CNN Is Doing a Second Election Night Special Because We Live in Hell
Here we go again: CNN is reportedly planning an Election Night coverage sequel for Tuesday, one week after we all collectively melted our brains watching cable news for 12 hours on the actual election night.
As Politico’s Michael Calderone reported Sunday night, the whole gang is going to be there:
Are there are legitimate reasons for focusing on the midterms a week after they’ve happened? Of course! Key races in Florida and Arizona are still undecided, and the elections as a whole were a pretty damn big deal: The Democrats flipped the House, we saw the highest estimated turnout (for midterms) in 50 years, and diverse candidates made major gains across the country.
But the subtitle for this Midterms Night Two ratings bonanza will likely be all eyes on Florida. Yes, the Arizona Senate race is still technically undecided, but Democrat Kyrsten Sinema’s solid lead over Republican Martha McSally for Sen. Jeff Flake’s open seat means that CNN will probably just get to wrap that one up in a flashy chyron on Tuesday. The real drama, as it has been for the past week, will be in Florida, where the president and the wider GOP are frantically trying to construct an elaborate conspiracy to discount lately counted votes, which are slowly pushing both the Senate and governor’s races further toward hope for Democrats.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum withdrew his concession on Sunday, as the state is headed for a recount in that election, which is currently separated by a fraction of a percent. (The Republican, Ron DeSantis, is in the lead.) In the Senate race between Gov. Rick Scott and incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, Scott is frantically filing lawsuits to try to stop any more votes coming in from Broward County, a historically Democratic region of the state.
Are any of these things too much for, say, one anchor doing their normal show to handle? Probably not, but they’re certainly dramatic, so now we get the Magic Wall again. Hooray.