This montage from the Associated Press, showing different headlines from the same newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, running the same day, perfectly captures the spirit of confusion and chaos that occurred as the votes of Florida were being counted, and ultimately recounted, in the wake of the 2000 election. There were 5,963,110 votes cast for president in Florida that year, and the major party candidates were neck and neck. Exit polling had predicted a very narrow victory for Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, yet his opponent, Governor George Bush of Texas, maintained a steady but essentially microscopic lead as votes were counted.