For David Wasserman, senior editor for U.S. House elections at The Cook Political Report, Election Day is "typically a moment of Zen and calm." It turns out Zen for Wasserman consists of county-level analysis and corned beef.
In addition to building "county-by-county models of each candidate's 'break even' number for a win in the most competitive races," Wasserman told NotedDC, "[f]or some reason, I always end up eating a corned beef sandwich for lunch. … I guess that might be my superstitious Election Day habit."
Wasserman, who will be in New York on election night, is one of the key political experts relied on every two years for important news about the country's direction after months of rigorous preparation. We spoke with several other political analysts and election night anchors to find out their rituals surrounding Election Day.
Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour, told us she prepares for midterm elections by trying to memorize as much of the "spectacularly helpful PBS NewsHour midterm elections briefing book, which is 265 pages long this year," as she can.
Asked what helps her get through election night, Woodruff said, "Chocolate in any form." As for post-election rituals to help her decompress, Woodruff said, "It takes a week or so to decompress: these are such high stress moments, and the stories keep unspooling. Drink a lot of water."
"I've always liked covering Midterm races," Martha MacCallum, anchor and executive editor of "The Story with Martha MacCallum" and co-anchor of Fox News Channel's election night coverage, told NotedDC. "[T]hey get the feel for the pulse of what's happening in the country, and they are a moment when we see new political stars emerge, while others flame out."
To avoid flaming out herself on election night, MacCallum has some go-to's in the lead-up: "Running outside is a great way to clear my head and I try to avoid too much coffee or sugar (with limited success…!). That night is pure adrenaline."
Garrett Haake, senior Capitol Hill correspondent at NBC News, also discussed caffeine management as a key part of his election night routine. "A cup of coffee at 6pm is just going to make you jittery while you wait for polls to close at 9," Haake told us. "The same cup of coffee at 10? That's the energy you need to get to 2am."
Aside from carefully timing his coffee, Haake typically goes to a polling place on Election Day to talk with voters. After that, he said, "I HAVE to get a workout in. Election days always give me a ton of nervous energy, and that helps to get it out when there's really nothing else to do but wait."
Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan election forecaster Inside Elections, makes a point to get away from the computer. "It's easy to get sucked into Election Day coverage about what turnout looks like in one precinct in the suburbs," he said, "but that's ultimately information that is not helpful to the task at hand later."
Reflecting on the seven elections he spent in New York working with ABC News' election night decision desk, Gonzales said, "I would walk around part of Central Park and the Upper West Side, and now crisp fall weather is forever tied to the election in my mind."
Everyone we talked to emphasized the importance of a good amount of sleep heading into Election Day.
Kathryn Hamm, Cook Political Report's chief operating officer, also told us about the "Election Night Survival Kits" she put together for Wasserman, editor-in-chief Amy Walter and Senate and Governors editor Jessica Taylor. Contents include chicken salad snack packs, lightly salted almonds, gum and under-eye cucumber pads.
Hamm is also cooking up dinner for the Cook front office team. (NotedDC won't disclose the menu details so as not to spoil the surprise for any team members who may be reading.)
Our thanks to all these very busy people for taking the time to share a glimpse into their big day with us!
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