Political consultants on both sides of the aisle renounced broadcast election coverage on Tuesday, instead turning to the social networking site twitter for news updates.

For hardcore lovers of politics, Twitter served up the real-time nuts and bolts of campaigns racing to the finish line. Top political reporters like NBC’s Chuck Todd tapped away for hours as results came in. Meanwhile, the Washington Independent’s Dave Weigel provided constant, on-the-ground dispatches from New York’s 23rd congressional district, with Twitpics inside Conservative Doug Hoffman headquarters as the tide changed toward the Democrats. With each precinct reporting, journalists and junkies offered quick takes, both amusing and analytical.

Many self-described political junkies took umbrage to the lack of familiarity that many cable pundits exhibited towards the specific races:

And for a political professional like [Republican consultant Mike] Murphy, who ran two successful campaigns in New Jersey, election night pundits were only offering platitudes when it came to the Garden State. So he turned to Twitter.

Advocates on the left also blasted the uninformed pundits that took viewers through election night, expressing disappointment with CNN’s use of Ben Stein, James Carville and former Minnesota governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura. Did we mention he’s debuting a show about conspiracy theories on TruTV this Sunday.

Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos.com, said in an email that he had no problem with “partisan news anchors” on cable. But, he wrote, “The guests, on the other hand, were atrocious. There are plenty of smart people who know about and follow elections, like Marc Ambinder, Greg Sargent, Charlie Cook, Larry Sabato, Chris Cillizza, the writers at the National Journal’s hotline, election bloggers, former elected officials like Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, and local political experts in those states, who could’ve provided better information than guests more skilled at providing warmed-over partisan talking points than insightful color and analysis.

This probably does not represent an impending cultural shift. Nevertheless, a rather interesting development.