Get ready for a media blitz tomorrow.
With Super Tuesday merely hours away, every television station in the country is getting ready for a full on press of political coverage.
Forget about the half hour nightly national news. On ABC, Charles Gibson will anchor a whopping 5 hours of political coverage with Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Katie Couric and CBS will be on the air 2 hours, and Brian Williams will anchor an expanded version of his "Nightly News," plus a one hour update, prime time, with some of the results.
Over on cable, it's an all day affair, with stations like CNN starting their coverage at 5 am and going until the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
It's a far cry from Super Tuesday 4 years ago, when networks limited their coverage to quick cut-in updates.
The Super Tuesday of 2004 and the Super Tuesday of 2008 couldn't be more different.
In 2004, President Bush was running for re-election on the Republican side, and John Kerry was the expected shoe-in winner, crossing the finish line with 9 of the 10 Super Tuesday states.
2008 brings one of the most indecisive races ever. McCain and Romney are duking it out for the Republican nomination, while Clinton and Obama are virtually tied for the Democratic nomination. This year, one of the two will make history, becoming either the first woman or the first black presidental nominee.
The tight races and historical implications has voters rushing to the polls in record numbers. In 2004, just 9 percent of South Carolina Democrats voted in their primary. A week and a half ago, 29 percent of those South Carolina Democrats voted. The way things are going, Super Tuesday could look very simmilar. Not only will more voters vote, more states are holding their primaries on Super Tuesday. In 2004, only 10 states held primaries. This year, a record 24 states will send voters to the polls. Viewers care, and the tv networks are happy to carry more coverage.
The icing on the cake, however, could be the writers strike. With no new episodes of network shows to air, prime time television is open for more Super Tuesday coverage.
Every where you turn on Super Tuesday, your television will be inundated with political coverage. People are excited. The country, it sems, is eager for change. It will be a much different Super Tuesday than 4 years ago.