November 11, 2000
Bush Camp Says Gore Should Concede,
Stop Mounting 'Endless Challenges'
A WSJ.COM News Roundup
WASHINGTON -- In a war of nerves, George W. Bush's camp pressed
Al Gore to concede decisive Florida as the presidential race struggled
through Election Day plus three. "The quicker we get this resolved the
better off it is for the nation," the Texas governor said Friday. The
Democrats countered, "This election is not over."
Friday night, Mr. Bush gave a top adviser the
authority to seek a court order to keep Mr.
Gore's campaign from securing manual
recounts of contested ballots in Florida.
Meanwhile, the vice president appeared to have narrowly defeated Mr.
Bush for Oregon's seven electoral votes in what may prove to be a
bittersweet victory.
According to the Associated Press, unofficial results gave 701,126 votes
to Mr. Gore and 695,076 to Mr. Bush, a difference of 6,050, with 99% of
the votes counted as of Friday afternoon. The unofficial results showed
Green Party candidate Ralph Nader getting 74,505 votes in Oregon. The
margin is so close that a recount cannot be precluded.
A recount would be required by state law if the margin between Messrs.
Bush and Gore is less than one-fifth of 1%, or about 2,800 votes. As of
Friday afternoon, about 28,500 Oregon votes remained to be counted.
But with all eyes fixed on Florida to determine the outcome of the race, a
victory in Oregon was considered largely symbolic because the state only
has seven electoral votes. Mr. Bush needs 24 electoral votes to reach the
required 270, and Mr. Gore now needs just eight, but whoever wins
Florida's 25 votes will move into the White House next January.
Mr. Bush clung to a razor-thin lead in Florida after county officials
completed a review of the six million ballots cast. Still to come were an
unknown number of votes from Floridians living overseas and the state's
official certification, due next Friday.
To buy some time, Mr. Gore's lawyers asked the state's Republican
secretary of state late Friday to defer certification of the results until the
manual recounts are complete. The recounts could drag on, though
canvassing board members face fines of $200 a day after Tuesday.
"I think that people's patience is going to be fairly limited," said Gov. Jim
Hodges of South Carolina. Other Democrats sought to carefully balance
support for Mr. Gore with suggestions that his options were dwindling.
"He needs to rise above it and say, 'So be it.' You deal with the hand
you're dealt," said Paul Feleciano, longest serving Democrat in the Kansas
Legislature.
Official Disputes GOP Claim
In Florida, Gore advisers cited confusing and irregular ballots to press for
follow-up recounts by hand in four predominantly Democratic counties.
They won approval in three -- one recount began Friday, two more
Saturday -- and the fourth request will be heard Tuesday.
Also, a Palm Beach County official said there were significantly more
invalidated ballots in the county in this year's presidential election than in
1996, disputing a claim made by Bush campaign aides.
Palm Beach County Commissioner Carol Roberts said in an interview with
The Wall Street Journal on Friday that about 30,000 ballots were
invalidated for their presidential selection this week because voters had
punched two holes or none. That is more than twice the 14,000 invalidated
in 1996, which could be evidence of some amount of voter confusion
about the county ballot's much-criticized design.
"It's not a correct argument," Ms. Roberts, a Democrat, said of the Bush
officials' contention that this year's invalidated ballots are comparable to the
number four years ago. "It's just not accurate."
"The entire effort that's going on now in Florida is aimed at making sure
that whoever takes office in January as president of the United States will
do so with full legitimacy," Gore running mate Joseph Lieberman told CBS.
"As frustrating as this wait may be," Mr. Daley said earlier, "what we are
seeing here is democracy in action."
Frustrated described Mr. Bush to a T.
"We will be prepared" to take office Jan. 20, the governor told reporters,
taking a break from planning what he hopes will be a transition to power.
He and his aides acknowledged that he can't claim victory before the
overseas votes are counted and certified.
"There are still votes to be counted," Mr. Bush said.
And so Republicans moved on several fronts to blunt Mr. Gore's ballot
challenges. Bush strategists considered seeking recounts in GOP areas of
Florida if Democrats started having success in their recounts, a senior
strategist said.
An unofficial tally by the Associated Press in Florida's 67 counties showed
the Texas governor with a 327-vote lead. State officials said their recount
showed Mr. Bush leading by 960 votes with one county left. That was
Palm Beach County, where the AP showed a big Gore gain.
Not counting the Sunshine State, Mr. Bush had won 29 states for 246
electoral votes. Mr. Gore had won 19 states plus the District of Columbia
for 262, with 270 needed for victory.
New Mexico remained too close to call. But voting tallies released Friday
by the clerk in the state's largest county gave Mr. Bush a 17-vote edge
over Mr. Gore, a sharp reversal of a previous unofficial Gore lead of
6,825 votes. However, as many as 370 additional special absentee ballots
remained to be counted next week.
The incomplete national popular vote totals showed Mr. Gore with
49,244,746 votes, or 48.3% and Mr. Bush with 49,026,305, or 48.1%.
Selecting a Team
Despite the show of confidence, Mr. Bush said it's "a little early" for him to
contact the outgoing Clinton administration about the mechanics of
transition. He also tabled plans to resign as Texas governor and hand the
reins to his Republican lieutenant governor during the transition; that
decision will wait until after the election is resolved, aides said.
The aides said Bush adviser Larry Lindsey was likely to be offered the job
of Treasury secretary or chief White House economist if Mr. Bush is
elected.
As he met with Mr. Lindsey and other advisers about the transition, two
noisy groups of protesters shouted rival messages outside the Governor's
Mansion in Austin. "No Fuzzy Election" read some anti-Bush signs. The
governor's supporters chanted, "The people have spoken."
For his part, Mr. Gore was at the vice president's residence in
Washington, where he played touch football with his family. He talked of
winning, then added with a smile: "I'm talking about the touch football
game."
His Democratic allies were not so optimistic about the presidential race,
and many were opposed to legal action.
"I think everybody is waiting to see what happens but the general feeling is
that Bush will probably win," said Gene Bushmann, former chairman of the
Missouri Democratic Party. He praised Mr. Gore's effort, but said, "I think
going to the lawsuit stage would be too much."
Former Arkansas Sen. Dale Bumpers said Mr. Gore should consider
calling it quits after Florida's absentee ballots are counted.
"There might come a time when the vice president would be well served to
say the country's interest is more important than the interests of one person
or political party, and go ahead and concede," Mr. Bumpers said.
Mr. Hodges said Mr. Gore has a right to seek recounts, but doubted that a
legal challenge of confusing Palm Beach ballots would work. "Generally,
most successful challenges have been on fraud," he said.
"I'd advise we exhaust all other remedies before we attempt any
consideration of a court challenge," said Senate Democratic leader Tom
Daschle of South Dakota.
Though still talking legal action, Gore's team was using softer tones than a
day earlier. The campaign's legal experts "feel strongly" that the ballot used
Election Day in Palm Beach County was unlawful, Mr. Daley said. "We'll
see what actions follow out of that."
Separately Friday, Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the
elimination of the Electoral College. Beginning a victory tour of upstate
New York, the first lady said she would support legislation for a
constitutional amendment that would provide for the direct election of the
president.
"We are a very different country than we were 200 years ago," Mrs.
Clinton said. "I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the
will of the people and to me, that means it's time to do away with the
Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president." |
