State of Confusion: Voices of the 2000 Election

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 8, 2001

A year ago today, Americans woke up expecting to learn the name of their new president. Instead, the morning news delivered confusion and conflict.

Florida had spoken. But what did it say?

After five weeks and countless bizarre and comical legal maneuvers, the answer came from on high. George W. Bush, the Supreme Court decided.

Okay. But what did regular people make of the whole fiasco?

To find answers, we went looking in some unusual places. We talked with people who have no particular title, who don't ride limos to the office, who have never been interviewed about the Electoral College.

We hung out with skateboard kids and exotic dancers. We spoke to tourists and people who entertain them. We talked to a woman at the bar at a VFW post.

Over the next week you'll hear their stories; all were reported and written before Sept. 11. The people you'll meet form a kind of Supreme Court of the Common Person. They all have arrived at decisions about what happened in the 36 weirdest days of Florida history.

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