Note: this article is about the early projections media outlets make on election night—when they call the winner.
Here it is in a nutshell: major media consider the election a media event.
Therefore, they control it.
Therefore, when they project the election-outcome the night of the vote, even though that call is unofficial, they want compliance from the candidates. THEY WANT A FAST CONCESSION SPEECH from the loser. Well, a concession from Trump, because the networks and their allies in print newspapers are already painting a picture of a Hillary victory. The picture is: Trump's campaign is falling apart, Hillary is leading in battleground states, and she may even expand her reach into states Trump was previously thought to have wrapped up.
On Meet the Press Sunday, Mike Pence was asked point blank: if you lose on election night, will you and Donald concede? And Pence said yes.
The media-concocted story line: if Trump loses and he refuses to concede, because he believes the count was rigged, he'll be inciting violence and endangering the country.
Of course, the networks calling the election victory is unofficial. It's all happening in a bubble.
The networks are terrified that Trump will refuse to concede if they say he lost. Instead, he will say: “My team and I have definite knowledge of widespread vote fraud in many states. As I speak, we are filing suits. We not only want an accurate recount, we want criminal charges brought against the vote riggers. We know who they are. Some of the culprits are media networks. You can say I'm a sore loser but I'm not. I'm for fairness, and we don't have that. We're going all the way with our accusations and our facts. All along I've been saying the system is corrupt. Now we're going to prove that…”
The media could then be accused of direct complicity in stealing the election.
So…how do the networks decide who wins an election? Buckle up. Here is a concise description from Wikipedia. Notice that the media are basically getting their vote-info from…themselves:
“The National Election Pool (NEP) is a consortium of American news organizations formed in 2003 to provide ‘information on Election Night about the vote count, election analysis and election projections.' Member companies consist of ABC News, the Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News. The organization relies on the Associated Press to perform vote tabulations and contracted with Edison Research and Mitofsky International to ‘make projections and provide exit poll analysis.' Edison Research has provided this data since 2004.
“The precursor was Voter News Service, which was disbanded in 2003, after controversies over the 2000 and 2002 election results. The NEP plan is largely the suggestion of CNN, which used Edison/Mitofsky as consultants in the past. Mitofsky headed the original pool that preceded VNS.
“The organizers of the pool insist that the purpose of their quick collection of exit poll data is not to determine if an election is flawed, but rather to project winners of races. Despite past problems, they note that none of their members has incorrectly called a winner since the current system was put in place. However, to avoid the premature leaking of data, collection is now done in a ‘Quarantine Room' at an undisclosed location in New York. All participants are stripped of outside communications devices until it is time for information to be released officially.”
Doesn't that warm the cockles of your heart and give you great confidence?
Back in 2012, I wrote this about Edison Research and Mitofsky:
“Both Edison Research and Mitofsky were involved in the 2004 election scandal (Kerry-Bush), in which their exit polls confounded network news anchors, because the poll results were so far off from the incoming vote-counts.
“Edison and Mitofsky issued a later report explaining how the disparity could have occurred; they tried to validate their own exit-poll data and the vote-count, which was like explaining a sudden shift in ocean tides by saying clouds covered the moon. It made no sense.”
But wait. Even though media giants are getting their election-night info from themselves, they must be basing that info on actual vote counts in the 50 states, as reported by the secretaries of states. Right? Read the last two paragraphs again. The exit polls differed greatly from the vote counts.
And remember, if widespread electronic vote fraud occurs on election night (read my previous piece on the crooked GEMS vote-tabulating system used across the US in 25% of the vote), the early media projections of a Presidential winner will serve to cut off any doubt about, or investigation into, the veracity of the GEMS system.
“Well, there it is, America. All networks are now projecting the winner. We are waiting for a concession speech from the loser…”
Between now and election night, expect pressure to build on Trump to concede if/when he loses…
“In our American democracy, a peaceful transition from one President to the next is the hallmark of our stability. If Mr. Trump refuses to play by the rules, he is a clear and present danger…”
Trump goes on national television and refuses to concede. Instead, he calls the vote-count a criminal act and has his lawyers file numerous suits.
Then, precisely timed, George Soros-funded riots break out in key cities. Amid the destruction, the media blame Trump for the violence. It's all his fault. He's the great divider.
Lifted by strong arms from her wheelchair, pumped up on God knows what drugs, Hillary walks out on stage in a large hall, before screaming adoring fans, and with eyes glowing and a huge smile pasted on her face, gives a speech about a new era in America, and how she will heal wounds and help restore unity and opportunity for all…
