It's Day Seven. The presidential election is getting more twisted and more bizarre--if that's possible. The latest revelation courtesy of The Washington Post: It was 2:16 a.m. on November 8. The state of Florida, called earlier by the networks for Al Gore, was then put back in the "undecided" category, and then suddenly Fox News's Election Night decision desk made a new call: George W. Bush wins Florida. ABC, CBS, and NBC followed Fox's lead within minutes, which led Gore to concede the election in a private phone conversation with Bush only to retract it soon after. So who set all this in motion at Fox News? John Ellis. First cousin of George W. and Florida governor Jeb Bush. Nephew of former President George Bush. Ellis was on the phone throughout the evening with his cousins, updating them on the vote count. Fox News insists there was no impropriety in having a Bush cousin make the state win/lose calls. "John has always conducted himself in an extremely professional manner," said Fox Vice President John Moody, although he did allow that the phone calls to George W. and Jeb "would cause concern." Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, said: "The notion that you'd have the cousin of one presidential candidate...in a position to call a state is unthinkable. Fox's call precipitated all the other networks' calls. That call--wrong, unnecessary, misguided, foolish--has helped create a sense that this election went to Bush, was pulled back and he is waiting to be restored."
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"lose the race; you lose your car"
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"lose the race; you lose your car"
