Campus responds to political race

By Ryan May
Daily Forty-Niner

The outcome of the presidential election remains unknown as candidates and the American people anxiously await the results to one of the closest political races since the late '60s.

Election returns changed rapidly over both the Internet and across television networks, with Web sites like CNN.com updating faster than countless reporters and political commentators could televise the results.

"I was on the edge," said Erin McRae, a Cal State Long Beach sophomore accounting major who supported Democratic candidate Al Gore for his positive stance toward the black community. She intently watched the returns until 12:30 a.m.

Around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, many major news outlets announced Florida, the state on which the election still hangs, had gone to Bush. That report was retracted an hour later as Florida officials announced they had to recount.

Gore, who had already placed a phone call conceding the election to Texas Gov. George W. Bush, placed another call retracting that concession.
In the confusion, numerous papers, including the Daily Forty-Niner, ran front-page stories declaring Republican candidate George W. Bush the president-elect.

"It was an honest mistake," said Daisy Cruz, an accounting junior who felt the coverage the media provided was appropriate, although at times circumstantial.

Larry Martinez, a political science professor at CSULB, said that despite the high level of public and media interest, the final results could be delayed until the middle of December.

Additionally, Martinez said, Gore should have won by 10 percentage points. He cited a lack of communication on Gore's part as the cause for an election whose results relied upon each and every vote.

"Gore was unable to focus on core issues," Martinez said.  "[He] would have been more effective if he could have simplified the message."