Moore shows a clip of CNN legal commentator Jeffrey Toobin saying that if ballots had been recounted in Florida after the 2000 presidential vote saying:
Moore [narrating]: And even if numerous independent investigations prove that Gore got the most votes —
Toobin: If there was a statewide recount, under every scenario, Gore won the election.
Moore [narrating]: — it won’t matter just as long as all your daddy’s friends on the Supreme Court vote the right way.
What Moore doesn’t show is that a six-month study in 2001 by a consortium of six major news organizations — the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Tribune Co. (parent of the L.A. Times), Associated Press and CNN; plus two Florida papers, the Palm Beach Post and St. Petersburg Times — found just the opposite.
Even if the Supreme Court had not stopped a statewide recount, or if a more limited recount of four heavily Democratic counties had taken place,
Even if the statewide recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court had not been stopped by the Federal Supreme Court, the consortium of news sources found that Bush still would have won Florida and the election under two different scenarios: counting only “undervotes,” or taking into account the reported intentions of some county electoral officials to include “overvotes” as well.
During the CNN appearance from which Moore draws the clip, reporter Candy Crowley explained that Toobin’s analysis assumed the statewide consideration of “overvotes,” which was not a sure thing, though there are indications that Leon County Circuit Court judge Terry Lewis, who was supervising the recount, might have directed counties to consider them.
George W. Bush would have won a hand count of Florida’s disputed ballots if the standard advocated by Al Gore had been used, the first full study of the ballots reveals. Bush would have won by 1,665 votes — more than triple his official 537-vote margin — if every dimple, hanging chad and mark on the ballots had been counted as votes, a USA TODAY/Miami Herald/Knight Ridder study shows. The study is the first comprehensive review of the 61,195 “undervote” ballots that were at the center of Florida’s disputed presidential election.
USA TODAY: Newspapers’ recount shows Bush prevailed