AUSTIN, Texas — John King didn’t spend decades covering politics for The Associated Press and CNN to become famous as (A) the “map guy” or (B) the “wall magician.” But that’s exactly what’s happening during the 2008 race for the White House.
On Jan. 8, the day of the New Hampshire primary and with less than 10 minutes of practice, King touched, squeezed, waved and plucked numbers, symbols and graphs on an 81-inch-by-48-inch screen.
“I was a little cautious at first, but as the night went on, I practiced when other people were talking,” King said by phone last week from his Washington office. The primary launched King’s magic wall career and left viewers gasping as maps, pie charts and scenarios flew into motion with the touch of a finger. It wasn’t long before he was flinging both arms around like a crazed maestro.
The wall and King returned to dazzle during the Super Tuesday primaries in February and every primary contest since. The mesmerizing monster is geared up and ready to go again for Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary.
“The point I make is: It’s a tool, not a toy,” King said.
“I’m an old AP wire guy.” (Actually, he’s 44.) “I’ve had fits and starts, hemming and hawing about all the bells and whistles of television. I was skeptical at first, but this is a great tool. People remember it, and to me that’s heartwarming.”
Instead of eyes glazing over, viewers have become engaged with the visual representation of various scenarios and possibilities proposed on election nights.
The Pennsylvania primary should be no exception. Zoom in on Philadelphia, touch precincts in certain areas, squeeze a three-block area around a university and maybe Barack Obama gets the edge. Zip over to blue-collar zones, pluck a rural county out of the state and Hillary Rodham Clinton brings home a victory.
What exactly is this wondrous new technology and how much did it cost? It’s the Perceptive Pixel Multi-Touch Screen, designed by Jeff Han and more commonly used to present data for defense, finance and other government areas.
CNN’s Washington bureau chief, David Bohrman, saw a demonstration of the magic wall at a conference and wondered if it could be adapted for TV. Clearly it could. CNN producer Josh Braun adapts the wall for its special functions during election night coverage. “I’m Dorothy; he’s the Wizard,” King said.
Exit poll data can be incorporated into live results directly onto the screen. The wall can change and update itself while King touches the screen, pulls individual precincts out, highlights interactive pie charts and reports to viewers. With a touch and a swirl, the wall can illustrate how voting in certain districts might affect the outcome of an entire state.
After pounding a keyboard for a dozen years for AP, King joined CNN in 1997 and quickly advanced to the White House beat two years later. He’s been one of CNN’s premier political reporters ever since, but the 2008 campaign has brought him new visibility. Kids and seniors flag him down in airports and on the street: “Hey, it’s the map guy!”
