Florida holds key votes in what may be the tightest presidential race in history as poll workers head back for a recount
Observer Staff Report
Despite network declarations of a Bush victory early Wednesday morning, Texas Governor George W. Bush cannot yet move into the White House.
Bush maintains a slight lead in Florida this morning, where the state's 25 electoral votes remain the deciding factor in one of the closest presidential races in history. Florida could put either Bush or Gore over the edge of the 270 necessary electoral votes needed to win the election.
Gore surged ahead in the nation's popular vote slightly before 5 a.m. this morning, when NBC poll figures showed the vice-president with a 554 vote lead nationally over Bush. Gore had tallied 47,811,320 votes as of 5:40 a.m..
The vote margin in Florida between Mr. Bush and Gore wavered between a low of 629 votes and high of 1,200 votes in the early hours of the morning. Poll workers were called back to Dade County, Fla. shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday to recount state's votes. Under Florida state law, the narrow margin of the election called for a mandatory recount.
Florida had been the epicenter of the campaign as a critical swing state, and was turbulent throught evening election returns. Networks originally gave the state to Gore, but backtracked as Bush eased ahead.
Gore was prepared to concede the election after vote projections showed a Bush victory in Florida, but he decided not to when new figures showed the margin in that state was just a few hundred votes, and its electoral votes would not be assigned to either candidate yet.
"Unbelievable," sighed Bush adviser Karen Hughes, after fielding a call from Gore saying he was not going to concede the election.
"There's never been a night like this one," said William Daley, after his boss retired for the night —unsure whether he had won or not.
"Until the results in Florida become official our campaign continues," Daley said to cheering supporters in Nashville.
The election offers voters a choice of four more years of Democratic rule or a Republican "fresh start."
A Bush victory would give America its second father-son presidents after John Adams (1797-01) and John Quincy Adams (1825-29).
Two other states were still to close to call at press time: Oregon and Wisconsin also reported narrow margins. Wisconsin reported Gore with a 233 vote lead early Wednesday morning, while Oregon's statistics also reported that the candidates' margins were narrow.
Gore won Iowa, a Democratic bastion that nearly went to Bush.
With Florida officials continuing their tally, the New York Times said Bush had won and congratulated him on "the amazing political feat of laping to the White House after only six years in public office." The New York Post reported that Bush was the winner as well, publishing their morning editon with the headline "Bush Wins!"
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader only captured 3 percent of the national vote, falling short of the 5 percent of the vote needed for the Green Party to be eligible for federal funding in the next election. Nader did well enough to potentially tip several states to Bush, however.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
All News Stories for Wednesday, November 8, 2000
