NEWS ANALYSIS: WHY WE CALLED THE PRESIDENCY; AN INSIDE LOOK AT HOW SO MANY PAPERS GAVE THE ELECTION TO GEORGE W. BUSH

The nation's voters fell into two categories Wednesday: beleary-eyed political junkies who stayed up watching the news and well-rested early birds baffled by "Bush wins" headlines in their morning newspapers.The latter group slept through an incredible night of political flip-flopping in the most bizarre presidential election of a lifetime.

Television network prognosticators awarded Florida's 25 electoral votes Tuesday to the Democrat, Vice President Al Gore, in prime time. Anchors quickly changed the story as Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican, pulled ahead in the popular vote.

With deadlines approaching, morning newspaper journalists around the world kept anxious eyes on the Internet and wire services.

Radio can update the news constantly. Television can, too. But even major metropolitan newspapers get only three or four editions to put out the latest news available.

The Southeast Missourian planned for two editions -- one at midnight to serve readers outside Cape Girardeau and another two hours later for city-dwellers, who live closer to the newspaper's press. Editor Joe Sullivan said the two-edition plan was a matter of deciding how best to serve readers.

"What we want is accurate information, but we want the latest accurate information," he said. "In newspapers, you tell readers what the news was at the time you went to press, not what it was two hours before then."

Switching postures

Around midnight, newspapers across the country began churning out indecisive headlines. The Southeast Missourian's was "It's a squeaker," paired with a story about the candidates locked in a dead heat.

An hour passed. The election came down to Florida. The difference in the popular vote totals for Gore and Bush hovered around 2,000 in that state. As the counting neared completion, Gore called his opponent and conceded defeat.

Hoping to give readers the latest results, the Southeast Missourian joined newspapers nationwide, including the Miami Herald, New York Post, Boston Globe and even Bush's hometown newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman, in declaring Bush the winner.

The headline on the Southeast Missourian's late edition, printed just after 2 a.m., proclaimed "Bush wins," a basic headline repeated over and over in city after city.

Minutes later, tight final tallies in Florida and the promise of a recount prompted Gore to make another call to Texas. He took back his concession.

"Let me make sure I understand," said Bush, his victory speech in hand. "You're calling me back to retract your concession?"

Replied Gore: "You don't have to get snippy about this."

Major metropolitan newspapers had the luxury of a third edition, where they returned to their indecisive headlines.

The Southeast Missourian didn't have that luxury, Sullivan said. All 18,000 copies of the newspaper were printed.

"Just think how remarkably rare it is that, in such a tight election, we have one of the candidates concede and then, minutes later, the tide shifts and he takes back the concession," he said.

Cape Girardeau resident Susie Jones received the "Bush wins" late edition, but she found out the whole story from a friend who called her at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

"He got up at 4 a.m. to take some Alka Seltzer and turned on the television," said Jones, 45. "So I knew what had happened, but I thought the newspaper got it wrong."

Up-to-the-minute information was available through the wee hours of Wednesday on semissourian.com, which was updated regularly with the latest developments, but the newspaper was already on the street, for better or worse.

Bush, Gore not alone

There have been other late decisions that affected news coverage of presidential elections. In 1976, President Ford conceded to Jimmy Carter at 11 a.m. the next day.

In 1968, Richard Nixon said in his memoirs, the TV networks called the election for him at 8:30 a.m. the next day. Hubert Humphrey conceded at noon.

Eight years earlier, Nixon conditionally conceded to John Kennedy shortly after midnight, telling supporters he'd lost "if the present trend continues." By 6 a.m., the race had tightened even more. But Nixon said a recount could have taken six months and branded him a "sore loser" forever. He congratulated Kennedy by telegram.

On Wednesday, it was inevitable "Bush wins" headlines would be compared to the Chicago Tribune's inaccurate "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline of Nov. 3, 1948, but there was a difference in this race.

More than one newspaper took the bait when Gore conceded. And, while Bush hasn't won, he hasn't lost, either. Florida is in the middle of a massive vote recount that isn't expected to be finished until at least late this afternoon.

And then, perhaps, the final headline can be written.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.