AN ELECTORAL PRIMER

摘要

This is the season for polls—tracking, gender, in-stant reaction, etc.—all leading up to the only poll that counts: Election Day. Meanwhile,.a surprising number of questions revealing considerable misapprehension have led me to conclude that a short guide on how to watch the election results is in order. Here it is, distilled from about 70 years of election-watching, with emotions that ranged from the despair of a victory that slipped away in 1948 to the glory of a victory in 1980 that meant a sure change for the better.