I believe this is along the lines you've laid out. All those who belive Al Gore would be protesting about "the will of the people" if he had a majority of electoral votes but a minority of popular votes, now's your time to stand up and be known as gullible idiots. :-)
New York Times, Nov. 9 2000:
Vice President Al Gore's campaign announced an all-out effort today to contest Florida's presidential election result, demanding a recount by hand in four counties and promising to support legal challenges as the dispute grew increasingly bitter.
In issuing one of the strongest statements yet from the Gore campaign, William Daley, the chairman, said, "If the will of the people is to prevail, Al Gore should be awarded victory in Florida and become president."
Mr. Daley spoke at a news conference in Tallahassee, the capital, where the nation's focus has turned now that the election hinges on the state. Adopting a markedly more combative tone, Mr. Daley accused the forces of George W. Bush of riding roughshod over the will of the electorate.
"I believe their actions to try to presumptively crown themselves the victors, to try to put in place a transition, run the risk of dividing the American people and creating confusion," Mr. Daley said. At the same time, he said the Gore campaign would "honor and obviously respect" a Bush victory if that should be the case once the dispute is resolved. More specifically, he accused the Bush forces of resisting efforts to make sure the outcome in Florida is accurate. "They blithely dismiss the disenfranchisement of thousands of Floridians as being the usual sorts of mistakes made in elections," Mr. Daley said. "They put a demand for finality ahead of the pursuit of fairness," he said. He added, "Technicalities do not determine the presidency of the United States. The will of the people should."
The Bush campaign said it would hold a news conference later this afternoon in Austin, Texas. Reporting from Tallahassee, David Firestone of The Times said Mr. Daley's comments made it clear the Gore campaign had abandoned any worries that by prolonging the contest Vice President Gore would go down in history as a sore loser.
The campaign stressed that Mr. Gore did not fear his efforts would pose a risk to the electoral process or to the country's prestige abroad, Mr. Firestone noted.
Warren Christopher, whom Mr. Gore dispatched to oversee his efforts in Florida, said, "Let me assure you that the presidency goes on in a vigorous way." Florida's 25 electoral votes would push either candidate over the 270 mark needed for the presidency. The narrowness of the tally after Election Day — 1,784 votes, with the edge to Mr. Bush — meant a recount had to proceed under state law.
Democratic officials have raised a series of what they said were irregularities that the assert denied Mr. Gore victory.
They included the suspicion that many voters had been confused by ballots in Palm Beach County, a stronghold for Mr. Gore, and mistakenly voted for Patrick Buchanan, the Reform Party candidate, when they intended to vote for Mr. Gore.
Mr. Daley said those Buchanan votes far exceeded the total in other counties with larger populations, and that 2,000 of the 3,400 marked for Mr. Buchanan should have gone to Mr. Gore.
Democratic officials also have pointed to 19,000 ballots in Palm Beach County that were disqualified on Election Day because voters marked them for both Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush. A lawyer for the Gore campaign, Kendall Coffey, suggested today that one legal remedy could be a new election for the county.
Florida Democratic officials will be asking for a hand count in Palm Beach Dade, Broward and Volusia counties, Mr. Daley said, because elections officials there said it was merited. Otherwise the recount has been progressing electronically.
"In addition today I am announcing we will be working with voters from Florida in support of legal action to demand some redress for the disenfranchisement of some 20,000 voters in Palm Beach County," Mr. Daley said. The campaign would not immediately file law suits of its own, he said.
He said Gore supporters were collecting reports of other irregularities — such as "voter intimidation," which if substantiated would become part of legal action. The Democratic National Committee has set up extensive field operations around Florida to gather intelligence about any other voting problems, Mr. Firestone reported. He added that the Daley family — a political dynasty in Chicago — has a heritage of baring its knuckles when it comes to employing election laws in political battles.
A federal judge, Kenneth Ryskamp, in West Palm Beach scheduled a hearing for 2:30 p.m. today to hear arguments in the lawsuit filed by voters challenging the Palm Beach County results. "All we are seeking is this: That the candidate who the voters preferred becomes president," Mr. Daley said.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
Right. As long as that candidate is Al Gore. |
