. When we had never achieved such a thing. And on one profound summer night, that changed forever. I was very young, but I still remember the wonder of it, I somehow understood the importance of it.
Last night was like that. Those who are too young today to remember it will never quite understand it. They will not comprehend what the big deal is, why people thought they would never see the day.
The world has changed. And we witnessed it. Many of us took part in it, in a way both simple and profound. We own this in a way we could not be a part of what NASA did on our behalf. Which makes this all the more profound for Americans, just as the nightmare of the past eight years and what we as a country unleashed on the world must of course be owned by all of us here, even those who opposed the current administration from day one.
We cannot undo it, but we have begun the process of setting things right. It will take a long time, and we will stumble and scrape our knees, but at last, finally, we have begun.
By the way, some of you may know that I have been working on a book for the past several years. There is a throwaway line that I wrote some five or six years ago: the Hero is trying to explain his way out of something and there is some joking that he must have been time-traveling to the future. One of his friends, a black woman, says, “And I for one want to know some hot stock tips, maybe a few upcoming SuperBowl winners. And please tell me that we’ve finally elected a brother as President!”
No longer a joke. Guess I’ll need to rewrite that now.
Oh, and the hero? His surname is Baruch.
jodi54 // November 5, 2008 at 4:10 pm |
Great post, Cyn.
Now please, go finish that book!
jenmelia // November 5, 2008 at 5:04 pm |
Hey Cyn,
Just got a chance to watch the Mick clips.
I can’t believe at that hour, he was more clean shaven, hair combed, and unwrinkled than we have seen him in a while
He seems backwards that way- a complete mess (yet still informative & sexy) during “normal” hours and totally “put together” at an ungodly hour……..
Nice to see all the smiles though. I wonder what he will be up to next? Back to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. I can’t believe he has been in the city I live all this time. I need to find out where he is staying so I can stalk, I mean check him out *shifty eyes*
cyn // November 5, 2008 at 6:04 pm |
There shall be NO stalking. Down, girl!
delie // November 6, 2008 at 3:28 am |
Thanks for the clips, and I agree with Jodi: go finish that book! Please…
jenmelia // November 6, 2008 at 8:21 pm |
I’ll be a good girl, I promise
Why has he been in NY so long………………
Go finish that book! I need something to read until Michael’s book comes out………….
Delie- I must thank you again, because of you I get to see BackStory. Michael Holmes is great, too funny. I thought it was really cool that he took us a long for his first time voting in the US as a new citizen. Boyy, is Richard Quest the most animated person? Geez, both times he’s been on I thought Michael wanted to slap him/ tie him down
delie // November 7, 2008 at 2:42 pm |
My pleasure, Jenmelia. Tonight we got a behind-the-scene with Phil Black …embed! No sighting of a producer (if someone is interested). Michael Holmes said that they got lots of requests about teams in Iraq. I wonder why
! BTW, Michael Holmes will be off next week (exactly like me) ; Ishah Sesay will host the show. I will do my best to get the clip done tonight. If not, tomorrow…
suzlynn // November 8, 2008 at 8:49 am |
Congratulations Tommy on your new job it is well deserved!
Cyn, I can’t wait to read your book.
I can’t believe we haven’t had a Michael sighting in NY. Jenmelia, I’m sure you could find him if you wanted to. He doesn’t seem like someone to hide but who knows what he’s working on he could be traveling around the states.
This has been an incredible time and I wish I had been in Grant Park to see it live. Only ticket holders were with in eyesight of the stage for Obama’s acceptance speech and even there people were packed in.
One of my seniors was telling me she was going out with her granddaughter to get an inauguration gown because her invitation would be coming in the mail. Normally I would laugh about this with her but we do take care of seniors with dementia so I’m not sure if she is serious.
I guess we will have our own inauguration ball for them.
We took another one of our residents in her 90’s to vote and there was a teenager there voting for the first time. He was so excited he was telling everyone. He saw our resident and asked her how many times she has voted, the two of them had a great conversation.
It wasn’t lost on anyone here is a young man just startin out and a little lady possibly voting for the last President of her life.
maxie1218 // November 8, 2008 at 1:56 pm |
Cyn…Your question as to “what happens to CNN=Politics now? Do we go back to CNN=News???,” was answered by Jon Klein in a piece posted on Mediabistro:
“So, what’s CNN’s plan to keep the numbers up? CNN/U.S. president Jon Klein, says ‘It’s the economy, viewers.’”
So my guess is CNN=ECONOMY…Not exactly my preference.