For a news industry traditionally obsessed with being first to land a big story, it’s disorienting to watch TV networks look like they don’t want to be the one to call the 2020 presidential election winner. Stuck in neutral since Friday morning (“Biden on the verge of winning”), when it appeared it would be just a matter of minutes or hours before one of the major news outlets’ Decision Desks declared that Trump had no mathematical path to victory and would announce Joe Biden the winner, the race has remained stuck in an animated state of suspension.
Not because the contest has become a nail biting, back-and-forth affair with wild swings in tallies, and that the winner truly remains in doubt. It’s not, and the coverage reflects that as analysts go over the votes, the math, the projections and essentially tell voters that Trump can’t win. The race is stuck in neutral because nobody will do the obvious and declare Biden the winner.
Read the rest of Eric Boehlert’s piece and subscribe to his newsletter at PressRun Media.
