NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from London that several world leaders, including French president Jacques Chirac and British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, rushed to congratulate Texas governor George W. Bush when it appeared he had won the U.S. presidential election. On learning the outcome was still uncertain, they retracted their messages with some embarrassment. Russian analysts, among others, saw the confusion in the United States as a sign of the imperfections in the U.S. electoral system.
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