Vice President Al Gore reluctantly concedes defeat to Texas Governor George W. Bush in his bid for the presidency, following weeks of legal battles over the recounting of votes in Florida, on this day in 2000.

In a televised speech from his ceremonial office next to the White House, Gore said that while he was deeply disappointed and sharply disagreed with the Supreme Court verdict that ended his campaign, ”partisan rancor must now be put aside.”

“I accept the finality of the outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College” he said. “And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.”

Gore had won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, but narrowly lost Florida, giving the Electoral College to Bush 271 to 266.

Gore said he had telephoned Bush to offer his congratulations, honoring him, for the first time, with the title ”president-elect.”

”I promised that I wouldn’t call him back this time” Gore said, referring to the moment on election night when he had called Bush to tell him he was going to concede, then called back a half hour later to retract that concession.

Gore only hinted at what he might do in the future. ”I’ve seen America in this campaign and I like what I see. It’s worth fighting for — and that’s a fight I’ll never stop.”

Among the friends and family beside Gore were his wife, Tipper, and his running mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, and his wife, Hadassah.

A little more than an hour later, Bush addressed the nation for the first time as president-elect, declaring that the “nation must rise above a house divided.” Speaking from the podium of the Texas House of Representatives, Bush devoted his speech to themes of reconciliation following one of the closest and most disputed presidential elections in U.S. history. ”I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation,” Bush said.

Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, took office on January 20, 2001. They were re-elected in 2004 over Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards.

HISTORY.COM
Date: 2008-12-13

At 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They never returned.

Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and back-up compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.

By this time, several land radar stations finally determined that Flight 19 was somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of the Florida coast, and at 7:27 p.m. a search and rescue Mariner aircraft took off with a 13-man crew. Three minutes later, the Mariner aircraft radioed to its home base that its mission was underway. The Mariner was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion seen at 7:50 p.m.

The disappearance of the 14 men of Flight 19 and the 13 men of the Mariner led to one of the largest air and seas searches to that date, and hundreds of ships and aircraft combed thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and remote locations within the interior of Florida. No trace of the bodies or aircraft was ever found.

Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the “Lost Squadron” helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.

HISTORY.COM
Date: 2008-12-05

Paul and Shirly Buchkovich of Ocala Florida exercise their First Amendment rights with their Good Guys Automotive and Hercules Fence sign. They even show good faith by sending out their African American Slave to speak with the media. This is not the first time these proud Americans have spoken their mind for the world to see, here is a sign they posted in 2007:

“What has four wheels and flies? A dead cripple in a wheelchair.”

God bless America and Paul and Shirly Buchkovich too.

It’s 11pm, do you know where your presidential candidate is? If you’re a Democrat in Florida, the answer is likely to be yes. Approximately 35,000 voters gathered at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee on Wednesday night for a political rally featuring not only presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, but also former president Bill Clinton.

Despite previous transgressions, including Obama’s victory over Clinton’s wife for the candidacy, the former leader made it clear who his choice was come November 4. “I think it’s clear the next president of the United States should be, and with your help will be, Barack Obama,” he said.

Clinton said Obama has the right philosophy, the right policies and the intellectual heft to handle the job of president. Taking a jab at President Bush, he said the past eight years should have taught Americans “that we want a president who wants to understand and who can understand.”

Bill Clinton wasn’t the only one waving the Obama flag last night. Tens of thousands of hopefuls from across Florida came out for the event, some arriving hours beforehand in hopes of getting a good seat.

Robert Mason traveled from Atlanta to see the Democrats’ biggest stars. Mason became sold on Obama after watching him during the meltdown on Wall Street in late September. “To be that even-keel in a crisis spoke volumes,” he said. “He truly appeared presidential.”

It seems to be the general consensus of Obama supporters that “He’s someone we can believe in.”

Woman Says Man Kissed Her, Asked For Phone Number

DeLAND, Fla. — A clerk at a DeLand convenience store drive-through faces battery charges after being accused of leaning inside a customer’s car, kissing the woman and grabbing her breasts, according to a charging affidavit.

The woman said she pulled into the Red Barn Drive Thru on West New York Avenue when Islam Mohammad kissed and touched her, according to the charging affidavit. The clerk then said “very nice” and asked the woman for her address and phone number, the affidavit said.

The woman filed a complaint with DeLand police, and Mohammed will be charged with battery, according to the affidavit.

LOCAL 6 / DJKC