I'm watching the returns on CNN. I feel about CNN the same way some people feel about The Kramer: It's loathsome, yet I can't look away. Question: Who's watching this stuff? (Well, yes, I am. But I know why I'm doing it. Why would anyone else who isn't doing what I'm doing do it?) I'm enjoying getting a peek into a few of the caucuses. But there's no real news yet. What's funny--and making me wish the writers were back on the job so I could be watching Jon Stewart--is watching Wolf Blitzer try to come up with something to say when there's really nothing to say. His verbal gymnastics about the entrance polls was pure gold--a wash of verbal dodging and qualifying letting us know that we shouldn't take the results of their "poll" to actually mean anything. I also love the way he's looking at that pie chart and just hoping against hope that it will show him something worth talking about. "We're going to continue to update you on these numbers." Wow. My night is complete. Interesting news! Entrance poll demographics appear to show young people are showing up in significant numbers. Hoo-ray! But CNN is calling it a "clash of generations" because they aren't supporting the same guys as the old folks. A clash? Huh? Is it really so surprising that young voters might make different choices? Why portray this as a clash? Oh, yeah. The whole drama thing. In other words, CNN doesn't think that demographic news is interesting enough to hold your attemtion without creating a false sense of contnetion. CNN just named Huckabee the Republican winner. It's not quite 8 p.m. CST. Tag: journalismTag: rhetoricTag: politics

[ Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:57:53 -0600 ]

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