Elections Past

Tonight I'm going to binge watch something.

I hate watching the coverage, its more nerve racking than when the Giants are in the Superbowl. I hate that too, by the way.

It's kind of a tradition with me now, partly by design, partly by happenstance.

My first election was 1988. Realizing that my guy was going to get clobbered, I watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High instead. I hadn't seen it yet.

In 1992 I voted for Bill by absentee ballot but didn't get see the returns. I had drama rehearsal. I was Cradeau in No Exit and the performance date was looming. When I left Bill had won NH, by the time I got back to my dorm room three and half hours later it was all over.

In 1996 I drove home 300 miles to vote for Bobdole for some reason. There was little suspense of course, and I had a term paper to work on anyway.

2000....2000, living in Northern Virginia with my wife I was riveted to the TV all night after coming home from dinner. Bush was up 51-3 at first, then the networks in succession called FL, PA, and MI for Algore. It was at that point I retired to my study, put on Mendelssohn's Overture Hebrides and had a stiff drink. Then with 50% of the vote in and Bush leading by 250K the networks threw FL into the tossup section. It was long night, as one by one the rest of the states went for Bush. Finally sometime late they called FL for W. I went to bed happy. When I woke up....

In 2004 I tried to ignore election night but failed. It was actually fun, with Fox News in the background and me on my computer bouncing from one secretary of state website to the next following the returns. Bush won FL impressively and put the nail in Kerry's coffin in OH. What an asshole. A long, fun fulfilling night.

Not much to see in 2008. I worked in my study and periodically checked in on RCP. At 11, when the networks called it, I was pissed because Fox-5 showed election coverage. I wanted to watch The Office.

In 2012, having made a nervous wreck of myself, I watched Get Carter (the Michael Caine version) and went to bed at 10:30. It was all over by then, but I didn't know until I woke up at 4:30 and checked the Drudge report. It wasn't so bad. I had a new book coming out and, by the way, a new baby.

In these things I took solace for a broken heart.