Yep it's exactly why the media called Florida for Gore before the western panhandle had finished voting.
Is that anything like how they called Indiana for G.H.W. Bush in 1992 before Gary and Evansville were finished voting?
No because in 1992, they got it right. In 2000 they actually caused precincts to close hour early which prevented people from voting by prematurely calling the state for Gore. If the media had waited, Bush would've won Florida by nearly 4 points. Not to mention the way they described the hanging chads and butterfly ballots as if the election were being stolen for Bush. You couldn't turn a news network on without hearing about his brother being the governor of the state. Does anyone who is intellectually honest actually believe votes were counted accurately each time? If so, how were there different results each time? All that was happening was they were going to count the votes and change the rules over and over again until Gore finally won. If only there were a comparison between Florida 2000 and Indiana 1992. If only.
FL was called a whole
seven minutes before voting closed in the Panhandle. Back in the days before facebook and smart phones, news didn't travel that fast. If you were home watching tv, you weren't going to make it to the polling place anyway. As to the original question, this is why 2000 was so close:
