Reply #84: For the record, just so we're clear, it was widely reported

[Stephanie]

http://www.gwbushwatch.com/reuters1.htm

Justice O'Connor Upset When Seemed Gore Won -Report
Story Filed: Sunday, December 17, 2000 2:12 PM EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was upset during an election-night party when she heard Florida was first called for Vice President Al Gore, exclaiming, ''this is terrible,'' according to a report in Newsweek magazine released on Sunday.

The report said O'Connor made the comment at about 8 p.m. on Nov. 7, and declared that meant the election was ``over'' because Gore had also won two other key states.

Quoting two eyewitnesses to her comments, Newsweek said that O'Connor then walked off to get a plate of food, and her husband, John, explained to friends and acquaintances that she was upset because they wanted to retire to Arizona and a Gore presidency meant they would have to wait another four years because she did not want a Democrat to name her successor.

Not long after Florida was called for Gore, news organizations retracted the call and said Florida was too close to be awarded to either candidate. The state was then called for Bush, but again that call was retracted and the race remained in limbo for five weeks.

O'Connor, 70, had been Republican majority leader of the Arizona State Senate before being appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. <more>