>I by no means imply that we infringe on the press' right to report. However, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. We need to protect the process from interference, less the press become the outside entity fom which our forefathers sought to protect us and preclude some faction influencing the outcome. Let's face it, today there are very few unbiased journalists who can be trusted to police themselves. Ed Murrow is gone. All they care about is being the first to call the "winner". They can still report all the trivial opinions they want, they just cannot do it until the last person has voted, that is only fair.

I'll bet you will see some changes by 2004 (even 2002) in the way projections are made, there is some very serious egg-on-face this election. Exit-polling itself is a fine statistical tool to evaluate the mood of the electorate with indirect questions about what voters considered most important, etc. - but perhaps they could do it "anonymously," without asking which candidates the voters actually went for. I've heard the media discussing this sort of option.

What particularly bothered me election night was the constant projections without showing ANY actual vote tabulations, however partial, I would still like to see them. I would much prefer to see it the other way-round. Tabulations without projections, but with perhaps a slight analytical hint at what type of precincts had reported thus far.