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In 2000, exit polls all indicated that Gore was leading Florida to such an extent that all of the networks called the state for him. Gore appeared to be running away with the election. Then, sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m., George W. Bush allowed the media into the Govenor's Mansion in Austin, Texas. He held an impromptu press conference. His wife, father and mother were there. He said, "I'm feeling upbeat. I don't think that there's enough information to call Florida yet." IMMEDIATELY after the press conference, all of the networks took Florida out of the Gore column and put it back in play. They then called a bunch of states in a row for Bush (though none of them were particularly surprising, Georgia, ect.). It became clear that the election was going to hinge on Florida, and the networks were no longer projecting a winner there.
On Tuesday night, the exact same thing happened, except that the networks didn't actually "call" Florida first. They had mentioned that the exit polls had Kerry up by what appeared to be a safe margin, but didn't call it out of cautiousness. Then Bush, in what many commentators said was a "highly unusual" move for the President on election night, invited the press into the White House. This occured at about 9:50 p.m. Bush was sitting on a couch with his daughter, Jenna, his wife was there, and he was talking to his dog. He again used the word, "upbeat" to describe his mood.
Shortly afterwards, the networks began saying that Bush now had the lead in Florida. Later, they projected him as the leader in Ohio, where exit polls also indicated a Kerry lead earlier in the day.
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http://www.ibrattleboro.com/article.php?story=20041105182303970
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