Dems Still Trying for More Electoral Votes
NEVADA - Is this the next ploy by Al Gore's political machine, to challenge the rules governing electors in each state so that 271 of them can vote for him later this month?
It may be so, starting with a 17-page lawsuit filed Tuesday by Reno lawyer Carter King in U.S. District Court, which seeks a restraining order to prevent Nevada's four electoral voters from casting all their ballots for George W. Bush when they meet Monday in Carson City.
Under state law, all of Nevada's electoral votes go to the presidential candidate who wins the most votes. Bush won the state 49.5 percent to Gore's 46 percent, according to results certified by the state Supreme Court.
If the rule is changed, Gore would receive one of Nevada's electoral votes because he won in one congressional district. Bush would receive three.
Were this to happen in three more states and Nevada, Gore would be elected. Stay tuned.
Daschle blocks bill on military voting
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle is blocking passage of a bill that would authorize polling places on domestic military installations and ease the obstacles some service members face in absentee balloting. Top Stories
• Divided court finds recounts unconstitutional
• Democratic support begins to crumble
• Florida House OKs Bush electors
• Democrats won't disclaim Jackson's remarks
• Daschle denies blocking bill on military voting
• D.C. police prepare for protests at inauguration
• CDC report links TB, immigrants
The Clinton administration also opposes the bill, which the House approved in a 297-114 bipartisan vote Oct. 12. Many Republicans accuse Democrats of stopping the bill as part of a larger strategy to suppress the military vote, just as the party did in Florida in challenging hundreds of overseas military ballots.
Senate aides say Mr. Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, placed a "hold" on the bill, a maneuver that would kill the measure if the Senate does not vote before the current session expires at year's end.
"They're shutting down military absentee ballots in Florida and putting a hold that could have increased the total number of people who could have voted in this election," said Rep. Bill Thomas, California Republican and the bill's chief sponsor. "It would have been a lot nicer if Daschle had cooperated and it would have moved through both houses. . . . It's a little embarrassing. They are still stopping this thing. Some people can't be shamed into anything."
A spokesman for Mr. Daschle did not return a phone message yesterday.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court in Atlanta yesterday upheld a lower court's decision to reject the effort by 13 Florida Democratic voters to nullify 2,400 absentee ballots, mostly from military personnel. Democrats hoped a favorable court decision would tip the presidential race to Vice President Al Gore. George W. Bush won 65 percent of overseas ballots opened after the Nov. 7 presidential election in Florida.
Mr. Thomas said his bill would legally authorize what several commanders have done in the past: open polling places on remote bases where it is difficult for personnel and their families to get to the polls. Such a case exists in his district at the desert-surrounded Edwards Air Force Base, he said.
Mr. Thomas said his bill was prompted by fears that the Pentagon would more strictly enforce its policy against polling places, based in part on Civil War-era law.
Two days before the House passed the bill, Defense Department General Counsel Douglas A. Dworkin strongly opposed it in a letter to Mr. Thomas, who is chairman of the House Administration Committee.
"The Department has a longstanding policy prohibiting the use of military installations as polling sites for elections," Mr. Dworkin wrote Oct. 10. "This policy is based on sound public policy of maintaining strict separation between the military and the political process. The policy of separating the military and partisan politics is critically important to maintaining public support for and confidence in our armed forces, as well as maintaining good order and discipline within military ranks."
Mr. Dworkin, quoting federal law directly, said personnel face criminal penalties if they "impose or attempt to impose any regulation for conducting any general or special election in a state, different from those prescribed by law" or "interfere in any manner with an election officer's discharge of his duties."
Mr. Thomas said his bill would override the old law.
Glenn Flood, a Pentagon spokesman, said the department every two years sends out directives, as it did in December 1999 in preparation for this year's election, reminding commanders against allowing campaign activities or polling places on military bases.
"This time people actually looked at that," said Mr. Flood. "People this year all of a sudden said, 'We've been breaking the law.' "
He said a few reserve and National Guard armories were used in the last election as voting centers for the general public.
The Thomas bill states, in part, that service secretaries "may make a building located on a military installation under the jurisdiction of the secretary available for use as a polling place in any federal, state or local election for public office."
Mr. Thomas and two other committee chairmen wrote to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen on Oct. 17 asking him to reconsider the Pentagon's opposition.
"We concluded that while the provision cited by the general counsel was intended to prevent intimidation of voters at polls by the military, it does not prohibit merely the location of a voting site on DoD property," said Mr. Thomas, House Armed Services Chairman Floyd D. Spence, South Carolina Republican, and Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Stump, Arizona Republican.
A spokesman for Mr. Thomas said the congressman has not received a reply from Mr. Cohen.
Democrats were put on the defensive during the Florida recount when scores of party lawyers challenged military absentee ballots based on what Republicans considered minor technicalities.
Service members have reacted angrily in e-mail exchanges, and some retired officers have complained to Mr. Cohen. The secretary has ordered the Pentagon inspector general's office to review the entire process of processing overseas ballots, some of which lacked a postmarked date used by some election boards to validate the vote.
The Bush campaign actively cultivated the votes of service members, promising to rebuild what it considers a weakened military.
Wednesday December 13 1:40 PM ET
Florida Senate Recesses Pending Gore Statement
Audio/Video
Florida Legislature Approves Electors
(WKMG, Orlando)
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - The Florida Senate, expected to pass a resolution to nominate a slate of 25 electors to vote for Texas Gov. George W. Bush (news - web sites) for president, adjourned on Wednesday to await a possible concession speech from Vice President Al Gore (news - web sites).
The Republican controlled-Senate recessed until 2 p.m. EST on Thursday. Gore was scheduled to address the nation Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. EST and aides have suggested he will end his campaign for the presidency.
``Out of respect for the vice president, we will wait to hear his comments this evening before we take further action,'' Senate President John McKay, a Republican, said before the senate adjourned.
The Senate was to consider a resolution already passed by the Florida House of Representatives to nominate a slate of 25 electors that would vote for Bush, a move Florida Republicans said was necessary to ensure Florida voters would be represented at the Electoral College (news - web sites) meeting on Dec. 18.
But a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) late on Tuesday, which dealt a severe blow to Gore's hopes of resuming manual recounts of votes in the state, led to signs on Wednesday that Gore was prepared to give up his fight for the presidency.
Gore Admits Defeat
c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (Dec. 13) - Al Gore surrendered his battle for the White House, accepting George W. Bush as the 43rd president of the United States. ''I accept the finality of this outcome,'' the vice president said Wednesday night.
In a valedictory from the ceremonial office at the White House he will vacate, Gore signaled some of the bitter reluctance to concede defeat that propelled his 36-day legal battle for Florida ballot recounts.
''Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt,'' Gore said. ''While I strongly disagree with the court's position, I accept it.''
He called for his supporters to unite behind his Republican rival Bush.
''We close ranks when the contest is done,'' Gore said.
''While we yet hold - and do not yield - our opposing beliefs, there is a higher duty than the one we owe to political party. This is America and we put country before party,'' Gore said. ''We will stand together behind our new president.''
Standing behind Gore in the ornate White House office were his wife, Tipper, their four children, running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman and his family.
Gore recognized that the 50 million voters who cast their ballots for Gore-Lieberman on Nov. 7 were disappointed. ''I am too. Our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country,'' he said from an armored presidential lectern missing its presidential seal.
AP-NY-12-13-00 2118EST
Democrats Want Bush to Pay High Political Price
NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000
WASHINGTON (UPI) - Democrats will try to force Republicans to make concessions or get the blame for gridlock, political experts said Wednesday. The ultimate goal: to use anger at the outcome of the election to galvanize the Democrat base and win control of Congress in 2002.
"The strategy is to exact as high a price as possible for bipartisanship," Hudson Institute senior fellow Marshall Wittmann said. "The Democrats know that to a certain extent they are in the catbird seat."
Republicans will control not only the White House but also the House and the Senate - but only by a razor-thin majority. The GOP majority in the House is a slim 221 to 212, and the Senate will be split 50-50 with Vice President-elect Dick Cheney breaking any tied votes as president of that chamber.
So, Republicans technically hold all the power in Washington. But the margins are so slim Democrats can easily create chaos or gridlock, and Republicans could face the blame.
In effect, full control of the White House and Congress - even by such a slim majority - may leave Republicans with few excuses if they don't make any legislative progress, Democrats said. Republicans might thereby be forced to move Democrats bills.
"A lot will depend on whether the Republicans want to work with the Democrats," New Democrat Network President Simon Rosenberg said. "They are in charge. They are going to have to set the tone and the agenda."
But Republicans said Wednesday that Democrats' attempts to create gridlock could backfire. "I think it could be a loser for either party to just try to have their way or block things," Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott said.
Liberal Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine said Democrats might still look guilty for gridlock even though Republicans technically control Washington. "They could use it to their political advantage," she said. "But it could work against them if they do not work in a constructive manner."
Some Republicans are already predicting that Democrats will create a stalemate with the next elections on the horizon.
"Their motivation is to take back the House and the Senate in 2002 and the White House in 2004," Sen. Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island said.
Democrats said the win by Bush would only galvanize Democrat voters and drive them to the polls in 2002. Democrats could be angered by a Bush victory that comes despite Gore's claim he won the popular vote.
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that seems to have handed Bush the White House is considered by many to reflect a split along political and ideological lines, only exacerbating Democrats' anger.
Some racial minority groups might be motivated by what they saw as disparities in voting infrastructure that they claim led to some minority votes being thrown out or not counted, Democrats said.
All of those factors could drive a huge win for the Democrats in 2002. "We are going to have much higher turnout," AFL-CIO AFSCME President Gerald McEntee told United Press International.
"My members are enraged. ... We are going to turn out an incredible vote of working families and African-Americans. They understand what happened. They get it. And we are going to show them in 2002 and 2004."
That motivation might be even greater if unofficial recounts suggest that Gore won Florida. Under the state's "sunshine laws," media organizations and others could get access to the ballots and conclude - of course, depending on who does the counting - that Gore did get more votes there.
Pundits predict the wave of Democrat support might mirror the 1994 elections, when Republicans took full control of the House and the Senate. "The Democratic base is going to be as energized as the Republican base was in 1994," Wittmann said.
But Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said Democrats should work with Republicans because it is best for the country. "They are elected by the people to do the people's business," Specter said.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
President-Elect Bush Seeks Unity
By TOM RAUM
.c The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (Dec. 13) - President-elect Bush, preparing to enter the White House without a voting majority, called upon the nation Wednesday night to ''put politics behind us and work together'' on Social Security, Medicare and tax relief after a difficult election.
''Our nation must rise above a house divided,'' he asserted in reaching out to try to heal the wounds of the long drawn-out election.
''I hope the long wait of the last five weeks will heighten a desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,'' he said.
Bush delivered his address in the chamber of the Texas House of Representatives an hour after Gore delivered a graceful, generous concession speech that also called for national reconciliation and unity.
The President-elect received what he said was ''a gracious call'' from Gore shortly before the vice president delivered his own speech.
''I thank you for your prayers for me and my family, and I ask you to pray for Vice President Gore and his family,'' Bush said.
''I have faith that, with God's help, we as a nation will move forward together, as one nation, indivisible,'' Bush said. ''I was not elected to serve one party but to serve one nation.''
Bush, the son of a former president, planned to meet with Gore on Tuesday during a visit to Washington that will also include a visit to outgoing President Clinton and to congressional leaders.
He was introduced by the highest-ranking Democrat in his state, House Speaker Pete Laney. Bush aides said the introduction, and the setting, were intended to signal bipartisanship.
''Here, in a place where Democrats have the majority, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to do what is right with the people we respect.'' The chamber was packed with legislators of both parties, state officials, Bush staffer members and family. A 21-foot high Christmas tree stood in the middle of the chamber.
''Our country has been through a long and trying period, with the outcome of the presidential election not finalized for longer than any of us could have ever imagined,'' Bush said. ''Vice President Gore and I put our hearts and hopes into our campaigns. We both gave it our all. We shared similar emotions.''
Bush said he would seek bipartisan support on some of the nation's pressing priorities, including educational reforms and ways to shore up Social Security and Medicare, including providing prescription-drug insurance coverage for the nation's elderly.
But Bush's team was mindful that the obstacles to accomplishing much in Washington were substantial, and he called for an end to the partisan tone there. His victory came after weeks of frantic recounts, noisy protests and legal battles stretching to the U.S. Supreme Court.
He must now assemble a new administration in less time than any modern president, while working to heal deep political wounds. And some Democrats were already skeptical.
Bush, 54, campaigned as a ''uniter, not a divider'' in his two-year pursuit of the presidency and now finds his ability to deliver on that promise put to the test.
Bush plans to attend a morning service of worship and music in Austin on Thursday as his first event as president-elect. ''The governor decided that he wants to start this on a message of prayer and healing,'' said spokeswoman Karen Hughes.
Bush was considering holding a presidential-style news conference in Austin Thursday, perhaps announcing some White House and Cabinet appointments. Among the first members of a Bush administration expected to be announced: retired Gen. Colin Powell as secretary of state and Stanford University scholar Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser. There was also a strong possibility he would name a defense secretary. High in recent speculation has been former GOP Indiana Sen. Dan Coats.
However, aides stressed that Bush wanted to spend his first days as president-elect in making peace with antagonists rather than promoting his own administration members.
He would be the first winner since 1888 to gain an Electoral College majority - at 271 one more than needed to win the presidency - while losing the popular vote nationwide.
Bush said he had placed an early morning call to his parents in Houston. ''Woke them up,'' Bush said. And what was the reaction from former President and Barbara Bush? ''Thanks for the wake-up call,'' Bush wisecracked.
Bush's presidency will mark the second father-son presidential combination in American history, following John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The elder Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton and Gore in 1992.
The victory over Gore was thus relished by longtime Bush family loyalists. But the younger Bush, called ''W'' by friends and foes alike, has said that revenge was never a factor for him.
Not wishing to appear overeager, Bush and his top officials refused to comment at length on Tuesday night's victory in the U.S. Supreme Court. He was giving Gore a chance to have his say.
Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., said he would be waiting to see what Bush's agenda was and whom he picked for his Cabinet. ''If president designee Bush wants to be conciliatory he's going to have to say so and he's going to have to demonstrate that,'' Ackerman said.
Bush aides have suggested he will offer some top spots in his administration to Democrats.
''I have the feeling that he'll be in his second race the minute he takes the oath of office, because there will be those gearing up to challenge him after his first term,'' said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., a former Democrat who switched parties in 1995.
Bush, meanwhile, moved to turn over the Texas governorship to Lt. Gov. Rick Perry. He was expected to resign as governor within the next day or so.
A 1968 graduate of Yale - his father's alma mater - and the holder of a 1975 master's degree from Harvard, Bush has a mostly business background.
After losing a congressional race in 1978, Bush ran a string of companies in the oil industry then became managing partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team before successfully running for governor in 1994, unseating Democrat Ann Richards. He was overwhelming re-elected in 1998.
AP-NY-12-13-00 2218EST
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