Bush v. Gore 2000 election results - what was the "waiting game" like for you?

[redStateBlueHeart]

I was in middle school in 2000 so I didn’t follow politics. The past 3 nights have been the longest month ever - watching the votes trickle in is like waiting for paint to dry.

For those who voted in 2000 or have a better memory than I do: what was it like waiting for the race to be called?

[Chichiri]

1. I was a young man in my Libertarian phase . . .

. . . so I had the perspective of an outsider. It was just kinda cool seeing things drag out -- until I realized what assholes the GOP were doing. This was a contributing factor to my becoming a progressive.

[abqtommy]

2. I don't mind the waiting much but in 2000 I was very disappointed in the outcome.

[onecaliberal]

3. It was unnerving. I did not expect the Supreme Court to call it.

[ellie]

4. Well, we weren't

locked down in a pandemic so I was having a normal life. Friends, work, family. And the internet was not what it is today so that part was different. We live our lives online now. I didn't even have a cell phone in 2000!

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. It was disgusting - wow, 20 years ago!

Far worse than this. In a way, this has been quite exciting - my complete hatred of trump is deeper than my hatred of Dubya - evil vs stupid, perhaps - and I just didn't think Gore fought hard enough.

This is worth waiting for, agonizing as it is (I was 44 back then...yikes - more hair, stressful job, stressful daughters! Life sure is different now...)

[Solly Mack]

6. 36 days of anxiety. High stress levels. Disbelief. Shock. Anger.

And then came DU.

[lapfog_1]

7. I knew the repukes would steal it

I turned off the news and was very angry at

1. People who said "there really isn't any difference between Bush and Gore
2. Ralph Nader and the Green Party (I was IN the Green Party but voted Democratic... and I changed my party afflation right then)
3. Hanging chads the the ballots the misaligned names
4. The operatives posing as Miami Dade residents and the "Brooks Brothers riot"

Not too longer after that I found Democratic Underground.

[Scully]

13. Yes! Bush v. Gore is what brought be to DU!

Re:

Not too longer after that I found Democratic Underground.

Me too! I am the ultimate lurker- I've been around for a very long time but not a huge poster... but this site kept me sane. The Top 10 Conservative Idiots was the highlight of my week sometimes!

[sakabatou]

8. I don't really remember

I wasn't really into politics at the time.

[Scully]

9. The effed-upness of that election is making me unable to sleep this week

I remember going to bed, happy at Gore's lead and presumptive win.... and woke the next morning with that sucker punch WTF. I keep having nightmares that I will go to bed and wake up the next morning to a similar situation. I'm not worried about the court cases- it's nothing like Bush v. Gore. I'm worried about faithless electors. I'm worried about assassination attempts. I'm worried about what the loose cannon tRump will do between now and Jan 20 to further eff up this nation. But I'm not worried about court cases- and that's a big difference between this and 2000.

[redStateBlueHeart]

18. How long did the process go on for?

How much time passed between election night and the recount + SCOTUS ruling?

From what I understand this election isn’t super similar to 2000 (I hope) and I don’t think Biden would ever stop a recount. I was having 2016 flashbacks on Tuesday night due to the “red mirage”

[Chicago1980]

11. Ugh...

It was the first presidential election I was eligible to vote for.

I didn't follow politics as closely as I was in school, but i knew Bush was a dumb-ass and would be a bad president.

I don't remember the wait, but I remember the khaki bitches and their protesting... I remember Katherine Harris who was basically the pam Bondi of 2000.

I wasn't nearly as emotionally involved back then...

[choie]

12. Hell

[marylandblue]

14. Painful. Bushco ran the better strategy, so Gore was always reacting rather than leading.

At least this time, I don't feel Biden is just reacting. He knew this was coming and seems prepared.

[blitzen]

15. It was never really called. It was a mess in countless ways...

Back then, when I used to print out things from the World Wide Web, I had a whole file cabinet full of stuff that happened. I can't remember it all. But I do remember that Pat Buchanan, anti-Semite, got thousands more votes in heavily Jewish Palm Beach Co., a way bigger percentage there than anywhere else. Yes, the famous "butterfly ballot" screw up. BUT--and this is the damn shame of it all--Florida law permitted a panel of judges to examine those irrational results and correct them. That would have given Gore the presidency. But the Florida Secretary of State, Gov., and various Courts just acted like that law did not exist. It was a tragedy. Many more nefarious things contributed as well. There are no doubt several good books that recount the whole debacle.

[redStateBlueHeart]

19. Ooh, I'll have to find a good book to add to my Kindle queue

[LisaL]

16. Very unpleasant.

NT

[Catherine Vincent]

17. I blocked most of it out of my mind

It was a horrible mess. Most did not know it would take the USSC to install Bush in the White House. They stole it from Gore. Bush, the republicans and their PR team created the narrative that was positive for Bush and of course negative for Gore. With the help of Bush's brother and that attorney general (can't remember her name) and...after the USSC gave it to Bush, I lost a little respect for those judges. At the time I did not realize judges can be partisan. And if it was 5-4 in favor of Gore, I would have felt the same way because imo, it should have been 9-0 in favor of Gore.

[tinrobot]

20. I was dating a Republican at the time. We broke up before the Supreme Court decided.

I know... I know... we all make mistakes. She was the LAST Republican I ever dated.

[Jspur]

29. I went out with an attractive blonde way back in '09 who said on the first date Obama

was the spawn of Satan. I laughed at first and she responded "No seriously I really do believe he is." Once she said that statement I made up my mind this relationship is not going be a long term relationship.

[Goodheart]

21. Much worse than this.

[JanMichael]

22. It was awful. Lived in FL at the time.

Once the news people started with closeups of hanging chads I almost exploded a gasket. Then the FL supreme Court said go then the supreme court said stop. Baker's ugly face pontificating on types of votes and allowable errors. Buchanan dancing around like the 4th reich was coming. Shitty Palm Beach County elections employees that designed the WORST ballot ever. Street corners full of Bush Bush Bush screaming. Smug conservative churchy people all over the place. I forgot how long it took, two or three weeks of hell? It was awful.

[DeminPennswoods]

32. Took 35 days

nt

[Polybius]

23. I was working until around 9 or 10

Tried to watch the results on the TV at work, but couldn't wait to get home (no smartphones then lol). I got home and turned on Headline News (damn I loved that old network), and then AOL and went on the world wide web to surf the 'net as we said then.

It was close, but Bush won and I was like "wow, first Republican President since I was a kid." Gore conceded. Then like an hour later Florida was pulled, and Gore took back his concession in a nasty phone call ("Don't get testy!" said Gore to Bush). I watched and watched and then went to bed. The next day it rocked the world! There was intense debate. The next couple of days brought recount after recount, with the results changing every time. A month passed, and finally the SC stopped any further recounts.

I'll never forget it as long as I live. 200 years from now, it will be the subject of debate with hanging chads and all.

[Jspur]

27. I remember Bush telling Gore on the phone call that his brother had told

him he had votes to win Florida and Gore yelling at him "Your brother is not the final authority on this matter."

[moonscape]

24. I was in a white rage at Nader, one that simmered

during the election but really boiled over then.

[DrToast]

25. I remember thinking...

At the time it was happening I remember thinking, "Wow...this is historic. This might be the biggest story I'll ever witness in my lifetime."

Less than a year later: 9/11.

Guess not.

[redStateBlueHeart]

35. And then 2016 was like, "Hold my beer".

[Jspur]

26. I was a senior in Hschool and didn't want Bush to

win. He reminded me too much of these dumb spoiled upper middle class douchebags I went to school with. I didn't think he deserved the presidency. Even at a young age I thought supply side was stupid and that Bush would bring the country back on it whenwe managed to get off of it with Clinton. It was also personal for me in the sense I didn't want to go to college and was strongly considering going to the army but I was going to base the decision off of the election. I felt Bush was a dumbass that would cause us to go to war with Iraq simply because he wanted to get revenge on Sadaam for what happened with his father Bush Sr. So I had already made the decision in my mind that if Bush won I would not go to the army but if Gore won I would enlist to join the army. I was pretty anxious about the results and hoping and praying Gore would come through. Unfortunately everything I feared about a Bush presidency happened. I wouldn't call myself Nostradamus since these dumb ass republican presidents are pretty predictable.

One thing I will say is I was shocked back then to see nearly half of the country vote for this dumbass Bush. Sounds familiar right but the '00 election opened my eyes to how stupid this country truly is. It's the reason why 20 years later I'm not shocked Trump got nearly half of the votes.

[Jamastiene]

28. It was infuriating because I already knew how it was going to go down AND

the AND is the most important part, that we would be asked to "accept" the inevitable sham SCOTUS perpetrated on voters.

I despised it then.
I despised it through the years.
I STILL despise it now, because look what it has gotten us.

If it happens again, I will despise it again.
And never think it cannot happen again.

Honestly, I have my doubts in the back of my mind it might happen again, only this time, they will say don't count the votes of several states instead of one state.

I guess I still have some trauma from 2000 lingering in my mind to fear that. People keep telling me, surely, that won't happen again. This is different. They GOTTA count the votes. There is no way SCOTUS would do that. Trump is toast for sure. They obviously missed that episode of horrors Democrats have to put up with from Republicans, weren't there, or refused to read about the horrors that happened then. It happened before. It could happen again.

They sure didn't make sure all votes were counted in 2000. They installed Bush after he went running and whining to them and our votes meant zilch. That is precedent, which means they would possibly do it again.

Now, with all this talk of "illegal" votes, which at this point appears to be mail-in ballots, mostly DEMOCRATIC ballots legally cast, the way states said voters could cast their vote this time around, I'm beginning to wonder if SCOTUS is going to screw us again. This SCOTUS isn't exactly a level playing field right now. Precedent says SCOTUS will screw voters. So, it's in the back of my mind.

2000 was extremely infuriating to me. The being told to eat crow and "accept" the "results" was actually the second worst part too. It was the salt in the wounds.

[MissB]

30. I was busy

I’d left my career two months before, stepping out of the workforce because daycare wasn’t working for my young kids (15 months and 2.5 years).

So I was too busy to obsessively track every development. I knew what was going on and it sucked but honestly I was quite distracted with two small kids.

[DeminPennswoods]

31. Interminable

I haven't respected Nader since that day. Everyone knew what a "butterfly" ballot and "hanging chad" were.

I remember printing out Justice Stevens' scathing dissent. The SCOTUS majority was so embarrassed about their decision to stop the vote counting, Bush vs Gore actually says it cannot be used as precedent for any subsequent court cases ever.

[NNadir]

33. It really sucked for me. I was in Italy with a redneck asshole fraud on a business trip when...

...it started.

He kept carrying on how Bush won.

For business reasons I had to tolerate that fucking asshole with whom I was traveling.

Happily his career, happily for me, went to shit. After he was assigned one of my projects by my boss at the time, the leading contact at the client company called me at home, on my private line to ask me, "Who is this asshole, anyway?"

My company, which I quit, lost all the business I had been doing for them, tens of millions of dollars.

However the outcome of that election destroyed the lives of millions of people. The 2000 election was a tragedy from which the country has yet to recover. The damage done however pales in comparison to the damage done by Trump/McConnell.

I am hoping that McConnell - as evidenced by his hands - is fatally ill and kicks off, and that Beshear appoints a Democrat to replace him, this to save our country.

I hate McConnell that much. I can't recall when I hoped for a fatal illness for anyone, but if there is anyone, McConnell would be it.

[ibegurpard]

34. We have a loooong way to go

Before we hit the Bush vs. Gore threshold