Jeff Flock listens to opinions in
Chicago
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Jeff Flock
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CNN Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock braved
the wintry weather to ask Chicagoans their
views on the ongoing presidential saga.
Q: What are you hearing from people on the
streets?
FLOCK: I'm on the snowy streets of
Chicago, and opinion one is that most
people have had enough. They have really
reached saturation point. A lot of people
we talked to say they are going about with
their lives and not really watching much
anymore. A lot of people said at the
outset they were glued to their television
sets; now, they're catching an update once
or twice a day.
Q: Do you sense that even Democrats want
Vice President Al Gore to concede at this
point?
FLOCK: This is a Democratic town. It is
home to the Daleys: Mayor Richard Daley
who delivered big time for Al Gore on
election night and Bill Daley, his
brother, who continues to work for the
vice president. So, these voters tend to
be predisposed for Gore.
But even among the Gore partisans who say
that even though they think he won the
election, some say, despite that, they
think the country might be better off at
this point to just give in to Bush and
move forward.
One person said, "I think the Democrats
will take a loss better now than the
Republicans will." Another person made the
point that he was really concerned about
the outcome if Gore winds up flipping it
back around and winning Florida and
ultimately winning the election -- that
the outrage among Republicans ... will be
so great it will make governing very, very
difficult.
One other person with ties to the
Democratic Party here said that if Gore
winds up winning the election, his fear is
that Gore will be embroiled in
investigations by Congress that will make
what Bill Clinton went through look like a
walk in the park.
Q: Do you think public pressure may at
some point have any bearing on a possible
Gore concession, if it comes to that?
FLOCK: From the anecdotal responses I got
from people, I don't get the sense that
they are pressuring the vice president to
drop out. They think that he should
concede, but they are willing to let it
play out.
I still think there is a real willingness
among a large number of people to continue
to let it play out. They really do see a
light at the end of the tunnel. It will
end at some point. Even if they're not
following as closely as they were at the
outset, they are content to let the
process play out.
One thing that has kind of re-energized
the Democratic Gore partisans is the
Florida Legislature's announcement to
convene a special session. I think people
have a real sense of outrage about that.
Even the ones who think that Gore ought to
give in don't want to see the bat taken
out of his hands and out of the voters'
hands. They say they just don't think it's
fair, because the state Legislature is so
heavily Republican.
The Democrats are willing to lose this
fight in the courts. If the state Supreme
Court rules against them and if the other
lower court cases go against them, they
are willing to lose that way. But they
really don't like the notion of losing to
a bunch of Republican legislators taking
the electoral votes away.
Q: Are people still angry at the news
media?
FLOCK: I'm getting less media backlash.
Even in the midst of a heavy snowstorm
Thursday morning in Chicago, we were able
to find people who were willing to stop
and talk and share their views despite the
conditions. My sense is that most people
have gotten over the anti-media feeling
that existed earlier. People have had so
much of all this, they are not mad any
more.
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