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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (78911)	11/16/2000 10:31:11 PM
From: Tom Clarke	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

The suppressed turnout cost Bush a clear victory in Florida, and may have cost him other states. But I think you're right, Bush has won. The manual count of the punch cards is proving to be a joke and will be discredited. If Gore pulls it out, it will be with the help of a judge.

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (78911)	11/16/2000 10:46:37 PM
From: jhild	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 769670

I don't buy the panhandle argument. The state was declared for Gore by the major networks between 7:48 and 7:50 PM. You are talking 10 to 12 minutes. It is an absurd notion to me that people, especially Republicans, especially 10,000 of them, who were voting also for a statewide Senate seat that was not called by any means as I recall until much later. Republicans who are so conscientious about getting out the vote and voting, I just don't see them necessarily being deterred if as they surely must have been so close to the polling places or already in line. We are talking about a window of 10 to 12 minutes. That really is very little time to imagine that it would have had this kind of effect. Of course if I am Trent Lott, then of course I might want to say it was as large as possible. But I am not. I think this kind of news cuts both ways any way. Who is to say that net/net there was/would have been any difference in the turn out with or with out such a pre-announcement, especially coming as it did just before closing? Do I like that the networks called it before the polls in those states closed? Absolutely not. I think they should use some restraint. In fact a lot of restraint. Maybe their thresholds for calling a state should be extraordinarily large right after east coast closings and tighten as the poll closings move westward. Best would be not to report until all polls nation wide were closed. But I don't see that happening.