By: Mary Mostert, Analyst, Original Sources (www.originalsources.com)
November 16, 2000
What a day! Fairly early we caught a glimpse that something had prompted Al Gore to modify his scorched earth policy in pursuit of the presidency at all costs. In a surprise appearance he began his statement with:
" "The campaign is over, but a test of our democracy is now under way. It is a test we must pass, and it is a test we will pass, with flying colors. All we need is a common agreement that what is at stake here is not who wins and who loses in a contest for the presidency, but how we honor our Constitution and make sure that our democracy works as our founders intended it to work"This is a time to respect every voter and every vote. This is a time to honor the true will of the people. So our goal must be what is right for America."
What exactly did he mean by "this is time to respect every voter and every vote?" Did this mean he would accept the second and third machine recounts which showed Bush ahead? Not exactly. What he wanted was:
"First, we should complete hand counts already begun in Palm Beach County, Dade County and Broward County to determine the true intentions of the voters based on an objective evaluation of their ballots." The Palm Beach County vote is 63% Democrat, the Dade County Vote is 53% Democrat and the Broward County vote, where the Democrats have gone to court to force the Democrats in Broward County to manually count the ballots, the vote is 68.5% Democrat.
Does the Vice President really respect every voter and every vote, or only the Democrat votes and voters? It appeared to be a rather transparent effort to selectively recount by hand until a figure is reached that would show the Vice President ahead.
At this point, the official count, which was announced by the Florida Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, shows George W. Bush 300 points ahead with the only votes she intends to recognize being the overseas ballots. Gore's conciliatory tone appeared to be an effort to use public relations tactics, rather than the 1960s Saul Alinsky-Jesse Jackson tactics he'd been using for a week, to talk George W. into accepting the Democrat position.
It began to sound to me like a last ditch effort to manipulate the opposition. I wondered if the sudden change of tactics signaled a possible negative poll. Later in the day I saw the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll that said sixty-eight percent said they would accept the results from the machine recount and the overseas ballots, which Florida officials expect to finish counting on Saturday.
That, of course, was exactly the proposal George W. Bush made to Al Gore a week ago which he summarily rejected while encouraging Democrats to file 13 lawsuits over one thing or another. Gore added a new twist yesterday by suggesting that perhaps ALL counties in Florida, totally about 6 million votes, could be hand counted. That appeared to be an effort to lure George W. into a position where the Gore recounting would be legitimized by George W. becoming involved in countying.
George W. didn't take the bait. He said:
"As we work to conclude this election, we should be guided by three principles: This process must be fair, this process must be accurate, and this process must be final." First, the election must be fair: fair to voters throughout America, fair to voters in Florida, and fair to voters in different counties in Florida. I honor and respect the value of every single vote. That's why my campaign supported the automatic recount of all the votes in Florida.
" Everyone in Florida has had his or her vote counted once. Those votes have been recounted. In some counties they have been counted a third and even fourth time.
" And that brings us to the second principle: accuracy. This process must be accurate. As Americans have watched on television, they have seen for themselves that manual counting, with individuals making subjective decisions about voter intent, introduces human error and politics into the vote-counting process.
" Each time these voting cards are handled the potential for errors multiplies. Additional manual counts of votes that have been counted and recounted will make the process less accurate, not more so.
" Third, not for the Vice President Gore, or for me, but for America, this process must have a point of conclusion, a moment when America and the world know who is the next president.
" This is precisely why the laws of the state of Florida have deadlines for certification of the election vote. One of them came last night, and tonight, Florida's chief election official and the state's election canvassing commission have reaffirmed it as their responsibilities require."
It appears that by the week-end, certainly before Thanksgiving, the votes will be in and we will know who won the State of Florida - Al Gore or George W. Bush. Unless, of course, Al Gore What is still hanging, of course, is whether or not the Florida courts will attempt to enthrone Al Gore with judicial edict. Kathleeen Harris said, in part, as she announced the certification of the votes:
"After Judge Lewis' decision yesterday morning my staff and I along with counsel developed criteria appropriate for the exercise of my discretion under Florida Law. This criteria is clearly set forth in Florida case law."For the past 6 hours I have applied this criteria in deliberating on the request of the counties contemplating manual vote recounts.
"As a result of these deliberations I have decided it is my duty under Florida law to exercise my discretion in denying these requested amendments. The reason given in their requests are insufficient to warrant waver of the unambiguous filing deadline imposed by the Florida legislature."
"…The State Election canvassing commission, acting in its normal and usual manner has certified the results of Tuesday's election in Florida."
"…As I have previously indicatged, I expect that after the receipt, tabulation, and certification of the overseas ballots, by the counties the State Election Canvassing Commission will finally certify the presidential election in Florida on Saturday. This schedule, of course, is subject to judicial intervention."
One of the State attorneys, Joe Klock was asked what Harris' criteria for certifying the election were responded:
" The criteria that the Secretary used were the same that are used by courts in determining whether an election should be overturned. There are 6 or 7 of them in the papers (for the media) you will find in the back."There was nothing that was put forward by the canvassing board of Palm Beach County that took them into any area where it would be appropriate to ignore the 5:00 pm deadline."
The kind of criteria that would justify ignoring the 5:00 pm deadline, Harris said, was not shown by the Counties. That criteria included the existence of fraud or that ``there has been substantial noncompliance with the state's statutory election procedures'' or that they were unable to comply with their duties ``due to an act of God.''
Of course, Gore's sweetness and light yesterday notwithstanding, it will all be back in court tomorrow. Denouncing it as "a rash and precipitous action," William Daley, chairman of the Gore campaign, vowed to appeal Harris' decision in state court.
Lawyers are expected to return to Circuit Judge Terry Lewis in Leon County, Florida, who ruled yesterday that Harris had the authority to ignore the adjusted returns, but could not do so in an arbitrary manner.
So, folks, now I guess we are going to have to determine what the word "arbitrary" means. And, what it means is capricious, despotic, or unsupported. Kathleen Harris supported her decision with case law.
To comment: mmostert@orginalsources.com
To Subscribe to the Reagan Monitor, the newsletter that gives you news FACTS you can USE to make your life, and the world, better go to:
Start Your Subscription
To E-mail Original Sources - Click Here