Comedy Central's Mo Rocca and Vance DeGeneres on Election 2000
November 8, 2000
2 p.m. EDT
(CNN) – Americans watched in amazement November 7 as George W. Bush’s projected victory in the presidential campaign was retracted with the news that Florida’s returns were so close that a recount is required by state law. Bush has a 1,784 vote lead over Al Gore in Florida, which, if verified in the recount, gives Bush the state’s 25 electoral votes and the election. Nationally, Gore leads in the popular vote count by 275,000 votes, with 48,734,682 for Gore and 48,459,592 for Bush.

Mo Rocca and Vance DeGeneres are correspondents on Comedy Central’s "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" which held a live one-hour special, "Election Night Choose and Lose," as part of its Indecision 2000 campaign.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to CNN.com chat room, Mo Rocca and Vance DeGeneres.

Mo Rocca: Good morning! Happy electoral limbo!

Chat Moderator: What are your thoughts on this? First the race was called for Gore, then Bush. Now it comes down to the votes in Florida.

Vance DeGeneres: I think, first of all -- Mo and I were talking about this earlier -- we're both just kind of aghast at the media coverage. There's so much competition and they're calling races too quickly. Everyone wants the scoop. Except for "The Daily Show"! I think we had the most reasonable, fair coverage out there. We had a one-hour special last night. I don't think we went out on a limb and called any races, did we, Mo?

Mo Rocca: We were responsible. It's official. Americans will now hate the media more than they hate politicians. I actually feel sorry for both these guys.

Question from MovingToCanada: What will become of the mess in Florida?

Vance DeGeneres: My prediction: Since the Bush brothers run Texas and Florida, I predict that if Florida doesn't go to Bush, Texas and Florida will simply secede from the nation. We'll be back to 48 states, which is where I thought it should be all along. Fifty is just unmanageable.

Mo Rocca: Fifty is also just too predictable.

Vance DeGeneres: It does sound phony, doesn't it?

Mo Rocca: As for the mess in Florida, blame it on Jimmy Buffett.

Vance DeGeneres: Darn that Jimmy Buffett and his Margaritaville!

Question from Silvermoon: For both of you: What do you think will be different in the country depending on who wins?

Vance DeGeneres: If Bush wins, I think we can look forward to, within his first four-year term, every single American -- man, woman and child -- being able to carry a firearm in public. Arguments will be settled quickly and finally, reducing the need for pesky trials.

Mo Rocca: The biggest difference is if Al Gore wins, congressional Republicans will do everything in their power to ruin the president's life. If George Bush wins, congressional Democrats will do everything in their power to ruin the president's life. It's a lose-lose situation after this trauma.

Vance DeGeneres: With one exception: The only real winners in a Bush presidency, or the positive aspect of a Bush presidency, is that it would be amazingly fertile ground for the late night talk show hosts, including our own "Daily Show."

Question From Cosmiccharlie: What do you think of Missouri's election of a dead senator?

Mo Rocca: If you lose to a dead man, who are you supposed to call to congratulate?

Vance DeGeneres: Ghostbusters? I'm personally going to pitch a sitcom based on the ghost of a senator haunting Washington, D.C. I suspect it will be picked up by Fox instantly. Mixing politics and the spirit world is the next big thing in sitcoms.

Chat Moderator: And what about Hillary beating out Lazio?

Mo Rocca: You're missing the real story. Regarding the presidential race, there's a quirky little article in the Constitution that says, should the presidential race be deadlocked in the state of Florida, then the newly elected junior senator from New York shall assume full executive power. Once again, we can blame Hillary.

Question from Twisting: Should this election have been decided with a shootout -- a duel with muskets?

Vance DeGeneres: I would say absolutely not. Muskets are far too untrustworthy and the aim is terribly imprecise. They'd be shooting at each other for days before they hit each other, leaving the country with another two weeks before deciding the election.

Question from Pita: How could we encourage the loser to still be able to contribute his ideas and insight.

Mo Rocca: A free weekend in the Lincoln bedroom.

Vance DeGeneres: That includes continental breakfast; maybe a free newspaper.

Mo Rocca: And a mint on the pillow and turndown service.

Vance DeGeneres: By Laura Bush. We were watching Ralph Nader this morning on a couple of interviews. It's amazing. Nader looked completely rumpled and disheveled. Running as a presidential candidate, he looked like a bad local actor auditioning for the Walter Matthau role in a dinner theatre production of "The Odd Couple." He wants to be our president? Comb your hair!

Question from Vesta: Do you think all this election screwiness could be caused by a millennium bug?

Vance DeGeneres: Interesting observation. I don't think that's been brought up in the last 11 months or so. I thought it was dead and buried.

Mo Rocca: It's not the millennium bug. It's West Nile Virus.

Question from Go: Who do you project to win the election and by what margin?

Vance DeGeneres: This has been the nightmare scenario that some people were saying could happen, that one candidate would win the most votes and the other the Electoral College. But they thought Bush would win the most votes. Now it’s Gore winning the popular vote and possibly losing the Electoral College. I predict it will come down to about 700 votes. And that's to decide the president of the United States. And all those discrepancies in Florida, which happens to be governed by George W.'s brother. I think we have a whole kettle of fish that needs to be cleaned and gutted.

Mo Rocca: Judging from turnout in Palm Beach, it's Buchanan in a sweep.

Question from Brahe: Given the confusion resulting in votes for Buchanan instead of Gore in Florida, do you think Palm Beach County should be allowed some kind of revote? Or should we just blame it on unperceptive voters?

Mo Rocca: I wish I could be funny, but the blame goes on unperceptive voters. History is unfair. If Bush wins, it's not fair in an ideal world, but one should remember that it was Bill Daly's father that stole the election from Richard Nixon in 1960. Who knows which way it will go, but...

Vance DeGeneres: But you don't blame anyone?

Mo Rocca: No, these things are a wash in the end. I'm thinking of blaming McDonald’s because their food has lots of sugar. It got me all hopped up yesterday, which is why I voted for Harry Browne.

Vance DeGeneres: I can vouch for that and for the fact that Mo received a severe beating from the entire staff of "The Daily Show" for that vote. And about the Palm Beach residents: I say Mo is wrong, WRONG I tell you. Each and every resident who accidentally cast a vote for Buchanan should receive from the federal government a brand new Maytag washer and dryer, in the color of their choice.

Mo Rocca: I'm tired of Vance's democracy-come-parting gifts!

Vance DeGeneres: I'm an old Tammany Hall kinda guy.

Question from Blaine: What do you think about Gore's failure to win his home state of Tennessee?

Vance DeGeneres: That's a tough one. If Gore had won Tennessee and Clinton had delivered Arkansas, Florida would be moot. That is really disturbing. Nothing funny about that, just disturbing. I will add, though, a lot of people thought the ghost of Elvis would have come through and helped him out.

Mo Rocca: I'm convinced Travis Tritt stuffed the ballot box for Bush. I met James Carville the other day, by the way. He said, "Whatever the pundits say, assume the opposite." Even though he is a pundit himself, for the first time, I really truly believe that advice.

Vance DeGeneres: I'll jump on this pile that Mo started. I couldn't agree more. I think this should be the very last election where we see political pundits 24-hours a day, on every channel, everywhere you turn. Pundits should go back to Red China, where they belong. On a serious note, I do think that pundits cloud people’s judgment, muddy the political waters and should keep their noses out of the political process. You didn't see pundits on television to help elect Honest Abe Lincoln and he did okay.

Chat Moderator: But aren't you guys pundits?

Vance DeGeneres: Oh, I forgot to add that we include ourselves as part of the problem, and not the solution. And if I were CNN.com, I would promise never to have us on, ever again.

Mo Rocca: We're not really pundits. We're pundettes.

Vance DeGeneres: Pundits light.

Mo Rocca: We're pundettes. We don't purport to know as much as they do. So, we're a lot less self-important.

Vance DeGeneres: We're kinda like the majorettes in parades. We kinda just toss our baton and do our best to catch it without letting it hit us in the eyeball.

Mo Rocca: That's right. And instead of pompoms, we've got microphones.

Question from MikeBoroski: What do you think about the possibility of riots?

Vance DeGeneres: I think the possibility of laugh riots is 100 percent.

Mo Rocca: With a margin of error of 65 percent. Vance, are you willing to confirm that projection?

Vance DeGeneres: I will concede that to Mo.

Mo Rocca: That's right. "The Daily Show" is now projecting 100 percent chance of laugh riots.

Vance DeGeneres: You heard it here first.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us?

Mo Rocca: Keep Hope Alive.

Vance DeGeneres: I find it personally despicable that Mo would rip off the words of the Reverend Jesse Jackson by stealing his catch phrase. He knows better. I pray for him. God bless America. Over and out.

Mo Rocca and Vance DeGeneres joined the Allpolitics Chat via telephone from New York, New York. CNN provided a typist for them. The above is an edited transcript of the chat, which took place on Wednesday, November 8, 2000.