Hello, Mr. President...
November 7, 2000 11:26 PM   Subscribe

Hello, Mr. President... 'sup
posted by Haveed (62 comments total)
 
How terrible.
posted by evilmaryellen at 11:28 PM on November 7, 2000


Somehow we survived Reagan. I don't feel like going through it again, though.
posted by argybarg at 11:30 PM on November 7, 2000


What a terrible day. 10 people laid off at my work, gay marriage bans pass in two states, Republicans sweep the House and Senate, and a murder-happy Texan becomes the next President.

I have a feeling that this bad day will last four years.
posted by waxpancake at 11:33 PM on November 7, 2000


What about mail votes and absentee ballots? Have they been counted? I was clicking refresh on the Florida results hoping this was not true.
At least there will be 4 years of amusement.
posted by jay at 11:34 PM on November 7, 2000


Damn. "President Bush" Again?

Republican congress. Damn.

CrapDamnCrap.

Womens' rights and minority rights just flew out the window, and we'll continue building our prison state and stupid nuclear stockpile. And we'll have to fight things like funding for schools, and more lame school prayer and private school voucher issues.

Not looking forward to 2001-2005.
posted by mathowie at 11:34 PM on November 7, 2000


I was looking forward to coming back home to the States but now I'm not so sure...
posted by sammy at 11:35 PM on November 7, 2000


Not sure what you mean about minority rights. I'm a minority and I'm happy Bush is president. I agree with most of his issues (social security, education) and have great hopes that he'll do an excellent job. Hopefully, everyone who threatened to leave the country will indeed keep their word (especially Alec!).
posted by gyc at 11:37 PM on November 7, 2000


I love it !!
posted by webshaping at 11:38 PM on November 7, 2000


So it looks like we might have a winner of Sunday's contest?
posted by mathowie at 11:39 PM on November 7, 2000


I can picture him leaning over to Laura right now, and going, "Honey, I was just *kidding* about this President thing... what do I do now?"

The guy doesn't know what affirmative action is, and he smirks when he talks about executions. Apparently this doesn't bother about 49% of the voters.
posted by gramcracker at 11:39 PM on November 7, 2000


They might as well have flipped a coin... meaningless results...
posted by EngineBeak at 11:40 PM on November 7, 2000


I feel like thirty million people just killed my kitten or something. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed, or scared.

What I can't wrap my head around is the fact that there are women out there who are happy with the choice they made.


posted by annathea at 11:42 PM on November 7, 2000


four years? ten. fifteen. twenty. i have seen the enemy, and it is the supreme court.

whimper.
posted by Sapphireblue at 11:50 PM on November 7, 2000


Hmmmm, if you look at this page on the Florida elections site, it looks like, with 99.6% tabulated, it's only 8910 votes difference!!! Yikes
posted by smackfu at 11:51 PM on November 7, 2000


Yep, I'm especially glad I'm marrying a Canadian citizen and moving to Vancouver in January.

It's nearly 3:00 am, and Brit Hume of Fox is blaming the loss on the roughly 94,000 Nader voters. Was the margin really that small?
posted by likorish at 11:56 PM on November 7, 2000


And what's the deal with Volusia county in Florida??? (the county list) 0% reporting? Sure taking their time, aren't they?
posted by smackfu at 11:56 PM on November 7, 2000


according to nbc, nader had 2% of the vote in florida, and bush had 49%. so yeah, it was pretty close. of course, there's no guarantee that all those nader voters would have picked gore, but I'm sure the democrats are going to say they would have.
posted by rabi at 11:59 PM on November 7, 2000


This, for the first time, is when I want to hear some silly Nader advocate rant: "You think your vote changes anything? You think Al Bush and George Gore are any different? Ha!"
Really. I'd love that right about now.
posted by lbergstr at 12:00 AM on November 8, 2000


I wonder if I'm the only one who expected to be "beyond" being disgusted by this result, but couldn't help being disgusted anyway. I suppose I just couldn't really accept that America was capable of actually *electing* this guy.
posted by Noah at 12:09 AM on November 8, 2000


CNN with 99% of vote counted:

Bush 2,883,371
Gore 2,874,208

The Florida State site now reports with 99.7% of the vote counted:

Bush 2,896,144
Gore 2,891,563

Have the networks jumped the gun?

posted by jay at 12:10 AM on November 8, 2000


It makes no difference for my important issues.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:12 AM on November 8, 2000


Bush 2,898,508
Gore 2,897,939

With 99.8%! That's only 569 votes.
posted by smackfu at 12:12 AM on November 8, 2000


This is truly going down to the wire. Amazing amazing amazing.

r- 2,898,508
d- 2,897,939
g- 94,198

99.8%


posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:16 AM on November 8, 2000


I live in a nation where Professional Wrestling is the most popular sport on television, Jerry Springer is a rich man, and a half-bright, execution happy, frat boy, date rapist is President. I am very, very tired right now.

Any Canadians got a room to rent?.......Really......No, I'm serious.
posted by Optamystic at 12:18 AM on November 8, 2000


Ok, as a Nader supporter..I'll post here what I've posted elsewhere in response to this...

Nader didn't lose this election for Gore. 2 reasons.

A. 2-3% is not really much more than the usual 3rd party turnout in any election. Sure, if you look at the small differences in some of these states it seems like Nader had a big effect. But was his any greater than that of the average combo of 3rd party candidates in a normal election year? And is there any gurantee that those who voted for Nader would have voted for Gore, or at all? I just don't think that stands up.


B. Gore lost this election. Simple as that. He had every advantage in the world. Incumbency, peace, a strong economy, etc, etc. He waffled. He failed to lead. He ignored the left at his own peril...and he paid for it dearly. While I dread the results of 4 years of rule by morons, I can at least sincerely hope that this will force a major re-examination of priorities on the part of the Democrats. While I would much rather have seen Gore in office than Shrub, neither of them was even close to representing my views and ideals. Nader was. So I voted for him. If everyone else had acted similarly, then we might actually have some non-Demrep options someday. As it is, I am saddened and disheartened by the lack of foresight and intelligence on the part of my countrymen.


J.
voted for Nader. Would have in a swing state too. Doesn't regret it. Power to the people(eventually).


posted by jdunn_entropy at 12:19 AM on November 8, 2000


Now, with 99.8% the state site says it's :
Bush 2,898,508
Gore 2,897,939

That's only 600 votes!

Why are all the networks reporting Bush has won? BBC has been alot more cautious.

posted by jay at 12:19 AM on November 8, 2000


NPR is reneging on their initial Bush win projection. They're calling the race to close to call.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:19 AM on November 8, 2000


Sorry for the double. Those last .2% of the polls are in Democratic "strongholds."
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:21 AM on November 8, 2000


I'm gonna keep posting, I hope I don't get lambasted for this.


r - 2,898,508
d - 2,897,939
g - 94,198

569 vote spread

99.9%

posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:23 AM on November 8, 2000


r- 2,898,865
d- 2,898,235
g- 94,201

99.9%

630 vote spread

posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:26 AM on November 8, 2000


Okay, that was 94,000 votes in Florida. Ya'll have to excuse me. It's a little hard to be lucid when you're half asleep and watching election results with only one eye open. Now that I have the (bad) news, I can go back to bed now, yet I doubt I'll get any more sleep this night.
posted by likorish at 12:26 AM on November 8, 2000


hey canada, i'm looking to move there soon. seriously. i'll even try really hard not to call you guys canadia anymore if you'll just let me have a job and a place to stay.
posted by sugarfish at 12:26 AM on November 8, 2000


keep posting. for the last 10 minutes i have been getting server is too busy messages.
capt: where is that npr link?
posted by jay at 12:28 AM on November 8, 2000


Ok, yeah...if that state site figure is right(they're mentioning it on MSNBC right now too, if that means anything), then you can probably blame Nader. Or Buchanon. Or Mickey Mouse. He probably got almost that many write-ins in Fla, fer chrissakes!

It's insane just how close this election really was. And lots of the House / Senate races too. We lived through some real history tonight, if nothing else. Too bad it had to turn out the way it(preliminarily) did.
posted by jdunn_entropy at 12:28 AM on November 8, 2000


I'm listening to the radio; I don't know if they have a news link up about it.

No updates on Florida site, hasn't changed since my last post.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:32 AM on November 8, 2000


He [Gore] ignored the left at his own peril...and he paid for it dearly.

Honestly, I think if Gore had embraced the left as defined by Nader and the Green Party, he probably wouldn't even have gotten the percentage of votes he did.
posted by bilco at 12:32 AM on November 8, 2000


He didn't have to "embrace" per-se. Even some small amount of acknowledgement of us and our issues would have been a good start. A damn sight better than scare tactics and attempts at character defamation, at any rate.
posted by jdunn_entropy at 12:35 AM on November 8, 2000


I should post all the third party info. Except for McReynolds/Hollis and Harris/Trowe they all got more votes than the current reported spread.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:38 AM on November 8, 2000


It's freaking CLOSE in Wisconsin, too. CNN has Bush up by 1200, The Washington Post has Gore up by 500.

By the way, does it smell fishy to anyone with Jeb as Governor of Florida?
posted by gramcracker at 12:40 AM on November 8, 2000


jdunn--

I think you have a point, so don't take my comment the wrong way. I agree, Gore didn't run a wholly admirable campaign.

But the fact that many Americans perceived him to be an old-school Dem didn't help him much. If he had swung any further left, this election would've been over months ago.

Not saying this is right, just saying it's realpolitik.
posted by bilco at 12:40 AM on November 8, 2000


Fox News just reported that Gore has called back Bush and has retracted his earlier concession.

The plot thickens....
posted by bilco at 12:46 AM on November 8, 2000


Latest from Florida is Bush by ~1200 votes.
posted by jjg at 12:47 AM on November 8, 2000


I voted for Nader and feel good about it.

As I have stated before...
When customers send markets a message the producers should listen.

I think this is totally applicable here. Gore did not listen to his market. The good portion of voters who stood for the issues Nader brought up. Gore also ignored Nader himself until the last few weeks of the election.

Plus I think were going to be ok here. I just found this book on Amazon and sent it over to ol' GW Bush. Phwew! Just in the nick of time too.
posted by jasonshellen at 12:51 AM on November 8, 2000


maybe i should retract my offer to canadia.
posted by sugarfish at 12:52 AM on November 8, 2000


r - 2,904,198
d - 2,902,988
g - 94,368

99.9%

1210

That decimal point has a lot of people living in it.

This is so close, it’s ridiculous. NPR is freaking out! The announcers can’t control themselves, no one knows what is going on. They just told everyone listening to go to bed, there will no winner announed tonight, because Florida still needs to count all the absentee ballots. They’re also saying that whomever loses will request a recount because of the tight race.

America won’t have a President elect for a few days at least.

NYTIMES HAS STOPPED THE PRESSES.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 12:53 AM on November 8, 2000


overseas absentee ballots can come in up to ten days late, says Florida elections official guy via CNN.
posted by Sapphireblue at 12:54 AM on November 8, 2000


~1210 votes

With 4 counties still to report, according to the broadcast of CNN I'm listening to.
posted by allaboutgeorge at 12:54 AM on November 8, 2000


r - 2,904,198
d - 2,902,988
g - 94,368

100%

1210 vote spread

No change in vote tally, but a change in polling reports? Strange.
posted by capt.crackpipe at 1:00 AM on November 8, 2000


oh my god im glad i didn't go to bed. but i think all the people i woke up when cnn projected bush will be pretty mad tomorrow.
posted by sugarfish at 1:01 AM on November 8, 2000


I leave the country for a few months and everything goes to hell. Don't make me come back there...
posted by Mo Nickels at 1:04 AM on November 8, 2000


cbs has removed florida from the bush column.
posted by sugarfish at 1:08 AM on November 8, 2000


Florida state law mandates any election with less than a 5,000 vote spread requires a recount. Bill Daley just said, "This campaign continues!"
posted by capt.crackpipe at 1:09 AM on November 8, 2000


From the CNN frontpage:

Estimates of an incredibly close Florida victory pushed Bush over the top in the total electoral vote count, but CNN is investigating discrepancies between results provided to the media and the state's official vote count. A Florida election official says overseas ballots have yet to be processed, and that several counties have yet to report their absentee ballots.

Umm. I wonder, what kind of discrepancies?
posted by jay at 1:09 AM on November 8, 2000


The media get their numbers from Voter News Service, not directly from the states. Hence the potential discrepancies.

On ABC, Peter Jennings says Buchanan posted disproportionately high numbers in Florida, and that a number of Florida voters are saying they voted for Buchanan by accident because the design of the ballot was confusing.

(!)
posted by jjg at 1:18 AM on November 8, 2000


But the fact that many Americans perceived him to be an old-school Dem didn't help him much.

Actually, Gore's rhetorical embrace of (ersatz) populism
is the only reason this election is even close. But because he neglected his base for so long, he was forced to put too much faith in swing voters, who base their decisions disproportionately on personality-oriented traits, rather than the issues. Gore, evidently, is less likeable than Bush; but Gore's positions on the issues are actually more popular that Dubya's, and would have been even more popular -- and he would have won the election -- if he had shifted toward Nader early on. But he didn't, so a lot hinges on likeability.
posted by johnb at 1:18 AM on November 8, 2000


it doesn't matter if they voted for buchanan accidentally, right? it's not like you can take your vote back. or can you? i'm confused.
posted by sugarfish at 1:23 AM on November 8, 2000


This just added to the Florida page:
Runoff Election Indicated

And I don’t think they’ll let anyone re-vote. It’s too late.

G’night suckers!

posted by capt.crackpipe at 1:26 AM on November 8, 2000


Correct me if I’m wrong (I can’t sleep! This is too exciting!), but I believe there are ~416,041 Florida absentee ballots waiting to be counted.

Also, Florida has noted voter fraud in the past.

Nice to see CNN put Nader on the front page. AFTER THE GOD DAMN ELECTION IS OVER. The bastards.

Also, the Florida page right now reports:

Provider error '80004005'

Unspecified error

/SummaryRpt.inc, line 51


heheh.

posted by capt.crackpipe at 2:00 AM on November 8, 2000


capt: everyone seems to have moved to this thread.
posted by jay at 2:23 AM on November 8, 2000


Interesting...New York Post says "Bush Wins" on the front page, as does the AZ Trib. What was that historic election...Truman? :)
posted by pnevares at 4:05 AM on November 8, 2000


vs. Dewey, yes. Both the St Pete Times and the Tampa Triibune, the third and fourth largest papers in the state, I think, got copies on the street with bad headlines. Their recalls were apparently not complete.

I really hope it goes Gore, just so I can collect the whole set.
posted by baylink at 1:22 PM on November 8, 2000


The Globe and Mail did as well, if anyone's counting international papers.
posted by cCranium at 4:24 PM on November 8, 2000


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