Republicans, Democrats sweat it out
Alex Coolman
NEWPORT BEACH -- Newport-Mesa Republicans waited anxiously late into
the night Tuesday as Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush
fought through the tightest presidential election in a generation.
At the Sutton Place Hotel on MacArthur Boulevard, Republican Party
officials and the rank and file kept their eyes glued to television
monitors showing which states had been captured by Bush.
Locally, Republicans lived up to expectations. Preliminary numbers
showed Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Christopher Cox
(R-Newport Beach) winning by large margins. State Assembly candidate John
Campbell and state Senate incumbent Ross Johnson also were cruising to
solid victories.
Democrats, in every local race, captured little more than a third of
the vote.
On the presidential front, however, polls revealed an excruciatingly
tight race.
As Bush moved state by state toward what Republicans hoped would be
victory, they greeted bits of news with deafening cries. The news that
“Dubya” had won in Alaska set off a chant that shook the room.
“Florida! Florida! Florida!” went the cry.
The state of Florida, which carries 25 electoral votes, turned out to
be pivotal in the race. Early television coverage of the returns
indicated that Gore had captured the vote in the Sunshine State.
But CNN and other networks later revised their reports on Florida to
indicate that the state was questionable or possibly leaning toward a
Bush victory.
Some of the Republicans at the Sutton Place said they found the poll
juggling infuriating.
“It’s nonsense,” said Newport Beach resident Ron Winship. “They should
never put a state in somebody’s column unless they’re sure about it.”
Rohrabacher went one step further in brief remarks to the hotel crowd.
“They lied about Florida. They tried to steal Mississippi,”
Rohrabacher said. “But we’re going to save America!”
For Democrats, many of whom were gathered at Hennessey’s Tavern in
Dana Point, the night was one of tense optimism.
Early in the evening, as networks called the states of Florida and
Pennsylvania for Gore, Orange County Democratic chairwoman Jeane Costales
sounded upbeat.
“We have so many people out getting people to the polls,” she said.
“That’s all we’ve been doing. I think we’re going to win.”
Later in the night, after Florida appeared to have been taken by Bush
and many other states had gone to the Republican as well, Democrats were
still managing to maintain what 73rd Assembly District candidate Robert
Wilberg called a “festive” atmosphere.
“Gore is 100% in the race,” Wilberg said as Florida remained decidedly
up for grabs more than seven hours after its polls had closed. “He’s
going to win. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
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