NEW
YORK—Diane Sawyer's Election Night performance left some viewers asking
if she had begun celebrating Tuesday's election a bit early. Co-anchoring
ABC News' coverage, the veteran journalist struck a different manner
from her practiced, straight-news-delivering style.
Sawyer
spoke more slowly than usual while seeming to prop herself on
outstretched arms at the anchor desk she shared with George
Stephanopoulos.
"OK," she said at one point around 10 p.m.
EST, "I wanna—can we have our music, because this is another big one
here? Minnesota, we're ready to project Minnesota, rrright now. ...
Well, tonight we know that President Barack has won Minnesota," she
rambled on, stumbling over the president's name.
Maybe Sawyer was just weary from the recent torrent of news.
In any case, the Twitterverse took quick notice and began cracking wise.
Her
name was soon trending with unflattering posts, while a new Twitter
handle, Drunk Diane Sawyer, collected hundreds of followers. An ABC
spokesman did not comment.
"A bit tipsy," ''hammered" or "on
pain killers, muscle relaxers, benzos or some combination" were among
the jeering explanations. Another likened it to an episode of HBO's
drama
"The Newsroom," where Will McAvoy,
the fictitious anchorman, had eaten a couple of pot brownies before
unexpectedly being summoned to his anchor desk to report a news story.
Some tweeters joked that a more fun-loving Sawyer was a ploy by
ABC to boost viewership. Several Twitter followers said they were drawn
to the network by word that Sawyer was behaving, by one description, "a
bit wacky."
"Bad night for Romney," one tweeter summed up. "Worse night for Diane Sawyer?"
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