Press: Another Rush to Judgment

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Despite the controversy about exit polls, the analyses they permit of voter behavior have enhanced and perhaps largely replaced old-fashioned punditry. ABC's Barry Serafin reported on the basis of exit polling that fewer voters than four years ago regard President Reagan's age as an issue. CBS's Diane Sawyer linked the "gender gap" between men and women to an opinion gap between working women and homemakers. NBC's John Chancellor used statistics about Mondale's strength among blacks and weakness among Southern whites to explore a major ideological theme of the night, the breakup of the New Deal coalition.

The exit polls also provided data for the pyrotechnic displays of flashing scoreboards and computer-generated graphics that hurtled like roller coasters across the screen. A dial-spinning viewer, however, might have been befuddled. On NBC's national map, a spreading sea of blue represented Reagan's triumph, and little islands of red symbolized Mondale's meager winnings; on ABC and CBS maps, the color symbolism was reversed. Viewers also were entitled to wonder about the decision making that led to the jazzy displays. As in previous, less technologically sophisticated elections, networks were often hours apart in calling the same races based on roughly the same data.

Election night is a crucial test for network news operations, and all of them passed handsomely. Anchors and commentators misspoke frequently, but most gaffes were on the modest level of ABC's misspelling Republican Senator Jesse Helms' first name as Jessie in proclaiming him a winner in North Carolina. NBC had the most admirable sangfroid: a potential strike by news writers, who threatened to walk off in mid-broadcast if necessary, did not reach a tentative settlement until 7 p.m., with Brokaw already on the air. The low point for many viewers came during Mondale's concession, when some affiliates cut to commercials.

Perhaps the last thread of continuity between the ragged but vibrant election broadcasts of the precomputer age and the foreordained, almost Orwellian, whizbangery of 1984 is that a good idea and a graceful turn of phrase are still the most satisfying parts of the night. Brokaw praised Reagan's ability to get "moist in the eyes" when talking about America. Bill Moyers of CBS likened the Republican sweep of the South to "a jackknife slicing through a ripe peach." But sadness seemingly inspires better poetry than joy. Perhaps the best example was a rumination by Elder Statesman David Brinkley of ABC about the forlorn dignity of Mondale, aloft in his campaign plane, "looking down at all those states that were not going to vote for him." —By William A. Henry III