Dingell's Delay Plea Has No 'Net Effect

[Commentary] Calling elections early has been a running battle between lawmakers and the networks for decades. Calling the race after the polls in the Eastern and Central time zones close could suppress turnout in the West. But the networks have rightly countered that they are not going to sit on the news of who the next president will be for the sake of state and local elections in California. So they will likely ignore House Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell's request as they have similar ones in the past, although after the 2000 election-night debacle they did agree not to call any state until all the polls within it have close. Jessell's point: Chairman Dingell is in a position to influence just about every law or regulation affecting broadcasting and cable, yet he is still apparently unaware that the TV networks no longer control the flow of information on election night. The world is no longer waiting for TV.