Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 697 The Awkward Media

On the sofa in the living room, Aaron, wearing pajamas, was drinking alone. Right now, all the news media were rushing to report that George W. Bush had become the 43rd President of the United States.

Florida has the third-most electoral votes after California and Texas, and is even ahead of New York.

Based on the current vote counts of the two candidates, whoever wins the Florida election will become president!

"Hey, Aaron, why are you up? Has a new president been elected already?"

At that moment, Anne Hathaway also came out wearing a nightgown.

Aaron pulled Anne Hathaway onto his lap. "Heh, maybe. Anyway, the media says George W. Bush has been elected!"

“Yes, it’s him,” Anne Hathaway said, not particularly concerned. She put her arm around Aaron’s neck and kissed him.

"Hmm," Aaron responded, reaching into the woman's pajamas and pressing her down onto the sofa, feeling her softness.

"Aaron, you've kept us going for so long, haven't we had enough fun yet?"

Anne Hathaway hugged Aaron and laughed.

Jessica Alba is still fast asleep and hasn't woken up yet.
"What do you think?" Aaron ruffled the girl's hair. "Let's go back to sleep!"

The following day at noon, Aaron woke up to a message stating that the media's earlier announcement that George W. Bush had won the election was incorrect and a recount was necessary.

"I never imagined that so many things would happen in the early hours of this morning?"

Before the vote count in Florida was even finished, various television stations and media outlets rushed to report that George W. Bush had been elected.
After the vote count in Florida ended, the close vote count triggered Florida's recount law!
Last night, after Aaron went to sleep, according to information provided by the Florida Secretary of State, although George W. Bush Jr. received more votes than Albert Gore in the 99.9% of the votes that have been released in the state, it was only by one or two thousand votes. The state has 600 million voters, and the votes in several counties have not yet been counted, plus the votes from overseas have not yet been counted.

Therefore, the election is not over until the vote counting in Florida is completed!

Some newspapers that published full-page reports of "Bush won" in advance, hoping to make a quick buck, ended up making a mess of things and had to revise their reports in time.

For example, the New York Post rushed to fill its front page with headlines such as "George Won," and eventually had to make a last-minute redesign. However, many of these "misprinted newspapers" ended up on the streets and were bought by the public.

Even the British media were taken aback. The Evening Standard newspaper published two front pages today, the first titled "Bush Wins" and the second "Recount".
Similar incidents are countless in the British and American press, to the point that the chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Tosin, wrote to the Associated Press and some media executives in the United States, demanding that the media responsible for the erroneous reports be held accountable.

In the afternoon, at his villa in Miami, Aaron was on the phone with Karen McKee. "This mistake isn't a big deal. After all, it wasn't just us; the other TV stations announced it in advance!"

Aaron glanced at his watch. "Now the results for Florida are in, but the votes are too close, so they have to recount. The president is still undecided, and the people are getting anxious."

"According to the latest vote count, George W. Bush received 2909136 votes, 1785 more than Vice President Albert Gore's 2907351 votes. Because the margin was less than 0.5%, Florida law was triggered, and Florida officials stated that a recount was required by law." "As things stand, Albert Gore has 260 electoral votes, and George W. Bush has 246. Therefore, whoever wins Florida's 25 electoral votes will enter the White House and become president. Winning Florida now means winning the election!"

“A recount? Interesting. From midnight last night to early this morning, there have been several reversals. Florida is certainly dramatic,” Aaron chuckled.

After hanging up the phone, Aaron sat on the sofa, gently patting his knees, his eyes scanning the various newspapers in front of him;
The British and American media rushed to report the election results, leading to this embarrassing scene. While everyone was frantically searching for their glasses, it was also an awkward moment for the heads of state and leaders of international organizations who had rushed to congratulate them.

Just minutes after CNN reported George W. Bush's election victory, the heads of state of Germany, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Turkey, Indonesia, and Australia all sent congratulatory messages to George W. Bush on his election as the 43rd President of the United States!

German President Johannes Rau was the first to offer his congratulations, saying in his telegram to George W. Bush: "We know you are a good friend of our country, and we hope that our people will continue to maintain friendly relations during your presidency."

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's congratulatory message was very warm: "We congratulate Mr. George W. Bush from the bottom of our hearts on his victory in the presidential election."

Of course, not long after, Germany, Japan and other countries withdrew their congratulations. A spokesperson for German President Johannes Rau explained, "What can we do? It's complicated. We just wanted to be the first to congratulate him and express our best wishes."

Other world leaders who did not rush to express their opinions were secretly relieved. Swedish Prime Minister Persson joked, "I'm a little confused. What's going on? But luckily I was smart enough not to rush to send a congratulatory message to Mr. George Walker Bush, so I don't have to withdraw it."

British Northern Ireland Secretary Mandelson laughed heartily: "Of course I'd like to be the first to send a congratulatory message to the newly elected US president—whoever he is. But thankfully I didn't!"

Faced with this dramatic change, differing opinions emerged from the Democratic and Republican camps:
George W. Bush's supporters were stunned. Upon hearing the news that the outcome was still uncertain, the supporters were extremely shocked, and their cheers came to an abrupt halt.

At 4:28 a.m., a spokesperson for the Republican presidential campaign headquarters issued a formal statement, expressing confidence that their side had the upper hand:
"Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney thank the voters for their support. We hope, and we firmly believe, that we have won the election. The latest vote count shows that we are leading our opponents by 1200 votes, and we are confident that we will win once the vote count is completed."

Democratic Party supporters naturally went from despair to ecstasy, cheering, embracing, and jumping for joy, ignoring the turnaround in the election.

At 4:30 a.m., a spokesperson for Albert Gore's campaign headquarters dramatically issued a formal statement to supporters who were braving the cold rain to await the results:

According to officials from the Florida Board of Elections, only 99.9% of the votes have been counted in Florida so far, and the difference between Gore and Bush is only 1200 votes.

"Under the state law, when the votes for the opposing side are close, a recount is required."

As expected, although George W. Bush was leading in Florida, he only had 1785 more votes, so Florida had to recount the votes!

“Looks like this is going to be quite a hassle,” Aaron said, standing up from the sofa just as Jessica Alba walked in from outside.

"Honey……"

(End of this chapter)