Bush declared cheekily before a giddy crowd packed into a hangar here. Yesterday, he portrayed himself as the steady hand in the race, accusing Gore of having forgotten his southern roots and having reinvented his campaign with each fresh political crisis. Instead of taking the traditional course of finishing with visits to the most intense battlegrounds, Bush threw the long ball one last time and said farewell to the trail deep in traditionally Democratic territory. The race has tightened in polls, and Bush's crowds, while still enthusiastic, have diminished in size in the past few days. But Bush spokesman Ken Lisaius said that even though notification is often short on events, they have no problem getting a crowd.
Voters are incredibly energized.
The base Republicans in this country are extremely motivated. In these events, they're coming to see the governor. Recently Gore has enlisted the aid of several of Hollywood's most well-known faces to stump for him. We've had a long election,'' he continued. I've been saying the same thing on these issues since I got started.