Tucker Eskew

The Movie of Yesterday. Several Hitches. And a Twist Hitch Would Love

Yesterday had a helluva script.

The MacGuffin came from the exit polls. They served as a plot device, an unreal-in-a-sense but all too real twist that drove the narrative all night long.

This research, now known to be deeply flawed, initially sent insiders into frenzies of joy (Democrats), intensity (media) and intestinal distress (Republicans).

Wake Up, America

Good morning.

Yes, it is.

There's so much ground to cover - I won't get very far right now.

As I write, the folks in Boston are preparing a big decision. Hope it will be good for the country.

Plenty of commentary out there. I enjoyed and will think more about Michael Barone's smart and slightly speculative column.

Forgive the lack of insight, introspection, and inside info. It's gonna take a while to cogitate, collect, and collate all that...

Today Tonight Tomorrow

Did you catch the Today Show this morning? For the third time this fall, I squared off against James Carville, with Ms. Couric in the anchor chair.

Mr. C handed me a couple of openings, especially with his crack that people who think we're on the right track in America are "the stupidest people" in the country. That's how you attract voters: insult 'em!

Carvville also sounds thoroughly defeatist about Iraq. Defeatism is widespread inside this city. News executives and DC insiders (think tankers and assorted liberal elites) betray their Vietnam-era gloom in the slightest unguarded moment. I guess I understand it but I find it troubling.

Optimism alone will not advance America's interests, but without it the defeatists will be self-fulfillingly correct.

I'm optimistic about tomorrow's election -- and will share it with Larry King Live and Hardball viewers later tonight.

Weekend Update

I'm not on MSNBC later today after all - by my choice. I'm teed up to do some early morning TV tomorrow - more details to follow.

TV Today

After enjoying the extra hour's sleep, I'm going over to do a live hit with Fox News at 11:30 eastern, followed by MSNBC around 4:15 pm. Feeling great about our momentum. For more on why, see The Note -- as they'd write over at ABC News, Note the first few 'graphs.

Quiet

ABC News' The Note (Noted Now) just posted this:

>>BUSH IN GRAND RAPIDS, MI: Does not address OBL tape but hush falls over crowd when Bush delivered terror portion of standard stump speech, ABC News' Terry Moran reports.>>

It's the kind of quiet that I think most voters experience in the voting booth.

With the stakes so high, a lot of the noise we're still hearing on the campaign trail might be masking an early but growing calm. Many - not all - voters everywhere are reminded just how serious this is.

Take Note of this, too:

>>White House aide Dan Bartlett says Bush will not discuss OBL tape again or Kerry's Tora Bora charge. <<

P.S. I'll try to keep my noise emissions low when I go on Fox News late tomorrow morning, around 11:30 eastern.

Proud

I've been off the blog-trail today...Just a quick note to say how proud I was of the President's statement about bin Laden. Haven't seen Sen. Kerry's yet, but I think unifying notes are called for no matter what UBL's intent, no matter what UBL's comments, no matter what the political impacts might be.

So Which One's Fatal?

Earlier today, I wrote

>>Almost nobody wants to vote for him. That's his candidacy's near-fatal flaw.<<

So, you might ask, which one of Kerry's flaws is the fatal one?

Fueled by lifelong ambition and junior-Senator skillsets that overpromise and underdeliver, John Kerry chose to run for office during a time of war, when we are ably led by a great man.

Ambition and modest talent made JK a successful Massachusetts politician, and/but they comprise the fatal flaw that doom his campaign.

Electoral Expert: Kerry Adds Nothing!

As the great Taranto would write, "What would we do without electoral experts?!"

But seriously, I enjoyed the observation today of a totally non-partisan expert on American campaigns. He said that Kerry hasn't brought a single vote to the Democrats that wouldn't have gone to any of the other Democratic prospects, had they won the nomination. He's getting the baseline, Democratic/anti-Bush vote and no more.

It's the anti- that makes Kerry's vote freeze. Almost nobody wants to vote for him. That's his candidacy's near-fatal flaw.

"It's Panel Time"

I can almost hear Brit Hume intone those nightly words as I prep for an Aspen Institute forum at lunch time.

I'll be sitting down with Charlie Cook, a master of electoral politics, and Democrat John Podesta for a little pre-election analysis. Reporters and Echo-Chamber-music fans will fill (?) the seats, we'll all fill our plates, and we'll have some fun, I hope.