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.
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