Watching the electoral losers live on TV was akin to a public execution

Not many experiences can be as brutal as having to speculate for viewers as to what the voters found rejectable about you and being cut off in mid-confession by a rake of statistics.

Some of the losers weren’t even vouch-safed a moment of uninterrupted misery on screen

Public execution has always been a valued and instructive part of popular culture. In the days before Celebrity Jigs and Reels, you could take the edge off a boring day by heading downtown to catch a hanging. You had to go early enough to get a good viewing spot, and you had to be careful of the pickpockets, but you didn’t have to pay either Ticketmaster or a tout. If you got peckish, peddlers of boiled cockles and roasted chestnuts would sell you a snack to keep the life in you — while you watched the life being taken from someone else.