Rush to be first brings embarrassment, not respect.(SunBurst)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), November, 2000

Byline: Jim Wilson How could the networks be so wrong? That was the question being asked across the country last week after what may become known as the first act of the Florida Fiasco in the 2000 election. Unless you have been living in a cave, you know that within six hours the TV networks projected that both Vice President Gore and Gov.

Bush had won Florida's electoral votes, but rescinded both predictions. The Associated Press followed the pack on the first projection, but not the second. Projecting winners before the first vote is counted has become a near-art form for the TV folks. Give them credit for being right almost all of the time during the past three decades. I say "almost" because they have been wrong more times than you might think. They...