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Pastimes : CENSORSHIP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bela_ghoulashi who wrote (43)	11/27/2000 5:22:34 AM
From: Mao II	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 84

irect Action in Miami Until Wednesday, heavily Democratic Miami-Dade county was one of the three Florida counties conducting recounts in the still-unresolved presidential election. On that day, in an apparent exercise of spontaneous public outrage, pro-George W. Bush demonstrators surged through the county office building in Miami, demanding an end to the hand recount there. The shouting demonstrators accused Democratic election officials of stealing ballots behind closed doors, and apparently contributed to one election supervisor’s vote to end the hand recount. “If what I’d envisioned worked out and there were no objections, we’d be up there now counting,” election supervisor David Leahy said at the time. Leahy Saturday said he was not influenced or intimidated by the protesters. That demonstration, ABCNEWS has learned, was neither spontaneous nor local. It was an organized Republican Party protest, run by 75 party supporters out of a motor home headquarters in Miami. Saturday, the Justice Department said it had received a letter from six Democratic congressmen alleging the Bush campaign was behind an orchestrated protest. A department spokesman said the letter will be reviewed, but that no immediate action has been taken. “According to many published reports, unruly and violent protesters managed to create a climate of fear and intimidation, with the intent of preventing the canvassing board from completing its difficult task,” the letter said. “The actions … included punching and kicking individuals, pounding on doors, screaming threats and other intimidating acts.” Campaigns Face Off Over Protests In a statement Friday afternoon, Lieberman called the demonstrations a “disservice to our democracy” and called on protesters to stop their bullying tactics. “These demonstrations were clearly designed to intimidate and to prevent a simple count of votes from going forward,” said Lieberman, speaking to reporters outside the vice president’s residence in Washington. “This is a time to honor the rule of law, not surrender to the rule of the mob. We need a fair count of the ballots in question and that must include freedom from intimidation.” But representatives of the Bush campaign suggested that Lieberman’s complaints were disingenuous, noting that Democrats did not complain when the Rev. Jesse Jackson organized protests in Palm Beach County last week. “Where was Joe Lieberman when Jesse Jackson organized Democratic protests in Palm Beach County to protest on behalf of Al Gore?” asked Bush campaign spokesman Ari Fleischer. “Why didn’t he publicly disclaim those protests? Saturday’s remarks are the latest example of Al Gore saying one thing, while doing another.” Jesse Jackson organized a demonstration on November 9 in Palm Beach, to decry the alleged disenfranchisement of thousands of voters in that county. But Jackson never claimed his event was either local or spontaneous. Do They Have the Right? Outside the courthouse in Broward County, Republican protesters chanted “We are locals!” and held up Florida drivers’ licenses. And imported Republicans defended their right to speak out in Florida. “Because someone paid for my hotel room, because someone paid for my plane ticket, I’m a thug?” asked Terry Benham, a Little Rock, Ark., lobbyist. The Republican demonstrators said they were from all over the country, including Washington, D.C., and New York. Democratic party officials tried to paint the protesters as part of an organized Republican effort to derail the hand counts. “There are paid political operatives from out of state who have come down to South Florida” and helped stop the recount in Miami, said Congressman Deutsch. Democrats Lay Low With security much heavier in Broward than Miami-Dade, the protesters are staying put outside the building. From their position, the protesters would have to pass several layers of police protection, take two elevators and walk several hundred feet inside the building to get to the recount site. Protester-free, the recount is continuing quietly in a room in the north wing of the courthouse. Democrats seem to be laying low at the Broward protests, though they’ve been flying their own supporters in by the dozens daily. They’re relying on local sheriffs to keep order, Democrats said. ABCNEWS’ Steve Osunsami, Bill Redeker, the Associated Press and ABCNEWS.com’s Sascha Segan and Bryan Robinson contributed to this story. abcnews.go.com