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Election Night '84 - 1:50
1:50
It’s closing in on 2 o’clock in the morning here in New York and we are set to end the broadcast at that hour. But here in the closing minutes, we have two very important calls to make, including the biggest state in the union. Both Washington state and California can now be called for president John B. Anderson. What this means is that he is now the only candidate who can hope to directly win the presidency via the electoral college. Dick Lamm is out. James Buckley is long out of it. And the president’s path is far from certain. It all comes down to Missouri and Florida. Arizona no longer matters for electoral purposes. The president must win in Missouri and Florida to win the election, otherwise it all goes to a very divided congress.
We have no real notion of what would happen at that point. No single party is going to be able to claim a majority in the House of Representatives, or indeed in the Senate where they would elect the Vice President in this scenario. Can the parties make a deal? How will the American people respond to an undemocratic result to the election? The days and weeks ahead could be very interesting ones.
You know, there’s said to be an old Chinese proverb…
Anderson: 239
Buckley: 85
Lamm: 175
It’s closing in on 2 o’clock in the morning here in New York and we are set to end the broadcast at that hour. But here in the closing minutes, we have two very important calls to make, including the biggest state in the union. Both Washington state and California can now be called for president John B. Anderson. What this means is that he is now the only candidate who can hope to directly win the presidency via the electoral college. Dick Lamm is out. James Buckley is long out of it. And the president’s path is far from certain. It all comes down to Missouri and Florida. Arizona no longer matters for electoral purposes. The president must win in Missouri and Florida to win the election, otherwise it all goes to a very divided congress.
We have no real notion of what would happen at that point. No single party is going to be able to claim a majority in the House of Representatives, or indeed in the Senate where they would elect the Vice President in this scenario. Can the parties make a deal? How will the American people respond to an undemocratic result to the election? The days and weeks ahead could be very interesting ones.
You know, there’s said to be an old Chinese proverb…
Anderson: 239
Buckley: 85
Lamm: 175
- Expat
- Word Count: 230