A Late Shift in the Polls Has Dems Boiling in Beantown
The Massachusetts special election race to fill “Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat” may be beginning to look like a late night drama or blurb from TMZ at this late hour, but Democrats fearing a final hour defeat are certainly taking this race seriously – well sort of. Photos of scantily clad candidate Scott Brown (here at The Other McCain) have surfaced and union workers are reportedly being paid to hold up Coakley signs (Michelle Malkin). The “Late Shift” in the polls has Democrats from across the nation flocking to the aid of the slipping candidate as a defeat in that liberal stronghold would be a mighty blow to Dem’s as they move toward 2010; and more importantly the loss of the seat to Brown could seal the fate of the Senate’s health care bill as Brown has vowed to vote against it.
The Internet is full of images and video today of a reported incident that occurred last evening between a Coakley staffer and a reporter. You can see two of them here and here. The reporter allegedly tried to get one final question with the Democratic contender and was knocked to the ground by the overprotective errand boy. In fairness, this stuff happens to paparazzi all the time…. but this wasn’t the paparazzi. It was a political news reporter asking questions of a candidate not a celebrity fresh out of rehab. Its not like he was asking about Coakley’s recent Botox or failed plastic surgery. Many are trying to spin this little incident as a sign that the Coakley camp is coming apart at the seams – and it may be. I happen to think it is funny as hell, but can’t really see that a staffer with an overdose of testosterone is a sign of a campaign crumbling – but no worries. There are plenty of other signs of that – namely…
A Rasmussen poll released last week found Coakley leading Brown by a margin of 50 to 41 percent.
Regarding the Other Late Shift…
In case you missed it, NBC announced last Thursday that it was dropping the Jay Leno primetime experiment and was working on plans to realign the network’s late night line-up. (Jay to 11:35 and Conan to 12:05 – Chickaboomer) As those plans were finally announced yesterday, it appears that Conan O’Brien was the only one not included in the decision making process. Let’s just say he was less than pleased – releasing a statement yesterday that he will not move into the post midnight hour taking his “Tonight Show” into the hours of “tomorrow.” Last night he began his show by telling the audience that he “May soon be available for children’s parties.”
Fox and ABC are reportedly interested in bringing Conan aboard. He has been losing the ratings war to David Letterman since taking over the Tonight Show and it appears that we may be in the final days of the big goofy redhead.
In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I’ve been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I’ve been absurdly lucky. That said, I’ve been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it’s always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING – about the Senate Race – Not the Real Late Shift…
Big Government, Ben Smith’s Blog, Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, Nice Deb, Ruby Slippers, The Hill, RedState, Saberpoint, Taylor Marsh, The Natural Truth, The Daily Caller,
Via Memeorandum
Trackback URL
[...] A Late Shift in the Polls Has Dems Boiling in Beantown | REPUBLICAN REDEFINED Says: January, 13, 2010 at 4:58 pm [...]
[...] [...]
umm… I am not
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Wordpress by For Massachusetts, Journalism Reinforcement Arrives : The Other McCain: [...] [...]…