Face-off

Yes, it's that time again, the biggest Tuesday of the campaign season, the day when it all gets decided, the day we finally learn who the nominees will be, the day when the juiciest apple gets plucked from the tree, the --

Oh, sorry, Anderson. Just practicing. Well, we really ought to have this down to a science by now -- we've been through it enough times! Huge build-up, enormous stakes, polls/polls/polls, and then an outcome that tells us ... very little, really.

We start out the night with Candy in Columbus, Dana in Waco, and John "MagicBoardMan" King telestrating in New York.

The festivities get interrupted by Chad Myers, who lets us know of potential problems in Ohio (a state whose mere name sends chills down the spines of old Gore supporters everywhere) -- a massive stormfront heading that way, bringing serious rain and ice threats, along with potential for flooding and power outages. I wonder how many polling places have to be shut down for how much time before a recount is needed? Think that one will go to the Supreme Court for a decision?

Another panel, this one with David Gergen, Bay Buchanan, and Roland Martin. I did actually listen to it -- rarer than you can imagine; "Bray" Buchanan is an auto-Mute personage to me -- but mostly it was all about who has the upper hand, and I think the whole point of the delegate count thus far is that they are pretty even.

Gary Tuchman did an interesting piece about Catholics who are supporting Clinton. I have to say, this one surprised me. Maybe it was her "stand by your man" stance back in the day, maybe it's because the change we'd see with her is less drastic a sea-change than what Obama seems to offer... I'm not sure. But then, I'm an ex-Catholic, ex-Clinton-supporter, so obviously whatever these women are seeing eludes me. But I guess all that exit polling for details about why someone votes the way they do is bringing up some unforeseen trends.

Next was a Tom Foreman piece about union workers in Ohio. I'm also a born-and-bred Rust Belter, and those images of 30-year-workers laid off, closed factories, and For Sale signs sprouting through the snow like spring daffodils brought back a lot of painful memories. I disagree with John McCain on nearly everything, but when he stood in Detroit and said that the jobs aren't coming back, he did at least speak Truth, as far as I can tell. We need to find new jobs, and I have yet to hear a campaign speech about where those are hiding.

Media Bias -- the wisest and most obvious point of the night may have been that whomever you support, you think the bias is against them. 

Finally, the only clip-worthy moments of the show, IMHO... you knew the second he started with the accent it was a Must Have, right?

And this one I clipped just because I figured a lot of people missed it -- at the end of Hour Two, Miles O'Brien did a PiP piece about a convention of climate change naysayers. It will at least give you a chance to exercise your eye-rolling muscles...

So, remember when "Super Tuesday" was going to be the deciding day of the primary season? Here we are heading into our third or fourth Do-or-Die day of contests, and after listening to an hour of prognostication and crystal-ball-gazing, I predict that the person from tonight who will turn out to have been closest to correct will be... Chad Myers!

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