Television: Media go all out for 'Super-Duper Tuesday'

Turns out the Super Bowl was just a warm-up. Cable and network news organizations dedicated the passion and time to Tuesday night's caucuses and primaries usually reserved for sporting events and reality TV.

In fact, the tag "Super Tuesday" didn't seem to be strong enough for some.

MSNBC used the tag "Monster Super Tuesday," with explosive promo ads that suggested there might be commentary by Godzilla. At KSMP, the local Fox affiliate, the news teams wondered aloud if the event should be renamed "Tsunami Tuesday." ABC used the label "One Night Only" as if they were hosting a Barbra Streisand concert.

It was nearly impossible for the coverage to live up to the hype, but you can't blame TV journalists for trying. The presidential campaign has attracted record numbers of viewers to cable debates,and thanks to an unprecedented interest in politics among young people, the rickety evening news programs might be considered, at least for a millisecond, hip to watch.

That might explain why the nightly news on the three major networks included cameos from Robert De Niro, Stevie Wonder, Jack Nicholson and the Black Eyed Peas. It certainly played a part in CBS's segment on Facebook campaigning, which was the best piece of the evening.

The most disappointing report had to be NBC's segment on what Iraqi soldiers think about the election. It looked promising at first; in reality, the story was mostly about American troops (and reporter Richard Engel) being under fire with almost no mention of the electoral race, except for the sign-off that told viewers that, after a tough day of fighting, there would be "no talk of politics tonight."

ABC's most memorable piece was also the most peculiar. The network decided to dedicate a valuable chunk of news time to an animated cartoon that explained how Democrats and Republicans divide the delegates. Good idea -- if "Sesame Street" viewers had the right to vote.

Coverage grew more animated -- in a more appropriate way -- during the prime-time hours and beyond, when journalists actually had some numbers to discuss. (The low during the long, long daytime hours was a Fox News segment in which a body-language expert provided her analysis of Hillary Clinton's laugh.)

ABC turned over its whole night to the event, providing local affiliate KSTP more opportunities to chime in, particularly on the long lines at polling places and the "Super Traffic." From what I observed, all the local TV stations were well aware that this was more of a national story and stuck with direct, succinct coverage.

My only nit: WCCO's cut-ins from 7 to 10 p.m. starred three white men all above 40, a cringe-worthy decision in an election that's heavily about diversity.

ABC decided to re-team anchor Charlie Gibson with his former "Good Morning, America" partner Diane Sawyer, quickly rekindling their chatty, cutesy morning-show chemistry. At one point, Gibson cooed about how much he loves the old ladies working the voting booths, who sometimes bring cookies. At any given point, at least one of them appeared capable of throwing to a segment on "Puppies: Why Are They So Darn Adorable?"

CBS had the most no-nonsense approach, which will probably surprise those people who are still under the false impression that Katie Couric is doing cooking segments on the nightly news. The network's approach was so bare-bones that, unlike the gigantic screens that dwarfed Wolf Blitzer on CNN, Couric used a small computerized map above her head. At times, you could only see her finger pointing at states. It would have been easy for her to break into a Señor Wences impression at any point. She didn't.

NBC offered only one full hour of prime-time coverage, but it was jam-packed with the best analysis, not only from Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw, today's standard bearers, but also from Howard Dean, Karen Hughes, Tavis Smiley and Peggy Noonan. Good mix, good brains.

Only one outlet didn't seem to get the message that this was a monumental night. Every time I flipped to "CNN Headline News," it was offering breathless updates on the Natalee Holloway disappearance. In other words, it wasn't a "super" night for everyone.

njustin@startribune.com • 612-673-7431