NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On this election night, we're reflecting on that very year when Nashville was especially pivotal. We're hearing from the people who lived it.
November 2000 — Al Gore arrived in Middle Tennessee. The state was very much seen as in play for the presidential election as it was Gore's home state. The team for George W. Bush was also working hard to win Tennessee.
Reporters from all over the world descended on Nashville. War Memorial Plaza was set as the place where Gore hoped to give a victory speech that night.
Ben Hall was reporting from there. Phil Williams was in the newsroom. Pat Nolan was on set.
"This was folding out in Nashville in a way Nashville hadn't seen before," Ben remembered. "This was a Tennessean running for president. I remember it was a cold, rainy night. Everybody was watching our television on our platform and following the returns. Back then, everyone expected we'd have a winner on election night. We'd have someone concede. We'd have a victory speech that night. That's what we'd seen over and over again growing up."
"One of the big curiosities was Al Gore did not carry Tennessee," Phil said. "The fact he could not carry his home state was something the pundits were watching."
"Some of the Republican leaders in the state thought Gore was vulnerable here," Pat added. "It turned out they were right. Tennessee in those days had either 10 or 11 electoral votes, so it would have taken Gore above 270 and Bush below it. CBS and the other networks were calling Florida pretty early, and they called it for Gore. Eventually, they all turned around and gave the state to Bush."
"It meant Bush was going to win," Ben said.
However, Phil was watching numbers in Florida on the website for the Secretary of State.
"I went into the news director's office and said, 'I don't think it's over,'" Phil said.
"Phil kept bringing a new update, putting it in my hand, and I'd hand it to Chris [Clark]," Pat said.
"We got word the Gore team was getting into their motorcade, and they were heading to the War Memorial Auditorium," Phil said.
"We were ready for a concession speech," Ben continued. "It was cold, it was wet, and all of a sudden, the motorcade stops. I remember thinking, 'This is taking a really long time.' He does not get out. There is no concession speech. There was an enormous discussion of 'what do we do? We are in uncharted waters.'"
"By the time the Gore motorcade got to 7th and Charlotte, Bush's lead in Florida was down to hundreds of votes," Pat added.
It's a long story of everything that followed leading to George W. Bush becoming the 43rd president. On this night, though, middle Tennessee was a key part of an election, one of the focuses of the nation.
"It was the biggest political story Tennessee had faced in many, many years," Phil said.
"Without question, I felt like I was living through history," Ben added. "Even then, even as a young guy, I knew this was going to be living through history. It was an incredible thing to behold, an incredible thing to cover."
