FLORIDA! FLORIDA! FLORIDA!

[paulcs]

CAN'T THEY COUNT FASTER! I CAN'T STAND IT!

The suspense is getting to me.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Helevitia]

GOD i KNOW! It will be awhile although everything I've seen looks like it is leaning towards Bush

Dave

[paulcs]

The country goes the way of Florida. Apparently, Bush has a 30,000 vote lead in Florida, a lead that has been steadily shrinking.

I expect it depends on how much of the vote has been counted in Dade County, Tampa, and the Panhandle. I've heard several conflicting reports.

The polls closed there seven hours ago.

Iowa just went to Gore. It's all up to the slow counters.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Helevitia]

The biggest concern for me is the fact that most of the absentees(sp?) are republicans and that is what they are counting now. And I mean for Florida only.

Dave

[paulcs]

If the projections are correct, it's over. Sheesh. All those Supreme Court appointments...

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[cjolley]

Oh Great! Introducing our new president- Tommy Smothers.
chuck

I will hate Ralph Nader for the rest of my life.

[paulcs]

Ralph Nader, unsafe at any speed.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[cjolley]

OMFG it's down to 600 votes!
I'm gonna bust a gasket waiting for this!
Iyeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.............
chuck

[paulcs]

The Associated Press has sent out an advisory to it's affiliates: two Florida counties have reported numbers that might change the lead. The Gore campaign has called the Bush campaign and rescinded their concession.

The difference in Florida is apparently less than 6,000 with Bush still in the lead.

Update/Edit: The New York Times have stopped the presses to avoid a Truman/Dewey situation.

What is going on in Florida?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[This message has been edited by paulcs (edited 08 November 2000).]

[paulcs]

Uh-oh. Gore is ahead in the nation-wide count. If Florida goes to Bush, he wins in the Electoral College, despite the possibility of Gore winning the popular vote.

A lot of people might get a really nasty civics lesson tomorrow.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Raptor^]

'What is going on in Florida? '

I don't know if this is old news to you, but the BBC are claiming there may be a recount in Florida.

[paulcs]

Sorry. It was a rhetorical question.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Raptor^]

np - this is the first news I've had a chance to look at this morning so it could be hours old for all I know

[paulcs]

Florida is only half the problem, by the way.

To those of you not intimately familiar with the way Americans elect presidents:

The presidential election is not decided by direct popular vote. Each state is assigned a group of electors based on population. If a candidate wins the popular vote of a state, he or she get all of the states electors. It is mathematically possible for Gore to win a majority of the popular vote and lose in the Electoral College.

What's happening is the election is quite close. The State of Florida has a considerable amount of electoral votes (25), and whomever wins the state wins in the College of Electors and wins the election. Gore won my home state, California, the largest in the Union. We're on the West Coast, our votes have yet to be fully counted because of time zone and population conisderations, and Gore may have won big. If he does, he may very well win the popular vote and lose the election.

It hasn't happened in a very long time. It may happen today.

Some counts have Bush and Gore within just over 200 votes of each other in Florida. Florida law requires an automatic recount when an election is this close. Also, voting "irregularities" have been reported in two counties. To complicate matters even further, George W. Bush's brother is Florida's Governer. It's a real mess.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Pace]

National:
<table cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 border=0 width=492><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td><td align=left width=210>Candidate</td><td align=center width=90>Popular
vote</td><td align=center width=50>% of
vote</td><td align=center width=70>States
won</td><td align=center width=70>Electoral
votes won</td><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td></tr><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td><td valign=top align=left>Al Gore (DEM)</td><td align=right>47,754,683</td><td align=center>49</td><td align=center>19</td><td align=center>249</td><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td></tr><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td><td align=left>George W. Bush (REP)</td><td align=right>47,492,274</td><td align=center>48</td><td align=center>29</td><td align=center>246</td></tr></table>

Florida:
<table><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=1 height=1></td><td align=left valign=bottom width=300>Candidate</td><td class=category align=right valign=bottom width=100>Votes</td><td align=right valign=bottom width=80>% of vote</td><td width=6><spacer type=block width=1 height=1></td></tr><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td><td width=300 valign=top align=left>George W. Bush (REP)</td><td valign=top align=right width=100>2,905,390</td><td valign=top align=right>49</td><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td></tr><tr><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td><td width=300 valign=top align=left>Al Gore (DEM)</td><td valign=top align=right width=100>2,904,403</td><td valign=top align=right>49</td><td width=6><spacer type=block width=6 height=1></td></tr></table>

As Paul says - Bush could win Florida by a few votes and take the entire nation, despite not having the majority vote. I think Florida will decide this - Bush gets 25 electoral votes taking him over the magical number. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

So then, is it a felony for me to ask you's who you voted for?

Over here I think Bush sounds the best, even our Foreign Secretary thought so! What's your opinions on the pair? (to both Americans and the rest of the world)

Paul.

[This message has been edited by Pace (edited 08 November 2000).]