Dan Rather on the 2000 presidential election
"In Florida, Georgia, Virginia, and up in New Hampshire, all in white, the polls have closed, but we don't yet have a decision on who's won. Now Florida, that race--that race, the heat from it is hot enough to peel house paint."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000.
"Bob Schieffer is covering the battle for control of the Senate. Bob, the polls have closed at Virginia. A Senate race there ugly enough, nasty enough to gag a buzzard."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
RATHER: Joining us tonight from Nashville, Tennessee, is Bill Daley, chairman of the Gore campaign. Thanks for being with us, Mr. Chairman.
DALEY: Thank you, Dan.
RATHER: Feeling good about your chances...
DALEY: Yes.
RATHER: ...or are your fingernails beginning to sweat?
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Virginia drops for President Bush as expected, 13 electoral votes from the Old Dominion state go in the Bush column. This is not unexpected but it is whooping news down in Texas, 41 electoral votes now for George Bush. Bush has jumped out to a 41-to-3 electoral vote lead over Al Gore. Yes, there's a long way to go, but any way you slice it, any way you dress it up, it's a good start for George Bush."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"It would be surprising to some people--Ohio's 21 electoral votes are still in play, widely expected to go for Bush. But the way this night is going, wild and wooly as it is, who can say?"
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"I can hear some people at home saying, 'Ooh, if the electoral vote count is now what Dan Rather and CBS says it is, 121 for Bush, 119 for Gore, it seems to me just a few minutes ago Bush had a long lead.' His lead has evaporated and melt--been melted faster than ice cream in a microwave. 'What's happening here?'
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 after CBS had called Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, and Michigan for Gore."
"Let's kiss this electoral vote again for you: 121 for Bush, 119 for Gore. This is the way the map looks at this moment."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Back at CBS News election headquarters in New York. The--the presidential race is crackling like a hickory fire here."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Now, remember, Florida is the state where Jeb Bush, the brother of George Bush, is the governor, and you can bet that Governor Bush will be madder than a rained-on rooster that his brother, the governor, wasn't able to carry this state for him."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Anthony Mason had just given some exit poll results in Michigan:
"Anthony Mason, we'll catch you on the backside of that. This is commercial television; we've got money to make here in just a moment."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Bush has had a lead since the very start, but his lead is now shakier than cafeteria Jell-O, 130 to 119; 270 needed to win."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
The polls had closed in Tennessee but they were indicating a close race in the state:
"In Tennessee, now Al Gore may be as cross as a snapping turtle about this Tennessee situation because it's his home state."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Also, New Jersey Senate, big race there, Jon Corzine--Corzine has won a Democratic seat in New Jersey. This is a hold-on for the Democrats. Mark this. This man spent an estimated $80 million. No, you did not hear--$80 million. He spent money like he had shorted Microsoft, and won this race."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
George W. Bush had won all of the early-closing Southern states:
"Bush is sweeping through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader had polled well in Oregon and Washington:
"And, Lesley Stahl, Washington state and Oregon state out West, as we said before--we keep coming back to it--this is considered strong Nader country and has to give the Gore people the knee wobbles."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Governor, you just didn't tumble off the turnip truck."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 during an interview with Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R).
"Pennsylvania goes for Gore. This is CBS News. Pennsylvania drops for Gore, 23 electoral votes. And for the first time tonight, mark it if you will, if you're in the kitchen, Mabel, come back in the front room."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Back at CBS News election headquarters in New York. Governor George Bush galloped out to an early lead in the electoral vote count with 270 needed to win. But now he's stopped to breathe his pony."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Dan Rather had accidentally said the Republicans kept a North Dakota Senate seat:
"These returns are running like a squirrel in a cage now, and one can get a little confused."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer were discussing the New York Senate race after CBS had called it for Hillary Clinton:
"It was as hot and squalid as a New York elevator in August."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush had done well in Midwestern and Southern states:
"Here's the situation. All the states in red, Bush has run through Dixie like a boll weevil through a cotton field. He also has won all the way up the gut from the Southwest, his home state of Texas, all the way up through the Plains states."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush had just been projected by CBS as winning Ohio and Tennessee:
"You can bet that they're smiling like a cat in a creamery down in Austin because they almost positively had to have Ohio."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Gore and Bush were running close in CBS's projections at 182 for Gore and 185 for Bush:
"Another look at the electoral vote count. Can't get a cigarette paper between them."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Exit-polling was showing Bush with an early lead in California:
"There's no way Gore can win this thing without carrying California. It'd be like trying to scratch his ear with his elbow."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS had decided that Gore had not won Florida after all:
"This knock-down drag-out battle drags on into the night. And turn the lights down; the party just got wilder. To err is to human--is human, to really foul up requires a computer. And that's what's happened with Florida. Everybody that we know of had put Florida into the Gore column sometime ago. Now we're pulling it back into the undecided column because some bad data came from certain precincts in Florida. . . . This thing is so wild, wacky and wooly, nobody knows how it's going to come out."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"That will have the Bush people in Austin jumping out of their seats like they were stabbed with hat pins."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush was projected to win New Hampshire by CBS:
"New Hampshire goes for Bush. New Hampshire has four electoral votes. That will up president--Governor Bush's total to 197. Bush now--to 201, beg your pardon--201 for Bush now; 167 for Gore, since Florida has been pulled back to the undecided column. Now you may say to yourself, 'Vice President Bush is beginning to hear the first faint, faint whisper of the ax,' but it's too early to say that he's out of it. Certainly it's advantage Bush now and here's why."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush seemed to be pulling ahead of Gore after CBS declared him the winner in Missouri and West Virginia:
"Things are getting very, very close to the time when George Bush can celebrate, but close only counts with hand grenades and horse shoes. So close may not be good enough. But by any reasonable analysis, Bush has the whip hand at the moment: 217 to 167 in the Electoral College."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"This much tension you can't cut with a saw, it requires a blow torch: 217 for Bush, 167 for Gore."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 a few minutes later
"Bush leads, maybe near victory, but, then again, maybe not. That's the CBS News election night headline at this hour. Advantage Bush; the hour of decision may be drawing near, underscoring 'may,' and don't bet the trailer money on it yet. For one thing, the polls have been veering and wobbling so much that neither NASA nor the Russian Cosmodrome can track them in some cases."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bob Schieffer and Rather were discussing the race and the prospect that the recently deceased governor of Missouri could be elected to the Senate:
SCHIEFFER: what a weird evening we're having here, and this just kind of adds to it.
RATHER: Well, the word 'goofy' comes to mind, but it might be a little--might be a tad strong, but I'm not so sure.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"So right now, Bush--too early to say he has the whip hand, but certainly things are shaded toward him. The good book says the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but as a reporter, you have to say that's the way to bet it, and right now George Bush has 217 electoral votes, and Al Gore has 172.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
It seemed unlikely that Gore could win without carrying Florida. No one knew how the state's votes would go however, because many absentee ballots were cast:
"And I remember--I think it was in 1996, maybe it was 1998--at any rate, one night they counted those absentee ballots until the cows literally had gone to sleep and then came back the next day."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"If [Gore] doesn't carry Florida, slim will have left town."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Rather and Bob Schieffer were discussing the chances of Gore getting enough electoral votes to win:
SCHIEFFER: Does he get them in Colorado? He was not favored there. Oregon? Arizona? Iowa? He was not really favored in any of those states. But if he could just get one of those states, then Gore would be president.
RATHER: Well, we've said it many times, if--if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun.
SCHIEFFER: And, Dan, ...(unintelligible).
RATHER: And he doesn't have side pockets, so maybe he won't get those states and maybe he will.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS projected Gore had surpassed Bush's electoral lead by winning California and Iowa:
"The race is as hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS projected Bush would win Colorado, bringing CBS's total to 225 Bush and 230 Gore:
"Both sides, of course, have champagne on ice, the Gore forces and the Bush forces. But that champagne may get so cold and frozen up, you'd have to get a pickax to open it up, as close as things are."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Democrat Jon Corzine had been projected by CBS to defeat Republican Bob Franks in the New Jersey Senate race:
"Bob, that New Jersey Senate race won by Jon Corzine for the Democrats, a hold-on there, this guy spent $80 million in this race. He must have more money than Carter has little liver pills to spend that kind of money on a Senate race."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
With Gore ahead 231 to 229, Rather moved to a segment on the close states of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Arkansas:
"Now we take a look at some of these tick-tight presidential races."
"This shows you how tight it is--it's spandex tight--in all of these races."
Bush was predicted to win Arizona, giving him, in CBS's tally 237 votes to Gore's 231:
"With Bush now back out front, 237 to 231 with 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, we said just before the break that it's shaded toward Bush, doesn't mean that he has won it. You know, they say, 'The opera's isn't over until the heavy lady sings.' She has not yet sung, but in--back--backstage, one can hear her humming, to say the least."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush led in CBS's electoral count narrowly:
"The presidential race still hotter than a Laredo parking lot: 246 to 242."
Ralph Nader seemed to be an important factor in several states, prompting Bob Schieffer to joke that if Bush won, he'd give Nader a cabinet position to express his gratitude:
I have to say, though--and I don't mean to be flip about it--that I think you're more likely see a hippopotamus come running through this room than you are to see Governor Bush appoint Ralph Nader to the Cabinet.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
"Better pull the cot up to the television set and don't get too comfy, don't count sheep, we may still be counting electoral votes for hours before we can make the call for president."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Gore started to pull closer to Bush in Florida after ballots from two heavily Democratic counties started coming in:
"Call the doctor, call the police, call a psychic. In Florida, it's tightened up."
"The rest of us could be out here waiting in the desert for a good while more."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
The race in Florida continued to be close:
"Bob Schieffer, you have to go back to sometime in the 1800s, I think, Deputy Dog, in order to find a race that's this close."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
CBS had declared Bush the winner in Florida by a narrow margin:
"I have been to goat ropings and space shots and I've covered presidential elections since the 1950s, and I have never seen anything like this."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
"But before the trail goes completely cold, let's give a tip of the Stetson to the loser, Vice President Al Gore, and at the same time a big tip and a hip-hip-hooray and a great big Texas howdy to the new president of the United States. Sip it, savor it, cup it, photostat it, underline it in red, press it in a book, put it in an album, hang it on the wall: George Bush is the next president of the United States.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
As Bush's lead in Florida continued to shrink, Dan Rather decided to put it back in his "undecided" column. The networks' withdrawal of their Florida prediction disrupted and confused the crowd outside Bush's campaign headquarters:
"Well, Bill Whitaker, you can tell them we welcome them to the club because frankly we don't know whether to run, to watch or bark at the moon."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
CBS had to take back its second Florida prediction after the Gore campaign announced it would not concede that night. Dan Rather explained the situation:
"I'm always reminded of those west Texan saloons where they had a sign that says, 'Please don't shoot the piano player, he's doing the best he can.' That's been pretty much the case here tonight over this election. We do the best we can on these calls. But we have to stand up and take responsibility and be accountable."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
It seemed like Gore was going to lose Florida since Bush continued have a 20,000 vote advantage with 95 percent of precincts reporting:
"Al Gore's situation is he's basically got his back to the wall, his shirt-tail on fire and a bill collector's at the door."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
As more votes came in from California, it became possible that Gore might win the popular vote:
"Now, the way things are going, it could very well turn out--nobody's predicting this would happen--listen, we've lived by the crystal ball and learned to eat so much broken glass tonight that we're in critical condition."
"I'm going to put up the national vote totals again for you because, you know, I--I wouldn't say wake up the children, but when they wake up in the morning, be sure to show them this, because they're not likely to see it again in their lifetime."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Dan Rather described the situation in the Gore campaign after the Democrat had retracted his concession to Bush:
"Now for those of you who just joined us, perhaps those of you who are just getting up, some extraordinary things have been happening, including Vice President Gore calling Governor Bush and offering, apparently, his congratulations, then being told that the situation in Florida had wobbled into Weirdsville."
"I have to believe that when Governor Bush was told in the second phone call by Al Gore, 'Governor, I'm withdrawing my congratulatory words to you,' that Governor Bush's eyes probably got as cold as your average pawnbroker's when he heard that. But then why wouldn't they?"
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Bush finished by less than 2,000 votes ahead of Gore in the final Florida count and state law demanded a recount. Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, who is a Republican was to be in charge of it:
If you're saying, 'Well, that Florida secretary of State, is she Republican, Democrat or mugwump?' It turns out she's a Republican.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Rather emphasized the importance of Florida in the electoral college:
Florida--they say California's the big burrito; Texas is a big taco right now. We want to follow that through. Florida is a big tamale. It's not only a hot tamale, it's the only tamale that counts up here now--25 Electoral votes. He who wins Florida, wins it all.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
A dispute arose over ballots in a heavily-Democratic Florida county which Gore supporters claimed led voters to choose Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore:
And let me point out that Warren Mitofsky, who has been around these things since Trigger was a colt, says that those ballots where people thought--said they thought they were voting for Go--Gore but ended up voting for Buchanan-- none of that shows up in the Buchanan vote totals in Florida, so that story may go away as time goes along.
--Dan Rather on the Early Show, November 8, 2000
--Election Night, November 7, 2000.
"Bob Schieffer is covering the battle for control of the Senate. Bob, the polls have closed at Virginia. A Senate race there ugly enough, nasty enough to gag a buzzard."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
RATHER: Joining us tonight from Nashville, Tennessee, is Bill Daley, chairman of the Gore campaign. Thanks for being with us, Mr. Chairman.
DALEY: Thank you, Dan.
RATHER: Feeling good about your chances...
DALEY: Yes.
RATHER: ...or are your fingernails beginning to sweat?
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Virginia drops for President Bush as expected, 13 electoral votes from the Old Dominion state go in the Bush column. This is not unexpected but it is whooping news down in Texas, 41 electoral votes now for George Bush. Bush has jumped out to a 41-to-3 electoral vote lead over Al Gore. Yes, there's a long way to go, but any way you slice it, any way you dress it up, it's a good start for George Bush."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"It would be surprising to some people--Ohio's 21 electoral votes are still in play, widely expected to go for Bush. But the way this night is going, wild and wooly as it is, who can say?"
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"I can hear some people at home saying, 'Ooh, if the electoral vote count is now what Dan Rather and CBS says it is, 121 for Bush, 119 for Gore, it seems to me just a few minutes ago Bush had a long lead.' His lead has evaporated and melt--been melted faster than ice cream in a microwave. 'What's happening here?'
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 after CBS had called Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, and Michigan for Gore."
"Let's kiss this electoral vote again for you: 121 for Bush, 119 for Gore. This is the way the map looks at this moment."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Back at CBS News election headquarters in New York. The--the presidential race is crackling like a hickory fire here."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Now, remember, Florida is the state where Jeb Bush, the brother of George Bush, is the governor, and you can bet that Governor Bush will be madder than a rained-on rooster that his brother, the governor, wasn't able to carry this state for him."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Anthony Mason had just given some exit poll results in Michigan:
"Anthony Mason, we'll catch you on the backside of that. This is commercial television; we've got money to make here in just a moment."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Bush has had a lead since the very start, but his lead is now shakier than cafeteria Jell-O, 130 to 119; 270 needed to win."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
The polls had closed in Tennessee but they were indicating a close race in the state:
"In Tennessee, now Al Gore may be as cross as a snapping turtle about this Tennessee situation because it's his home state."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Also, New Jersey Senate, big race there, Jon Corzine--Corzine has won a Democratic seat in New Jersey. This is a hold-on for the Democrats. Mark this. This man spent an estimated $80 million. No, you did not hear--$80 million. He spent money like he had shorted Microsoft, and won this race."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
George W. Bush had won all of the early-closing Southern states:
"Bush is sweeping through the South like a tornado through a trailer park."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader had polled well in Oregon and Washington:
"And, Lesley Stahl, Washington state and Oregon state out West, as we said before--we keep coming back to it--this is considered strong Nader country and has to give the Gore people the knee wobbles."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Governor, you just didn't tumble off the turnip truck."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 during an interview with Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge (R).
"Pennsylvania goes for Gore. This is CBS News. Pennsylvania drops for Gore, 23 electoral votes. And for the first time tonight, mark it if you will, if you're in the kitchen, Mabel, come back in the front room."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"Back at CBS News election headquarters in New York. Governor George Bush galloped out to an early lead in the electoral vote count with 270 needed to win. But now he's stopped to breathe his pony."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Dan Rather had accidentally said the Republicans kept a North Dakota Senate seat:
"These returns are running like a squirrel in a cage now, and one can get a little confused."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer were discussing the New York Senate race after CBS had called it for Hillary Clinton:
"It was as hot and squalid as a New York elevator in August."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush had done well in Midwestern and Southern states:
"Here's the situation. All the states in red, Bush has run through Dixie like a boll weevil through a cotton field. He also has won all the way up the gut from the Southwest, his home state of Texas, all the way up through the Plains states."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush had just been projected by CBS as winning Ohio and Tennessee:
"You can bet that they're smiling like a cat in a creamery down in Austin because they almost positively had to have Ohio."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Gore and Bush were running close in CBS's projections at 182 for Gore and 185 for Bush:
"Another look at the electoral vote count. Can't get a cigarette paper between them."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Exit-polling was showing Bush with an early lead in California:
"There's no way Gore can win this thing without carrying California. It'd be like trying to scratch his ear with his elbow."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS had decided that Gore had not won Florida after all:
"This knock-down drag-out battle drags on into the night. And turn the lights down; the party just got wilder. To err is to human--is human, to really foul up requires a computer. And that's what's happened with Florida. Everybody that we know of had put Florida into the Gore column sometime ago. Now we're pulling it back into the undecided column because some bad data came from certain precincts in Florida. . . . This thing is so wild, wacky and wooly, nobody knows how it's going to come out."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"That will have the Bush people in Austin jumping out of their seats like they were stabbed with hat pins."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush was projected to win New Hampshire by CBS:
"New Hampshire goes for Bush. New Hampshire has four electoral votes. That will up president--Governor Bush's total to 197. Bush now--to 201, beg your pardon--201 for Bush now; 167 for Gore, since Florida has been pulled back to the undecided column. Now you may say to yourself, 'Vice President Bush is beginning to hear the first faint, faint whisper of the ax,' but it's too early to say that he's out of it. Certainly it's advantage Bush now and here's why."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush seemed to be pulling ahead of Gore after CBS declared him the winner in Missouri and West Virginia:
"Things are getting very, very close to the time when George Bush can celebrate, but close only counts with hand grenades and horse shoes. So close may not be good enough. But by any reasonable analysis, Bush has the whip hand at the moment: 217 to 167 in the Electoral College."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"This much tension you can't cut with a saw, it requires a blow torch: 217 for Bush, 167 for Gore."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000 a few minutes later
"Bush leads, maybe near victory, but, then again, maybe not. That's the CBS News election night headline at this hour. Advantage Bush; the hour of decision may be drawing near, underscoring 'may,' and don't bet the trailer money on it yet. For one thing, the polls have been veering and wobbling so much that neither NASA nor the Russian Cosmodrome can track them in some cases."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bob Schieffer and Rather were discussing the race and the prospect that the recently deceased governor of Missouri could be elected to the Senate:
SCHIEFFER: what a weird evening we're having here, and this just kind of adds to it.
RATHER: Well, the word 'goofy' comes to mind, but it might be a little--might be a tad strong, but I'm not so sure.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"So right now, Bush--too early to say he has the whip hand, but certainly things are shaded toward him. The good book says the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but as a reporter, you have to say that's the way to bet it, and right now George Bush has 217 electoral votes, and Al Gore has 172.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
It seemed unlikely that Gore could win without carrying Florida. No one knew how the state's votes would go however, because many absentee ballots were cast:
"And I remember--I think it was in 1996, maybe it was 1998--at any rate, one night they counted those absentee ballots until the cows literally had gone to sleep and then came back the next day."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
"If [Gore] doesn't carry Florida, slim will have left town."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Rather and Bob Schieffer were discussing the chances of Gore getting enough electoral votes to win:
SCHIEFFER: Does he get them in Colorado? He was not favored there. Oregon? Arizona? Iowa? He was not really favored in any of those states. But if he could just get one of those states, then Gore would be president.
RATHER: Well, we've said it many times, if--if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun.
SCHIEFFER: And, Dan, ...(unintelligible).
RATHER: And he doesn't have side pockets, so maybe he won't get those states and maybe he will.
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS projected Gore had surpassed Bush's electoral lead by winning California and Iowa:
"The race is as hot and tight as a too-small bathing suit on a too-long car ride back from the beach."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
CBS projected Bush would win Colorado, bringing CBS's total to 225 Bush and 230 Gore:
"Both sides, of course, have champagne on ice, the Gore forces and the Bush forces. But that champagne may get so cold and frozen up, you'd have to get a pickax to open it up, as close as things are."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Democrat Jon Corzine had been projected by CBS to defeat Republican Bob Franks in the New Jersey Senate race:
"Bob, that New Jersey Senate race won by Jon Corzine for the Democrats, a hold-on there, this guy spent $80 million in this race. He must have more money than Carter has little liver pills to spend that kind of money on a Senate race."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
With Gore ahead 231 to 229, Rather moved to a segment on the close states of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Arkansas:
"Now we take a look at some of these tick-tight presidential races."
"This shows you how tight it is--it's spandex tight--in all of these races."
Bush was predicted to win Arizona, giving him, in CBS's tally 237 votes to Gore's 231:
"With Bush now back out front, 237 to 231 with 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, we said just before the break that it's shaded toward Bush, doesn't mean that he has won it. You know, they say, 'The opera's isn't over until the heavy lady sings.' She has not yet sung, but in--back--backstage, one can hear her humming, to say the least."
--Election Night, November 7, 2000
Bush led in CBS's electoral count narrowly:
"The presidential race still hotter than a Laredo parking lot: 246 to 242."
Ralph Nader seemed to be an important factor in several states, prompting Bob Schieffer to joke that if Bush won, he'd give Nader a cabinet position to express his gratitude:
I have to say, though--and I don't mean to be flip about it--that I think you're more likely see a hippopotamus come running through this room than you are to see Governor Bush appoint Ralph Nader to the Cabinet.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
"Better pull the cot up to the television set and don't get too comfy, don't count sheep, we may still be counting electoral votes for hours before we can make the call for president."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Gore started to pull closer to Bush in Florida after ballots from two heavily Democratic counties started coming in:
"Call the doctor, call the police, call a psychic. In Florida, it's tightened up."
"The rest of us could be out here waiting in the desert for a good while more."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
The race in Florida continued to be close:
"Bob Schieffer, you have to go back to sometime in the 1800s, I think, Deputy Dog, in order to find a race that's this close."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
CBS had declared Bush the winner in Florida by a narrow margin:
"I have been to goat ropings and space shots and I've covered presidential elections since the 1950s, and I have never seen anything like this."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
"But before the trail goes completely cold, let's give a tip of the Stetson to the loser, Vice President Al Gore, and at the same time a big tip and a hip-hip-hooray and a great big Texas howdy to the new president of the United States. Sip it, savor it, cup it, photostat it, underline it in red, press it in a book, put it in an album, hang it on the wall: George Bush is the next president of the United States.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
As Bush's lead in Florida continued to shrink, Dan Rather decided to put it back in his "undecided" column. The networks' withdrawal of their Florida prediction disrupted and confused the crowd outside Bush's campaign headquarters:
"Well, Bill Whitaker, you can tell them we welcome them to the club because frankly we don't know whether to run, to watch or bark at the moon."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
CBS had to take back its second Florida prediction after the Gore campaign announced it would not concede that night. Dan Rather explained the situation:
"I'm always reminded of those west Texan saloons where they had a sign that says, 'Please don't shoot the piano player, he's doing the best he can.' That's been pretty much the case here tonight over this election. We do the best we can on these calls. But we have to stand up and take responsibility and be accountable."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
It seemed like Gore was going to lose Florida since Bush continued have a 20,000 vote advantage with 95 percent of precincts reporting:
"Al Gore's situation is he's basically got his back to the wall, his shirt-tail on fire and a bill collector's at the door."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
As more votes came in from California, it became possible that Gore might win the popular vote:
"Now, the way things are going, it could very well turn out--nobody's predicting this would happen--listen, we've lived by the crystal ball and learned to eat so much broken glass tonight that we're in critical condition."
"I'm going to put up the national vote totals again for you because, you know, I--I wouldn't say wake up the children, but when they wake up in the morning, be sure to show them this, because they're not likely to see it again in their lifetime."
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Dan Rather described the situation in the Gore campaign after the Democrat had retracted his concession to Bush:
"Now for those of you who just joined us, perhaps those of you who are just getting up, some extraordinary things have been happening, including Vice President Gore calling Governor Bush and offering, apparently, his congratulations, then being told that the situation in Florida had wobbled into Weirdsville."
"I have to believe that when Governor Bush was told in the second phone call by Al Gore, 'Governor, I'm withdrawing my congratulatory words to you,' that Governor Bush's eyes probably got as cold as your average pawnbroker's when he heard that. But then why wouldn't they?"
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Bush finished by less than 2,000 votes ahead of Gore in the final Florida count and state law demanded a recount. Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, who is a Republican was to be in charge of it:
If you're saying, 'Well, that Florida secretary of State, is she Republican, Democrat or mugwump?' It turns out she's a Republican.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
Rather emphasized the importance of Florida in the electoral college:
Florida--they say California's the big burrito; Texas is a big taco right now. We want to follow that through. Florida is a big tamale. It's not only a hot tamale, it's the only tamale that counts up here now--25 Electoral votes. He who wins Florida, wins it all.
--Election coverage, November 8, 2000
A dispute arose over ballots in a heavily-Democratic Florida county which Gore supporters claimed led voters to choose Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore:
And let me point out that Warren Mitofsky, who has been around these things since Trigger was a colt, says that those ballots where people thought--said they thought they were voting for Go--Gore but ended up voting for Buchanan-- none of that shows up in the Buchanan vote totals in Florida, so that story may go away as time goes along.
--Dan Rather on the Early Show, November 8, 2000
