Fox News reporters gear up for long election night with soda, Ring Dings, steak

Predictions are running wild in Washington about whether this Election Night will be an all-hours-of-the-evening affair or if pundits can quickly make the call of who America’s next president will be. ITK asked a few Fox News Channel journalists who are covering the action to grab their crystal balls and make their guesses about what the night holds — and to offer a few tips for getting through what could be a stressful night.

Mike Emanuel, who’s hunkered down in Virginia for the cable news outlet, calls campaign season the “Olympics for political reporters.” The congressional correspondent says he’s basing his guess on his experience standing on the risers all night during the 2000 election: “I’m inclined to believe it will be a late night or early morning. If the polls are anywhere close to accurate, that is the only logical assessment.”

That’s why Emanuel says he'll stick close to any vending machines: “I will definitely run on adrenaline for part of the evening. As that wears off, I will look for some nearby coffee or perhaps a Diet Mountain Dew from a machine. That should help me stay revved up for as long as events go.”

Fellow correspondent Eric Shawn, who’s on the watch for voter fraud in Ohio on Tuesday night, also plans on keeping his cup of Joe full, telling ITK he’ll be running on “total excitement, supplemented by ample helpings of coffee and Ring Dings.”

Packaged cake snacks might not get him through the vote count, though, if Shawn’s hunch is accurate: He says — only half-kidding — that the election will be called “Thanksgiving Day, after all the Ohio provisional and absentee ballots are counted.”

But Fox News Channel correspondent Steve Harrigan is going against the grain with his election forecast, saying, “Against conventional wisdom, I think it will be an early night. Pundits will be caught by surprise with hours to fill after 10 p.m.” Whether or not he’s right, at least the journo will be eating some high-class cuisine, no matter how long it takes. Harrigan, who will be reporting from the battleground state of Florida, says the goodies that are keeping him fueled up throughout the night include: “Starbucks’ Pike Roast, Marriott strip steak medium well, wedge salad, and the natural excitement of a tremendous race.”