Voters render decision today
Bush team confident of victory
11/07/2000
By Wayne Slater / The Dallas Morning News
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – George W. Bush concluded his 18-month quest for the presidency Monday, saying he's "laid the groundwork for victory" and is confident that voters want him to change the tone in Washington and restore integrity to the White House.
"We're coming down the stretch," he told a raucous crowd in Chattanooga, "and I'm feeling optimistic."
Erich Schlegel / DMN
John Przyborski with Eichenbaum's World Events hangs American flags on Congress Avenue in front of the state Capitol in preparation for the George W. Bush Election Day festivities in Austin.
In a swing-state sprint that marked his last full day of campaigning, Mr. Bush condensed the well-honed themes of his campaign and focused on a get-out-the-vote message to supporters who jammed rallies in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa and Arkansas before returning to Austin late Monday night.
Taunting rival Al Gore by traveling to his home state, he declared: "He may win Washington, D.C., but he's not going to win Tennessee."
With an arch of orange and white balloons overhead and a banner behind him declaring the state "Bush Country," the governor assailed his Democratic foe as a big-government big spender who "has strayed from his Tennessee roots."
On the tarmac afterward, Mr. Bush posed for a picture with entertainer Billy Ray Cyrus, whose song "We the People" has become something of a campaign anthem.
"Billy Ray, you're a great American. We play your song everywhere," the governor told the leather-clad country singer before bounding up the stairs of his campaign jet, dubbed "Responsibility One."
In Green Bay, Wis., Mr. Bush was greeted by former Packers quarterback Bart Starr and thanked a cheering, pompom-waving crowd for its hospitality.
"Of course, you've not been so hospitable in the past, if you know what I mean," he said, provoking laughter from a crowd with a long memory of past Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys football games.
Later, in Davenport, Iowa, Mr. Bush continued with his familiar theme that Mr. Gore is too partisan and divisive to be an effective president.
"We need to end all the squabbling and name-calling and finger-pointing and have to have a clear agenda based first and foremost that people are more important than politics. And that's exactly the kind of administration I'll bring to Washington."
He was joined on the stage of a downtown theater by singer Wayne Newton and actress Bo Derek in front of a crowd waving a sea of American flags.
While the Texas governor was cautiously optimistic, vigorously urging supporters to turn out the vote, aides were confidently predicting victory in a race that most polls indicate is too close to call.
Karl Rove, chief political adviser, said his analysis indicates the governor will beat his Democratic rival by 6 percentage points with about 320 electoral votes, 50 more than needed to win the White House.
Appearing Monday on NBC's Today show, Mr. Rove said Republicans had concentrated on get-out-the-vote efforts in the campaign's last 10 days, placing 70 million phone calls to voters, sending out 110 million pieces of mail and mobilizing 243,000 volunteers in 28 battleground states.
After a difficult September in which Mr. Gore's stock soared following the Democratic National Convention, the Bush campaign battled back in October to put the race in a dead heat in the final days. Aides say the turning point was the trio of presidential debates, especially the third encounter on Oct. 17, where they say Mr. Bush established his standing as a leader.
"He showed he could share the stage with the vice president," said Mark McKinnon, Mr. Bush's chief media consultant.
Despite the closeness of polls, some analysts suggest that Mr. Bush could win the popular vote while Mr. Gore would get a majority of the Electoral College votes. In such a case, Mr. Gore would win the election under the U.S. Constitution.
The Bush campaign faced a last-minute revelation that Mr. Bush had been arrested 24 years ago for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Democrats questioned whether the governor, who has challenged his opponent's credibility, had been sufficiently forthright himself.
On Monday's final day, top aides joined the swelling entourage on the campaign jet to watch the final round of rallies. Mr. Rove, campaign chairman Don Evans and finance chief Jack Oliver took seats on the plane in the heady exuberance of the final 16-hour, five-city dash.
"Karen Hughes, the governor's communications chief, moved through the plane contemplating the prospects of moving to Washington.
As his jet prepared to land in President Clinton's home state of Arkansas for the last rally on the final campaign swing, Mr. Bush said over the plane's loudspeaker system, "There's something in the air."
To the song "We Won't Get Fooled Again," he and his entourage entered an airplane hangar for a rally with several thousand cheering supporters.
Afterward, a weary-looking Mr. Bush said that he had done everything he could and now it was up to the voters.
"I felt like I spent it all going across the finish line," he said. "It was all I could do."
The campaign announced its plans for Election Night in Austin, a rally on the city's main street just south of the Capitol featuring singers and state elected officials.
The governor's parents – former President George Bush and Barbara Bush – and other family members were flying into Austin on Monday night and planned to spend much of Tuesday together, including a family dinner, before attending an election-night party. The governor's twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, also were expected to attend.
With the outcome settling on a cluster of tossup states, Bush strategists carried with them Monday briefing books that included an hour-by-hour account of when polls will close around the nation Tuesday.
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