With any luck, election night 2016 will be much, much, much shorter. Recently, conservative pundit Erick Erickson blew some minds by showing that this dismal, never-ending presidential race could be all over Tuesday by 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Of course, that was two weeks ago, when some polls were projecting a double-digit lead for Hillary Clinton. Everythings tightened since then; its now far from certain that Clinton will lock up Florida and North Carolinas combined 44 electoral votes, which she needs to guarantee an early win.
But it got us wondering: Is election night ever really over that fast? When do they usually call the race? Somehow these evenings all run together, a blur of zooming graphics and flickering maps and yammering anchors, both interminable and fleeting. What years did we go to bed without knowing? What years was it over before it started? Here, weve re-created the past 10 election nightsin all their weirdness and glory.
1976: Jimmy Carter vs. Gerald Ford
Call time:3:31 a.m. Eastern (NBC)
The polls had tightened in the final week, and Ford went to bed that night thinking he was going to remain in the White House. But around 3:30 a.m., Barbara Walters announced that Hawaiis four electoral votes were Carters, putting him over the top. ABC cut to live footage of Carters 78-year-old mom, Ms. Lillian, rising from a rocking chair at a rally, falling back to her seat, rising again, and unbuttoning a trench coat to reveal a green shirt that said JIMMY WON! 76. (I tell you, I dont think Ill be at the White House much, she said to rallygoers, but in case I am, and yall come, Ill know who ya are.) California, by then worth more than triple its 1916 value, hadnot yet been called, but it didnt matter; Carter had swept New York, Pennsylvania and the South, including Texas.
1980: Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan
Call time: 8:15 p.m. (NBC)
It is a rather early call, admitted NBC anchor John Chancellor, but Reagans landslide was evident immediately. Judy Woodruff, standing outside the White House, reported that the mood there wasvery sad and that there were tears in the eyes of Carters press secretarysteenage daughter. At the Sheraton Washington ballroom, the Democratic National Committee had readied 50 gallons of wine and 50 kegs of beer, but the election wasover before any guests arrived. The bartenders arent exactly sure just how the results tonight will affect consumption, reported CBSs Phil Jones from the empty ballroom. Carter called Reagan at 9:01 p.m. and conceded at 10, while the polls were still open in the West. Its ridiculous lets go and get it over with, Carter said to aides who asked him to wait until 11, according to Douglas Brinkleys The Unfinished Presidency. It was the earliest concession since Alton Parker ceded to Teddy Roosevelt in 1904, and prompted some congressmen to pressure TV networks to forestall future projections.
1984: Walter Mondale vs. Ronald Reagan
Call time: 8:02 p.m. (CBS)
The networks didnt follow the advice of Congress and declared Reagans win a full 13 minutes sooner than in 1980. This caused a noticeable pattern of reduced voter turnout west of the Mississippi, according tothe Committee for the Study of the American Electorate: Ofthe 25states where the race was calledbefore polls closed, 19 had lower turnouts than the previous presidential election. The map is entirely, totally red, David Brinkley said after explaining that ABC had chosenred forReagan because of alliteration.On CBS, Dan Rather wondered about a historic 50-state sweep (Mondale would prevent this by winning Minnesota after 10 p.m.). Exitpolls revealed that mostvoters, both male and female, were unpersuaded or even put off by the presence of awoman (Geraldine Ferraro) on the Democratic ticket. Sisterhood, which flowed like a mighty river [at the Democratic National Convention] in San Francisco in July, was a dry creek in November, wrote The Posts Mary McGrory.
1988: George H.W. Bush vs. Michael Dukakis
Call time: 9:17 p.m. (CBS)
Dukakis spent the final 48 hours of the campaign on an 850-mile, nine-state campaign blitz, then returned home to Massachusetts on Election Day and went for a 30-minute power walk, wearing a red sweater and carrying hand weights. Vice President Bush told reporters in Houston that he was nervous; he and his wife Barbara called voters from a phone bank, convincing them it wasnt a joke. Tom Brokaw said his electoral map would denote a Republican win with blue, the color of Dan Quayles eyes. It was a messy night. Initially ABC and CBS incorrectly awarded Maryland and Illinois to Dukakis. Well not project a winner in a state until the polls in that state are closed, Brokaw promised, but all three major networks gave Kentucky and Indiana to Bush while their polls remained open. George Bush is sweeping through the South like a tornado through a trailer park, Dan Rathersaidearly in the night, calling the election at 9:17 with polls still open in 11 Western states.Once again, we see the East Coast networks treating us out here in the West as though we dont count, said former California senatorJohn Tunney.
1992: George H.W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton
Call time: 10:48 p.m. (TV networks)
A Clinton victory seemed imminent by the 7 oclock hour, as Eastern polls closed but then it remained imminent for a while. Brokaw, at 10 and 10:35 p.m., said that Clinton was just moments from victory. But everyone could do the math: Well before 11 p.m., even if you had voided the electoral votes of every state in the Western and Mountain time zones, Clinton still surmounted270. The networks bided time as penance for jumping the gun in years past. Bush conceded at 11:08 p.m. at the Westin Galleria Hotel in Houston: I remain absolutely convinced we are a rising nation. Clinton departed the governors mansion in Little Rock at 10:50 p.m. but kept TV viewers waiting until 12:20 a.m. for his acceptance speech, which he delivered with laryngitis. (Clinton looked tired and tubby, wrote Post TV critic Tom Shales.) We want our future back, Clinton said, and I intend to help give it to you. The next morning, Clinton put on blue jeans and a brown suede jacket for breakfast at an old friends home in Little Rock.My whole body aches, Clinton said hoarsely. Every bone in my body.
1996: Bill Clinton vs. Bob Dole
Call time: 9 p.m. (AP)
Dan Rather had trouble with his touch-screen map on CBS. Brian Williams was inexplicably stationed by theice skating rink at Rockefeller Center. All evening, CNN underscored its coverage with a relentless, repetitive soundtrack more suitable forThe Hunt for the Red October.This is one of the great miraculous comebacks in American history, the cable network declaredafter announcing a resounding victory for Clinton, who two years earlier lost both houses of Congress to Republicans. At 9:45 p.m., a Dole spokesman issued a statement conceding the election to Clinton, but it was later retracted. Dole himself conceded around 11:30 p.m.Maybe the Lord likedClinton better, said Bub Dawson, whose father owned the pharmacy in Russell, Kan., where Dole once worked. We are not down, Rush Limbaugh told his listeners the day after. We are not depressed. We are extremely up. But Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol was morose:Its all boring and slightly dispiriting. Everything in the 90s is becoming sort of like Jell-O.
2000:George W. Bush vs. Al Gore
Call time:Just before 10 p.m., Dec. 12 (the Supreme Court)
The race felt close from daybreak. Governor Bush woke up at 6:30 a.m. on Election Day, fed his dog and two cats, read theBible and called his parents. Theyre nervous, he told reporters. That afternoon, Vice President Gorehelicoptered from Nashville to Carthage, Tenn., to vote, eat fried chicken with his 87-year-old mother, and do 20 satellite interviews with TVstations in battleground states. That evening on NBC, Tim Russert intoned Florida, Florida, Florida. CBS called Florida for Gore at 7:40 p.m. and recalled it around 10. What the networks giveth, the networks taketh away, said a chagrined Brokawon NBC. Gore conceded, then retracted his concession, telling an irritated Bush over the phone: You dont have to get snippy about this. CBS called Florida for Bush around 2 a.m. and recalled it near 4. Wrote Tom Shales: The Florida reversal cast a long shadow over the evenings coverage, giving it somewhat the aura of bedlam. That aura lasted for another five weeks as Florida conducted its laborious recount.Every big-shot attorney in the United States is now in Florida, David Letterman said on his late-night show. So heres what happens: If we were to have a hurricane God forbid we had a hurricane the whole thing could still have a happy ending. On Dec. 12, the Supreme Court ruled that the Florida recount should not continue. Gore conceded the following day. Technically, the AP has still not called this race.
2004: George W. Bush vs. John Kerry
Call time: 11:19 p.m. (AP)
This was the first election where Texas surpassed New York in electoral votes, cementing a seismic shift westward of the big prizes and therefore call times. In 1936, California and Texas were together worth 45 electoral votes. Thatdoubled by 2004, and has continued to increase. Floridas growth has compensated a bit for the East Coast, but now elections definitely dont end before 9 p.m. Heres a handy graph:
Brokaw describedthiselection night in the parlance of the era: Someone will be voted off the island. Kerrys poll numbers were surging into Election Day, and the exit polls predicted a win, but the 9 p.m. hour dropped like an anvil on his campaign. Bush won Florida and Virginia. The AP called the race before midnight, though some of the networks waited until the wee hours to assign the linchpin state of Ohio toBush (Fox at 12:41 a.m. and NBC at 1 a.m.). Said Tim Russert: Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. CNN, CBS and ABC held back their calls, fearing another Florida debacle; as of 2:20 a.m., 25 counties in Ohio had not yet reported their tallies. Kerrys running mate, John Edwards, appeared at Copley Plaza in Boston at 2:30 to say the fight wasnt over. Kerry went to bed without conceding. Just before 11 a.m., in the kitchen of Kerrys Beacon Hill townhouse, his aides told him it was over. Thats it, he agreed. He called Edwards and then Bush around 11 a.m.
2008: John McCain vs. Barack Obama
Call time:11 p.m. (Fox)
Obama had won Ohio and Pennsylvania before 11 p.m., and on MSNBC Chris Matthews started slobbering once it became clear that Obama was bound for victory. Once again America, with all its frailties and all itssins of the past, has been able to do something truly wondrous, he said as the clock ticking down to the closing of Western polls dipped below three minutes. After MSNBC called the election with an Obama sweep of the Pacific Coast states, it broadcast nearly five minutes of live celebratory footage without the intrusion of a single pundits voice. Students at Spelman College in Atlanta dropped to their knees. Stevie Wonder blared over Grant Park in Chicago. The multitudes began arriving at the gates of the White House, where they sang Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye and chanted Yes we did!McCain gave his concession speech just after 11:15 p.m. at Phoenixs Biltmore Hotel. Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself, and for his country, McCain said. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader, Obama said later of McCain. The celebrations outside the White House continued past 3 a.m.
I feel like I just need to lay down on the ground and throw up, said Romneys son Josh, watching the returns with his family in a Boston hotel room. How is everyone so calm?! When Mitt heard that he was up by only 500 votes in Florida, he knew. Thats not good, he said. I just cant believe youre gonna lose, Josh said. It makes your life a lot better, doesnt it? his father replied, and Josh agreed. When Fox News and other networks called Ohio before 11:30 p.m., eliminating the GOPs last path to the White House, the Romney campaign pushed back. So did Fox pundit Karl Rove, which sent Megyn Kelly out of the studio, on foot, to check in with thenumbers people. Were actually quite comfortable with the call in Ohio, a Fox election accountant told her, saying that the unreported ballots were mostly from metropolitan areas that favored Obama. Rove did not relent, and referenced the 2000 debacle. Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better, Kelly asked him, or is this real? It was real.Donald Trump, then executive producer of the Miss USA Pageant, tweeted his disappointment at 11:29 p.m.:
We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!
