WASHINGTON, D.C. - It's midnight on election night. Hundreds of people are gathered around the stage and monitors. The tightly packed crowd screams and waves their hands like Abercrombie-wearing teenage girls at a Backstreet Boys concert. These middle-aged, well dressed Republicans are reacting to projections from "swing states."
Tonight at the election party for the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., the main discussion has been about the liberal bias of the media, specifically the major television networks' premature prediction that Gore would win Florida.
With charges flying about a vast left-wing conspiracy, the confusion over Florida only adds to the turmoil tonight. However, as the swing states move back and forth into Gore's and Bush's columns, the electoral count moves up but no one is pulling ahead.
As the results come in, we will see that the last big undecided state, Florida, will end up deciding the election.
Early on, even partisan Republicans seemed to be somewhat in denial here over the movement of states to Gore. When results in Pennsylvania came through, the reaction was muted. After the premature call of Florida, some of the party faithful were already counting their man out.
But Tennessee was the turning of the tide here at the Republican election party. After Bush won the Volunteer State, a cheer rose up among the party faithful. Even though many had predicted that Bush would take this state, it still was labeled undecided, and there was a symbolic victory in carrying Gore's home state.
Next came Ohio for Bush, where he had been leading the polls by single digits. When Missouri was called for Bush, the screams from crowds of Republicans echoed down the hall.
As the night has continued on, the electoral count between the candidates has moved up, but no one's pulled ahead. And after Florida was taken away from Gore, the election suddenly became too close for either side to be confident.
While the results still haven't come in, Florida will end up deciding the election. This is a state where Bush's brother is governor, and the senior citizen vote was split 50/50. The state has moved from being a Gore win to being "too close to call," resulting in shouts and cheers from the Republicans. At 10 o'clock, right after the switch by the major networks, you could hear the confidence in the halls of the Capitol Hilton.
"Did you hear? It's going to Bush?"
"They've called it for Bush!"
"There's that liberal media, trying to get Gore elected themselves!"
Indeed, the networks have been cautious to give Florida to Bush. It seems as though they are reluctant to actually admit that they were wrong. In time, many Republicans here believe, the networks will have egg on their face.
In response, former New Jersey State Sen. Leanna Brown and chair of Brown Global Enterprises said, "In general, it was known it was going to be a close and long night, and therefore states should have been left in undecided columns."
While the mood here seemed to be a little antagonistic towards the media, most people were confident that Bush would win Florida. After Alaska was announced, one supporter yelled, "We got it! We won!" A little premature, but increasing returns seem to be favoring Bush.
With Bush and Gore only a point away in the electoral college, and several states still undecided, Florida remains the largest prize still left to be taken.
The longer Florida stays too close to call, the better it appears for Bush. In the meantime, the networks are praying that Gore will win. If Bush wins Florida, when the post-election storm clears the big question will be, "How could they have called it so soon for Gore?" Indeed, many questions will be raised if Bush wins the election.
Even at midnight, the night seems young as the swing states cannot be called. Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and Iowa remain four of the largest undecided. It is still possible for either candidate to win without Florida, but it would take almost all of the uncalled swing states to do this.
There are no guarantees on Election Night; just ask CNN or NBC. But it appears a sure bet - whoever wins Florida will take the election.
(Brian Cook is a Cavalier Daily columnist.)
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