Gorman's Grab Bag

Election Night Roundup

At one point it looked like a mess of another kind was about to unfold as returns showed the Youngstown schools levy passing by three votes, which set up provisonal votes and recount scenarios, but by the the final tally came around, the levy failed by less than a thousand votes.

I was promised access to Dr. Webb, but the district pr guy left before the final count. He promised me access when I called him and said I would receive a call back, but as I type this about 11:40 p.m., I have yet to receive one.

Such is the lot of a journalist on deadline on election night. I have worked several of these now, and mostly, losers either turn off their cell phones or do not return phone calls. It is frustrating because I want the story to be as complete as possible, and I always feel like something is missing when I can not get all the perspectives.

I approached tonight with a sense of angst because of the horror stories involving paper ballots and how hard it would be to count them and the machine tallys, but in Mahoning, the votes were counted by 10:30 p.m., well ahead of my best case midnight scenario.

I was surprised that the levy failed by less than a thousand votes. I thought it would be a lot more, what with all the grumbling I have been hearing. But elections are often full of surprises. Perhaps the district's announcement of 140 cuts last week convinced a lot of voters that they are serious about cutting the fat.

Also surprising was Hillary Clinton's dominance over Obama. Returns showed her waltzing to victory, despite the fact Obama attrached 6,500 people at his campaign stop at YSU and the buzz he seemed to create in the city. Perhaps that visit Sunday to Fitch Sunday helped. She was here three times, if you count her private visit to GM in Lordstown. Obama came once.

Now, with all the excitement of the last month, I wonder how we'll survive. Thankfully, the baseball season and Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner.