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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JDN who wrote (5614)	11/12/2000 6:56:36 PM
From: Frank Griffin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

United Republican Fund of Illinois Chicago November 9, 2000 From: Joseph A. Morris, President Herewith is some practical advice on action that every citizen can take in the event that the Florida recount confirms the election of George Bush, but Al Gore fails to concede. We all know what is going on in Florida, and that the election hinges on the outcome. I am writing you today to prepare us all for what we will have to do if what I think is going to happen actually does. The recount, which will be finished by 5 p.m. Thursday, will likely show Bush to be the winner once again, with only a few thousand overseas ballots to be counted. Those ballots will be overwhelmingly for Bush, a minimum of 60% and probably closer to 75%. If the count goes our way tomorrow, we have won this election. This is when something critical happens. Either Gore bows out gracefully or he doesn't, and I can almost guarantee he won't. These are people wedded to power who will only go down kicking and screaming. They will use every legal maneuver in the book to steal the election. (In 1960, when Richard Nixon had every right and reason to challenge the election results he didn't for the sake of the country. Expect no such noble behavior this time.) What will they try? One bet is to find a friendly judge to throw out the Florida results on a flimsy premise. They are already floating this as atrial balloon in the form of the allegedly "confusing" ballots in Palm Beach County. I have seen the ballots - they are not confusing in the least. Indeed, they are identical in form to the punch-card ballots used in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, in this very election. What is more, it is just as likely that Palm Beach County voters who wanted to vote for Bush inadvertently voted for Nader. All parties approved the form of ballot before the election. The form-of-ballot issue is a mere pretext for an effort a judicial invalidation of the Florida election. While I hope this scenario doesn't come to pass, I fear that it will, and it will only have disastrous results for the country. The election fight could drag on for months and actually be decided by a court! If this comes to pass the vision of our Founders and the blood of patriots will have been betrayed. Personally, I am not going to stand for this, and I hope you won't either. The good news is that we are not without voice. HERE IS WHAT MUST BE DONE: if the vote count affirms Bush's election, we allow a short grace period to see the reaction of the Gore camp. If they have not graciously conceded after a few hours, we must bombard the news media and our public officials AT EVERY LEVEL with phone calls of outrage that demand Gore's concession. I mean literally millions of phone calls. We must jam their phone banks with calls.There are millions of us so it shouldn't be too difficult. (While you're at it, send e-mails to your local newspapers as well.) If it becomes widely reported - and it will - that there is a groundswell demanding that Gore back down and not embarrass the country, it will be very difficult for Gore to withstand the pressure. He will have to relent. Here are some places to start: The White House: telephone (202) 456-4114 FAX:(202)456-2461 e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov The Vice President's Office: telephone:(202) 274-5000 FAX:(202) 456-2883 e-mail vice.president@whitehouse.gov Vice President's Senate Office: telephone: (202) 224-2424 Senator Tom Daschle (Senate Democratic Leader): (202) 224-2321 Also: (202)224-5556 Representative Dick Gephardt (House Democratic Leader): (202) 225-2671 Also: (202) 225--0100 Also, be sure to call your congressmen and both your senators. All these numbers are easily located on voter.com. You can also contact them through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: U.S. Capitol Switchboard (all Senators and Representatives): (202) 224-3121 Another office to call is that of Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley (the brother of Gore's campaign manager, Bill Daley): Telephone: (312) 744-3300 FAX: (312) 744-2324 If you've never made a call like this, there's no reason to be shy. They get opinion calls all the time and are set up to take them. In fact they like calls. It helps them tell which way the wind is blowing. Some media contacts: Boston Globe (617) 929-2000 Matthew V. Storin, Editor (617) 929-3049 e-mail: storin@globe.com Boston Herald Andrew Costello, Editor (617) 619-6400 e-mail: acostello@bostonherald.com Chicago Sun-Times: (312) 321-3000 Michael Cooke, Editor in Chief e-mail: mcooke@suntimes.com Chicago Tribune (800) 874-2863 Howard A. Tyner, Editor e-mail: ChiEd@aol.com Bruce Dold, Editorial Page Editor e-mail: bdold@tribune.com Los Angeles Times (213) 237-7935 (opinion department) (213) 237-4511 and Fax: (213) 237-7679 (letters to the editor) (202) 293-4650 (Washington bureau) e-mail: www.latimes.com (follow prompts to e-mail windows) New York Post (212) 930-8000 John Mancini, News e-mail: jmancini@nypost.com New York Times (212) 556-1234 Joseph Lelyveld, Executive Editor Letters to the Editor fax: (212) 556-3622 e-mail: letters@nytimes.com. Philadelphia Inquirer (215) 854-4500 Letters to the editor: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com USA Today (703) 276-3400 Karen Jurgenson, Editor e-mail: www.usatoday.com and follow feedback prompts Washington Post (202) 334-6000 Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page Editor e-mail: hiattf@washpost.com Time e-mail: letters@time.com ABC e-mail: abc.go.com CNN (404) 827-1500 CBS (212) 975-4321 MSNBC e-mail: World@MSNBC.com NBC NBC-Nightly News: e-mail: Nightly@NBC.com NBC Today Show: e-mail: Today@NBC.com I'm hoping none of this will be necessary, but I fear otherwise. As Edmund Burke said, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. This e-mail is just to prepare you for the battle that we must engage. PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU CAN THINK OF. IF WE HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET, BY TOMORROW MILLIONS OF US WILL BE READY