Gore Minutes From Conceding

NASHVILLE--On the day after, no one in Nashville was exactly sure what had transpired in the War Memorial Plaza, where thousands of supporters for Vice President Al Gore '69 had gathered on Election Night.

Had it been a premature victory party? Had it been the Hollywood tale of the comeback kid? Had it been just a bad dream?

The Plaza stood abandoned yesterday, only hours after supporters had finally dispersed, after receiving news that the mind-bogglingly close race in Florida would undergo a recount.

In the short span of about six hours, Gore supporters in the Plaza

celebrated their man on the road to victory, then saw their victory start to slip away; Texas Gov. George W. Bush had been declared the victor, and then the networks had retracted this announcement, too.

As movie producer Rob Reiner told CNN early yesterday morning, this story is "stranger than fiction."

After initially disheartening news--in the opening hour of the race, all states besides Vermont went to Bush--Gore headquarters exploded in cheers and applause Tuesday night as networks declared the important

trifecta of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida going to Gore.

Their jubilation was short-lived, however, as the networks soon declared

Florida "too close to call." A silence fell over the visibly shaken occupants of the Nashville Sheraton Downtown, headquarters for Gore's victory celebration. They had come so far, and victory had seemed so close.

Gore and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman were in the midst of a private dinner with their wives at the Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel when the networks called the three states. They cheered, finished their dinner and went back to giving phone interviews to radio stations.

As the polls closed, the Gore campaign shifted its get-out-the-vote resources westward. Gore himself gave a score of television interviews in battleground areas like Philadelphia, Kansas City, Des Moines, Albuquerque and Detroit; he also gave more than 30 radio addresses in western locales.

Tipper Gore and Lieberman joined in the battle, doing interviews via satellite for Portland, Green Bay and Seattle. Downstairs, the hotel staff had begun to bring out the champagne glasses after Florida went to Gore--but their celebration would prove premature.

Around midnight, rain clouds finally burst on the War Memorial crowd--and the electoral skies darkened as well. The tide turned against the vice president, as outside his supporters began being soaked by a steady light rain.

After the last polls closed on the West Coast, the Gore spin operation shut down. Aides, with beers in hand, closed the doors and sat down in front of the single television in the room to watch the returns flow in.

When they emerged nearly two-and-a-half hours later, three television networks and CNN--every major news organization except the Associated

Press--had declared Bush the next President of the United States. Bush was ahead by 30,000 votes, according the networks, which called the race at 2:18 a.m. EST.

Tears flowed freely as aides trudged across the street, through security and into the Plaza to watch their man deliver a concession speech.

Campaign spokesperson Dan Gerstein '89 entered the plaza in a state of shock, unsure of how his team had lost.

"It's hard to figure out right now while the wounds are so fresh," he told The Crimson.

Gore, in his suite at the Loews, called Bush to concede the race around

2:40 a.m. Joined by his top advisors, Gore and his family left en route to the Plaza.

But Field Director Michael Whouley, sitting at Gore headquarters outside Nashville, noticed a peculiarity in the incoming Florida returns and paged Gore's traveling Chief of Staff Michael Feldman. Reached in the motorcade just two blocks from the Plaza, Feldman listened as Whouley explained that Bush's lead had shrunk to just 6,000 votes.

"Bush's lead is melting like ice cream in a microwave," commented CBS anchor Dan Rather.

By the time the motorcade reached the Plaza, fewer than a thousand votes separated the two candidates--forcing a high-level meeting in Gore's secure room at the Plaza.

Meanwhile, unaware of the developments, supporters outside waited impatiently for the concession speech.

"He lost, let's get it over with," one supporter muttered.

Daley called Bush's campaign manager, Don Evans, around 3:15 a.m. to explain the situation. Gore himself followed up on the call about 30 minutes later, telling Bush he was recanting his earlier concession.

"Mr. Vice President, I understand you have to do what you have to do,"

Bush told Gore, according to Bush communications director Karen Hughes.

Outside, a campaign worker switched on the networks on the big screen televisions, and a giant cheer went up from the crowd. The race had narrowed to only about 200 votes.

History was in the making.

"It's absolutely amazing," said Melissa H. Renny, a sophomore at Princeton who skipped classes to attend the Gore celebration. "In a 100 years, when people are talking about great moments in campaign history, this'll be one of them."

"It makes you feel proud to be an American," said Gore volunteer Beverly L. Barnes. "Your vote counts."

Gore aides, who just an hour earlier, brushing aside reporters' frantic questions with "no comment" and "I don't know," suddenly exhibited newfound life.

As Gore and his motorcade rushed back to the Loews, campaign chair Bill

Daley came out to speak to the soggy supporters.

"There's never been a night like this one," he said around 4:30 a.m. "This race is still too close to call and until the recount is concluded and the results in Florida become official, our campaign continues."

A giant cheer went up from the crowd.

--Staff writer Garrett M. Graff can be reached at ggraff@fas.harvard.edu.