hb -
worldnetdaily.com
" ELECTION 2000, Day 29
Why Gore lost the presidency
Tennessee cops, media credit Al's defeat
in home state to WND investigative series
By Charles Thompson
and Tony Hays
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
SAVANNAH, Tenn. -- Vice President Al Gore is tortured by the fact that he lost Tennessee, say friends. After all, had he won his home state -- the state he represented all his years in Congress -- he would now be President-elect Gore, with or without Florida. ..."
"..."It was the character issue," says popular Nashville radio talk host Phil Valentine. "Thanks to talk radio and sources like WorldNetDaily getting out the truth, I believe it tipped the state to Bush." ..."
"..."They [the stories] stayed under the radar nationally," he said, "but around here they were on everyone's lips."
Charlotte Alexander, editor of the Decatur County Chronicle in Parsons, Tenn., agrees.
"Absolutely, it was the integrity issue," she affirms. Alexander's paper ran the WorldNetDaily series of articles profiling Gore's seamy political dealings in Tennessee.
"We sold out of every edition that carried those stories. People literally drove in from hundreds of miles away to buy 25, 50, 100 copies, whatever they could afford, to take back with them," she said. "We had well-known Democrats come in here after reading those stories and say out loud that they couldn't be associated with somebody that behaved as Gore had." Alexander even had additional copies printed, but the public soon gobbled those up as well.
"Those [WorldNetDaily] stories coming out about Gore involving himself in criminal investigations were just too much," says former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Milton Bowling. "I'm a Democrat, but I couldn't get past that. I know plenty of people who felt the same way. It was never a matter of party in Tennessee; it was always about character and integrity. Gore flunked that test." ..."
"..."It was an uphill battle against news sources like the Tennessean, who refused to tell the true story," said Valentine. "I think people began to question Gore's character and integrity here in Tennessee. I think the truth came back to bite Gore in Tennessee, and I find it ironic that, if Florida holds for Bush, it will be Tennessee that was Gore's downfall."
"Whether the mainstream media believed the WorldNetDaily stories were credible or not," said Alexander, "the voters did. I've never seen articles that attracted the kind of attention these did. They cost Gore the margin he needed in middle and west Tennessee. They cost Gore Tennessee's electoral votes. That's a fact." ..."
Regards, Don |
