When the fate of the country hangs in the balance, Steve Kornacki is our go-to guy. MSNBC’s normcore king was the star of Election Night 2020, a soothing presence in the face of uncertainty who crunches the numbers and makes the always-intimidating electoral map his bitch. Tell us how you do it, Kornacki. — MEL OTTENBERG
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ELECTORAL COLLEGE
“Method by which we elect the president.”
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MAKEUP
“The less, the better.”
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RACHEL MADDOW
“Incredibly kind and generous person.”
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AMERICA
“Great country.”
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THE SUPREME COURT
“Nine members. No one ever seemed to care more about it than they do now.”
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KHAKIS
“I still don’t understand why people care.”
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SNOOZE
“I use it too much on the alarm clock if that’s what you’re asking.”
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LIBERALISM
“Democrats have really embraced it.”
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SWEETGREEN
“That’s the salad place downstairs, right? Yeah. I’m trying to go there more.”
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POLLS
“I think there are a lot of issues, but they get a bad rap overall. They’re still valuable.”
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CLOSE CALLS
“I guess it makes me think of how many times I’ve almost screwed up terribly on the air, or fatally off the air.”
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FLYOVER COUNTRY
“I see it as a derogatory term, but I do think it captures a problem in the media.”
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ALL-NIGHTERS
“In this day and age, it seems like every election night.”
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NEWSMAX
“I would say it’s one of the voices you need to listen to, to understand where the right is today.”
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ESPN
“I was one of the first in my class to start watching it, back in the ’80s when we got cable in our town. Made me a huge college basketball fan.”
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VIBE SHIFTS
“I’m not even sure what they are.”
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DIET COKE
“I’ve tried to stop. Everybody tells me it’s the worst. I’ve had thousands of gallons in my life.”
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THIRST
“Trying to drink more water.”
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DEMOCRACY
“It’s a great system. Lets me do this.”
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DATA
“There can be too much of it. And I think the challenge, and what I try to do, is find what’s most important, what’s most meaningful, and then try and communicate it in a way that’s actually useful. Because I think data can guide you, can lead you, but it can also mislead you.”
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ANXIETY
“I get a lot of that. Yeah.”
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THE GAP
“I think they make these pants.”
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MAPS
“I love them, even though I can still get lost in front of the driveway.”
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PRESIDENTIAL RACES
“Nothing like them. First one I can remember following was 1988, a little bit as a kid. I understand it more now obviously than I did then, but I’ve been following them ever since.”
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HORSE RACES
“I’ve been following those almost as long.”
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NORMCORE
“Who?”
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Photography Assistant: Peter Fisher