How to Steal an Election: The Inside Story of How George Bush's Brother and FOX Network Miscalled the 2000 Election and Changed the Cour (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: exit poll operation, network decision teams, actual vote count, Jeb Bush, Supreme Court, Election Day (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is the inside story of how Jeb Bush persuaded the Fox network to call the presidential election for his brother George W. Bush on Election Night 2000. It was one phone call to Fox — the details of which are revealed in this book for the first time — that propelled George W. Bush into leading position for 43rd president of the United States. Even though the erroneous statement had to be retracted within two hours, the damage done by this false call to Al Gore's chances of winning the election were incalculable. David Moore, at the time senior editor for the Gallup Poll, makes the plausible and alarming case that, had Fox not made this miscall, the resulting political environment would have been less biased in favor of Bush, and that Al Gore could have won.   On Election Night in 2000, Moore was with the exit poll "decision team" of CBS and CNN, taking notes on how election races were called, and miscalled, around the country — including the two miscalls and two rescissions in Florida. Prior to joining Gallup in 1993, Moore was founder and director of the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire.

About the Author

David W. Moore, a prominent national pollster, is former Senior Editor of the Gallup Poll.

On Election Night in 2000, Moore was with the exit poll “decision team” of CBS and CNN, taking extensive notes on how Warren Mitofsky and Joe Lenski called, and miscalled, election races around the country – including the two miscalls and two rescissions in Florida.

He writes a weekly column (PollTalk) for the Gallup website that deals with controversial polling issues. He also writes several polling articles a month for the Gallup website.

Prior to joining Gallup in 1993, as a vice president and the managing editor of the Gallup Poll, Moore was founder and director of the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Nation Books; 1 edition (September 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560259299
• ISBN-13: 978-1560259299
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #887,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling, January 17, 2007

By	A. Barry - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a brisk but comprehensive overview of the 2000 election. Despite the inherently democratic bias of the what the book is asserting, the book never comes off as whining and references are plenty. One of the author's main points is that the Fox News channel prematurely called Florida for Bush, and all of the other networks blindly followed suit to avoid being the only network to not have this information. Hours later it was clear the state was too close to call for either candidate, but because all of the networks had called Florida and thus the entire election for Bush, Gore's later contentions were perceived as those of a "loser" trying to overturn a result in his favor, when in fact the reality of the situation was that Bush had never "won" the state to begin with. Had the state never been called, the perception would have been that Florida would simply require some extra time to be tallied and there wouldn't have been the same sort of "Sore Loserman" public backlash to Gore's recount efforts. It's pretty convincing stuff.

Where the author failed to convince me of though was that the "Bushies" made a concious effort to "steal" the election. The author describes what happened as George Bush's cousin John Ellis being encouraged by Florida governor Jeb Bush to call the state. This, of course, turned out to be foolish, but ultimately FOX was sticking their neck out in the call. The author's tone suggests that this was some grand scheme planned out from the beginning, that the Bushies somehow knew exactly how the scenario would play out and that their move would turn public opinion against Gore.

Ultimately though, this was a compelling book and at less than 150 pages, worth anyone's time.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Where everything started, January 11, 2007

By	G. Ed L'espresso-div Ricci "maurizio ricci" (Rome, Italy) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Thinking how U.S. found itself in the Iraqi quagmire? Well, the 2000 Florida nightmare, of course. This book is a good rundown of what happened then and why, from the vantage point of where things actually started ticking: the tv screens which projected Bush winning, following the lead of Fox and - guess who? - Jeb Bush. Moore can be repetitive, but, if you are interested in politics, his account of the inner workings of pollsters and statisticians behind the screen in electoral nights is a must read.

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars funny, September 19, 2008

By	S. Gjerde "Prowlerz" (Elk Grove, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would like to make a point about the ultimate person who would be running for the democrats as President in this election if Gore had not had the election stolen. It would have been Liberman, basically a Republican.