Election Night Blues

Election nights are fun. Well, kind of. They show you what it's like to be in the big time — the people we cover are being mentioned on MSNBC and FOX and all — and how to hustle. We got a one hour, 15 minute deadline extension.

What does that mean? It means I didn't get to sleep until 3 a.m. last night. It means that I was following election results to self-analyze the results to see how the House of Representatives in both Ohio and the country would look Wednesday.

The short answer? Red.

I consider myself apolitical. It's not like I don't care about the country, Washington, D.C. or my rights as an American, but, well, honestly, I firmly believe that there is nothing more partisan than voting for a candidate. You're helping them get into office, if they win. And, last night, it really proved my point.

Photo editor Eamon Queeney and I drove up to Blue Ash to attend Democratic Ohio Congresswoman Connie Pillich's watch party. With 100 percent of precincts voting, it was a tie. In percentages. The difference was five votes in Pillach's favor (despite a phone call she received that said otherwise).

What does that mean? It could mean that five journalists — or student journalists — cast their votes for Ms. Pillich and helped her defeat Republican candidate Mike Wilson. And no matter how you see it, or perhaps it's just the way I do, there is nothing more partisan than that.

Other than that, it was a pretty standard election night. No real relevant issues to the bulk of University of Cincinnati students and the people we covered, we've written about in the weeks leading up to Nov. 2.

But there is something funny about the way watch parties go. It's like a sports game. People cheering when they saw a Democrat win and seething when they heard Kasich was ahead in the results. Well, it's understandable since politics is something that can affect all of us at some minute or grand level.

It's quite a spectacle. If you've never been to a party like that, I would recommend it to see the way people react and the way people behave. Attempting to stay objective commands a mastery of speech and the way you carry yourself. It's not as though I had voted for Wilson and was behind enemy lines or anything of the sort, but it's still a moral tightrope. Stay calm and stoic in the face of celebration. Stay calm and stoic in an environment dissatisfaction. Just stay calm and stoic.

-Gin

Is it really time?

I feel like I've only been the editor-in-chief for a couple weeks, not two and a half quarters.

This Friday, The News Record staff will gather with Gin A. Ando facing the firing squad. We'll grill him, verbally assault him with tough questions just to see if he can handle the pressure. We have to. Gin is the only candidate for the 2010-11 editor-in-chief position.

Monday we'll meet with the communications board. They'll make the final decision to elect the next editor. The appointment will be official that evening.

Let the training begin.

I don't see our lone candidate as a bad thing -- to be honest, unless you've worked in the newsroom for at least one year, there's no way you'll survive as the editor.

But, anyway, to my original point ... The first two quarters of this year have flown by. I spend more time in the newsroom than I do in my apartment. I know my editors better than I know some of my best friends. Well, sort of, because the editors are my best friends.

It's not so bad, you know, working with friends you love and trust. These are people I fire on a daily basis and, yet, can't seem to get rid of. I wouldn't tell them, but I'm glad they're not going anywhere. Not tonight, anyway.

Next quarter is my last at TNR. I've been here for three years. I'm hoping to make the most of it. To do some serious investigative work, or at least some really deep stories that our readers will be able to sink their teeth into.

I'm also really looking forward to working closely with staff writers. To help them progress, learn and fine tune their skills. It's a scary thing to leave this organization in someone else's hands. This organization is my baby. I love it.

I'm confident the people steering this ship will continue to build upon the foundation we've set, and will continue to improve the organization beyond an imaginable scope. It will take time. It won't happen over night. And it certainly couldn't all happen in this one year.

But we've made progress. A lot of progress. I can't wait to see what's next.

-- Taylor