November 29, 2000

Leon County Judge Grants Gore Motions
By Kathy Gambrell / United Press International
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) - A Florida judge Tuesday ordered more than 13,000 disputed ballots from the presidential election three weeks ago brought from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties to Tallahassee for a hearing on whether they were improperly excluded from the state's final vote tally. He also ordered a foreshortened timetable for the case -- a challenge to the result in Florida, whose 25 electoral votes will likely decide who becomes the next president -- by Democrat candidate Vice President Al Gore. His lawyers argued that officials in Miami-Dade county abused their power by not completing a manual re-count of more than 10,000 ballots which did not register a vote when initially counted by machine.

Florida Legislative Panel Reviews Options On Electors
By Kathy Gambrell / United Press International
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (UPI) - Florida's Republican-dominated legislature has a responsibility to intervene in the selection of the state's electors if the legal battle over the outcome of the presidential election is not resolved soon, constitutional experts told a special committee of lawmakers Tuesday. Florida's Secretary of State and Bush supporter, Katherine Harris, Sunday certified the state's final vote tally, declaring Bush the winner. However, the result has been contested in state court by the Gore campaign, and is the subject of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a bevy of other lawsuits -- raising the possibility that any attempt to appoint electors in the usual way may be confounded or delayed past the Dec. 12 deadline for their selection. Republican leaders brought in several experts to explain to lawmakers what constitutional responsibilities they might have if this happens and what procedures they could use to appoint electors directly.

Gore Lawyer Calls Bush Case Flimsy
By Frank J. Murray / The Washington Times
Vice President Al Gore's chief lawyer charged at the Supreme Court yesterday that George W. Bush is raising flimsy arguments to become president, but Mr. Bush's lawyers said Friday's constitutional battle could decide the presidency. "In any event, enforcing the constitutional structure in this case will imbue this election with the finality that the carefully wrought federal system was meant to secure," said Mr. Bush's 50-page brief, filed with the court clerk just before the 4 p.m. deadline. He asked the Supreme Court to nullify the Nov. 21 Florida Supreme Court order delaying vote certification in the state and "confirm that the secretary of state and the Elections Canvassing Commission have the authority — expressly delegated to them by the legislature —to certify the results of the election based on returns received by the statutory deadline of November 14."

Judge Sets Trial Date For Dispute
Over Florida Absentee Ballots
United Press International
TALLAHASSEE (UPI) - A circuit court judge in Florida Tuesday set a Dec. 6 trial date for a new lawsuit over absentee ballots in Seminole County -- a wildcard court case that could ultimately decide the outcome of the presidential election. Attorney Harry Jacobs, a Democrat from Sanford, Fla., filed the suit because Republican Party workers were allowed to sit in the office of the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections and add missing voter identification numbers to 4,700 Republican absentee ballot requests. Jacobs is asking that all 15,000 of the county's absentee ballots be nullified.

Fla. Supreme Court Still Undecided on Revote Case
Reuters
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - The Florida Supreme Court said on Tuesday it had received briefs in the disputed Palm Beach County ``butterfly ballot'' lawsuit in which voters seek a new presidential election in the county, but added it had still not decided whether to take the case. Court officials also said they had received an additional case on Tuesday against the state election canvassing commission that apparently involved balloting issues in Palm Beach and had requested briefs be filed on that case by 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Once more details were known the justices would decide whether to combine the two cases or even take them, said court spokesman Craig Waters, who stressed that no decision had been taken on whether to accept either case.

Bush's Cabinet Could Include Some Democrats
By Sean Scully And Ralph Z. Hallow / The Washington Times
The shape of the new Bush administration remains hidden behind a swirl of speculation and uncertainty over the results of the election, but that hasn't stopped a tornado of names from reeling about inside the Beltway — including some Democrats. But for the first time, names of Democrats in the Bush Cabinet have sprung up. One often mentioned is former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia as possible defense secretary. And some in the Bush camp say Mr. Bush might pick a Southern Democrat, such as Rep. Ralph M. Hall of Texas, to lead the Energy Department and another to head the Agriculture Department.

Gore Lawyers Lay Groundwork for
'Whitewater-Style' Probe of Harris
By Carl Limbacher / NewsMax.com
The Gore legal team has begun laying the groundwork for possible legal revenge against Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris - with an investigation that a campaign official once promised "will make Whitewater look like a picnic." In briefs filed with Leon County Circuit Judge N. Sanders Sauls on Monday, Gore lawyers suggested that Harris had behaved unethically, accusing her of official "misconduct" and citing two examples where they say she "violated" state election law.

Clinton DOD Gives Up on Counting Military Vote
NewsMax.com
WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary William Cohen is giving up on trying to make Florida count military absentee ballots, but he took steps Tuesday so the military won't be robbed of its vote in the next election.

Over 400 Judicial Watch Volunteers
to Count Ballots Throughout Florida
The Sierra Times
Miami, FL. -- Judicial Watch will began counting disputed ballots from the presidential election in Palm Beach yesterday. Circuit Court Judge Jorge La Barga ordered Palm Beach to give access to Judicial Watch under Florida state law, which allows citizens to inspect ballots. Johnson Lambert & Co., a public accounting firm with expertise both in counting ballots and in fraud, will oversee the Judicial Watch effort.

Judicial Watch 2000 Florida Ballot Inspection
JudicialWatch.org
During the 2000 Florida presidential election controversy, Judicial Watch filed requests to inspect disputed ballots under Florida Statute 119.07 (Florida's Sunshine Law). In an innovative use of Florida's open records laws, Judicial Watch conducted its own inspection, investigation, and accountant-certified audit of disputed ballots, efforts which were mimicked subsequently by the media and other observers. Judicial Watch's independent audit, which reconfirmed a Bush victory, helped ensure that history was not rewritten incorrectly by partisans and their lawyers.

Vote Fraud, and Voter Fraud, in Miami-Dade
By Jack Thompson / NewsMax.com
According to an interview on Bob Dornan's coast-to-coast radio show just now finished, the news weekly Human Events is about to run with a story under reporter John Gizzy's byline stating the real reason, according to investigative work by Gizzy, the hand recount of computer punch card ballots was stopped the day before Thanksgiving.

GOP Allege New Cases of Voter Fraud
The Associated Press
MILWAUKEE –– Wisconsin Republicans alleging voter fraud in the Nov. 7 presidential election said Tuesday they had discovered 76 new fraud cases. District Attorney E. Michael McCann said his office would look into the allegations, but added that an ongoing investigation into earlier Republican charges of double voting had failed to show a single instance of fraud.

NBC Ordered Affiliates Not To Carry Bush Speech
DRUDGE REPORT
The Drudge Report has obtained a written order issued by NBC to all of its broadcast affiliates which directed stations not to carry George W. Bush's speech -- delivered just hours after certification of the Florida Election results!

Gore Faces Emotional Election Saga
By Sandra Sobieraj / The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- For Al Gore, the daily roulette wheel of election-saga emotion seemed to teeter Tuesday on the line separating red from black. Some of Gore's closest associates said he privately battles frustration and worry that time will run out before his arguments against the accuracy of Florida's count are fully heard and weighed in court.

Our Obligation to God and Country
By Colonel Dan / The Sierra Times
The seizure of power through theft of an election is the act of a tyrant. Prevention of that theft and thus the prevention of tyranny is not only justified, it is a moral obligation every one of us owes to America and to God. Al Gore’s actions throughout the 90’s have shown an unmistakable proclivity for the arbitrary exercise of power. His misuse of the power of the Vice Presidency throughout the last 8 years have included political fund raising schemes, obstruction of justice, use of the IRS as a political tool of intimidation, personal destruction of political opponents and collusion with unfriendly foreign governments.

Gore's Contortions Show He Lacks Stuff Of Statesmen
By Marianne M. Jennings / Deseret News
No one denies that the election was close. No one denies that voters made mistakes. No one denies the recount right in Florida. Recounts in Oregon, New Mexico, Iowa and Wisconsin might also yield different numbers. But this is not a student council election — this is the presidency. We are in this jumbled mess because Gore is not presidential material. He not only lacks the stuff of statesmen, he lacks class. Like his mentor president, he finds honor in the ends, not the means.

Lessons From This Election
By Chuck Baldwin / Food for Thought
Our constitutional republican form of government is superior to any system of government ever devised by man. The checks and balances built into our constitution are remarkable in their ability to dissuade would-be tyrants and despots. Defiant politicians and judges notwithstanding, the country is well served by the encumbrances deposited within the constitution. The things that make the system cumbersome also protect it from nihilistic power-grabbers. Let other nations scoff. Americans should be proud of a system of government that works so well. Therefore, any attempt to tamper with our Electoral College system should be repudiated in the strongest way possible.

Why I Don't Want Gore to Concede
By Jack Wheeler / NewsMax.com
As the Wall Street Journal observed, "This isn't your father's GOP." It's not the spineless GOP of "Go-Along-to-Get-Along" Bob Michel. We've got a kick-butt, rip-your-lungs-out Republican Party in the making here, folks. Which is why I don't want Al Gore to concede just yet. Every refusal of Al to concede now, every whine, every fruitless lawsuit, every act of increasing desperation digs the hole deeper: a hole in which Al is not only burying himself but – if he will keep digging a little longer – his entire party.

Keep Electoral College
By Charley Reese / The Orlando Sentinel
There is sure to be an attack on the Electoral College. Americans should defend it. This system of electing our presidents by the votes of states, rather than by the popular vote, was instituted to protect the smaller, less-populated states by giving them a voice. If the Electoral College is abolished, then all the political power will be in the hands of the masses in a few states with mega-population centers.

Dems' Tactics Create Cynicism In Heartland
By Rod Dreher / New York Post
DALLAS -- THE governor may live in relatively liberal Austin, but there may be no more pro-Bush city anywhere than this Republican stronghold deep in the heart of Texas. And boy, are these people mad. How to put this? If RuPaul stood in Dealey Plaza and announced, "I'm here, I'm queer, and I'm going to take away your guns," he'd be scarcely less welcome than Al Gore is today.

Gore Gets Gonged
By Dick Meyer / CBS News
WASHINGTON -- Is the Veep fighting for democracy ... or just for himself? It is both ironic and educative that Vice President Al Gore’s address to the nation Monday night was laced with half-truths. It is tempting not to take words very seriously right now, since there is so much indigestible verbiage spewing from the candidates, their surrogates and their lawyers (not to mention pundits).

Gore Faces a Growing Negative Perception
By Howard Kurtz / The Washington Post
If Al Gore was counting on the ping pong rules of journalism – one candidate hits the ball on Sunday, the other smashes it back on Monday, and both are covered with equal force – he must be sadly disappointed this morning. In just 24 hours, the tone of the media coverage has shifted sharply against him, with story after story portraying him as losing his grip on any claim to the presidency.

Gore's Harpy, Maureen Dowd, Takes A Swipe At Bush
By Gerard Jackson / The New Australian (Scroll Down)
Maureen Dowd, The New York Times resident shrew, decided to take her broomstick to George W. Bush for having the effrontery to think he ought to be president. Attempting to slay the evil Bush with the little wit she possesses, Dowd drew a pathetic analogy between the Godfather, as Bush, and Justice Clarence Thomas as a hapless victim who has now been called upon to return a service to “Don Georgio of Kennebunkport”.

Americans Nearly Brought Shame And Scorn On Themselves
By Peter Zhang / The New Australian (Scroll Down)
Bush’s victory, slim as it is, brought an audible sigh of relief to Asia, except for the dictators in Beijing who have now had to put away the red carpet they had prepared for 'Sa Gua' Gore. Regardless of what one reads in most of the Western media, the Clinton-Gore administration is considered by thoughtful Asians to have been a political disaster for the Asian region. (Gore is particularly disliked and distrusted).

Senator Considers Resurrecting
Legislation To Regulate Election Reporting
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Stevens is considering resurrecting a couple of election ideas after reviewing the Nov. 7 election. Stevens, R-Alaska, says he believes televised election reports from the East Coast affected voting in Western states.

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