Too close to call

AUSTIN, Texas and NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It was a cold, rainy day in Texas when Republican presidential nominee Gov. George Bush had his moment in the sun, or so the country thought. \nAs of 3:45 a.m., Vice President Al Gore retracted an earlier concessionary phone call to Bush. \nCNN reported earlier that Bush was elected to the highest office in the nation with a slim majority over Democratic nominee Gore. After spending the night glued to the television with his family, the president elect celebrated his victory with more than 17,000 people outside the Capitol in Texas.\nBut it all changed soon after, as CNN and other major news networks retracted the declaration.\nThe votes were so close in some key states that the CNN exit polls were mistaken in their prediction. Several states, including Florida with 25 electoral votes, were predicted based on the exit polls to have been won by Gore, but were in the end a toss-up.\nFlorida will have enough electoral votes to decide the winner, but as of press time it was too close to call. CNN reported at 4 a.m., Bush led Gore in the Sunshine State by 5,460 votes, with a recount looming, according to Florida's Secretary of State.\nVictory looked promising to supporters at the Austin rally at 6 p.m., as Bush started out with 28 electoral votes and the vice president with three.\nTwo hours later, Gore was leading in electoral votes: 145 to Bush's 130. Texas native. The switch in the exit poll leader at 9 p.m. affirmed Torgerson's guess. The map started to fill up with red as Bush regained his lead over Gore 185 to 167. The crowd, reignited with energy from the lead, began chanting "No More Gore," which was then followed by "CNN sucks."\nCNN expressed concerns the exit polls were inaccurate. Amid the incoming numbers, newly re-elected Texas Sen. Kay Hutchinson assured Bush supporters they would be celebrating tonight.\n"Help is on the way," she said.\nCarl Rove, chief campaign organizer for Bush appeared on CNN to resonate the confidence the campaign had in taking Florida's electoral votes.\n"In Democratic parts of the state, we are actually up," Rove said.\nWhen rock singer Jimmy Vaughn took the stage at 10 p.m. the roller coaster ride was far from done. \nAt 10:45 p.m., numbers were so close political analysts considered the possibility of an electoral tie. Gore lead Bush 231 to 229.\nJoanne Brown, a Leander, Texas resident, was covered from head to toe with blue Bush-Cheney stickers. "I think (the race) is going to Bush," she said. "He is going to be a great leader for us."\nJust when things appeared to be a victory for Bush with a lead of 246 to 231, Gore gained 11 electoral votes from Washington that tightened the margin to a mere four votes. At midnight, candidates were in a dead heat with Bush in the lead at 246 to 242 votes.\nAfter an exhaustive wait, Bush was declared the victor as Florida moved in his favor, ending the election with Bush closing 271 votes to Gore's 249. \nBush also took a step forward, onto the Austin stage and perhaps soon, into the Oval Office.