November 7, 2000 — Election Day 2000 — America Heads To The Polls…

Gordon Skene
Nov 7 · 2 min read

https://pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/News-November-7-2000.mp3

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November 7, 2000 — Election 2000 — Voting day — the day that would end up a lot differently than how it started. At the time of this broadcast, polls were still open, precincts reported a much higher turnout than previous elections — a desire to start celebrating was breaking out in some cities. Preliminary exit polls suggested George W. Bush was getting an early lead as some polls were starting to close in the East. The Mid-West and the West coast were still very much active and all that could be ascertained was a dramatic uptick in voter turnout. How that would bode for a final tally was anybody’s guess.

There were no problems so far — nothing seemed out of the ordinary — the job of casting votes was underway and for the most part, counting hadn’t really started yet. Little did anyone know what was going to unfold only few hours away, and how this election would be one of the most hotly contested in American history — how Florida would be in the crucial spotlight and we’d quickly add new phrases to our personal lexicons; phrases like Hanging Chads and Battleground States.

Also in consideration was the potential impact third party candidate Ralph Nader would have on the outcome of the election. Many felt Nader would be siphoning off votes normally going to Gore, but nothing was a certainty — only the coming hours would tell.

There was other news — In a Massachusetts courtroom Joan Kennedy pleaded guilty to drunk driving and was sentence to two years probation. She was arrested in September after someone called Police and reported a car driving erratically. It was Kennedy’s fourth drunk driving arrest since 1974.

And that’s what was going on, this Election Day in 2000, as reported by The CBS World News Roundup Late Edition and Campaign Update hourly reports.


Originally published at https://pastdaily.com on November 7, 2019.

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