November 2000

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Bush Guards His Lead on Three Fronts 11/30/2000 10:22 PM Attorneys for Texas Gov. George W. Bush and his allies are hurriedly building a multilayered effort to keep hold of his slim lead in Florida, so that even if Vice President Gore wins a suit overturning the election results, the Republican-dominated state legislature will block his way to the White House. At this stage of the battle for Florida's 25 electoral votes, Gore is primarily relying on the judiciary, especially the Florida Supreme Court, whose help he will seek once again Thursday. Bush is not only fighting Gore in the courts but he is also preparing an endgame strategy that will involve the other two branches of government here, the legislature and the executive, where he enjoys both a partisan advantage and the power exercised by his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Read the article Florida Special Session Urged; Gore Petitions Court 11/30/2000 10:21 PM A key committee of Florida's Republican-controlled legislature today called for a special session in which state lawmakers could appoint a slate of presidential electors by next week. Legislative leaders said they acted because Vice President Gore's legal challenges could make it unclear who will receive the state's all-important 25 electoral votes as a mid-December deadline approaches. Democrats denounced the move, saying legislative Republicans simply want to ensure that Texas Gov. George W. Bush's narrow Florida election victory won't be jeopardized by court decisions. Bush's brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, praised the legislative action, but Democrats were incensed. Read the article Reno: Justice Department Can Start Background Checks 11/30/2000 10:17 PM Attorney General Janet Reno said today that the Justice Department is prepared to conduct background checks on prospective Bush and Gore appointees at the same time, which officials say might be necessary if the presidential race is not decided soon. Justice officials say they believe they have the legal authority to conduct background investigations for both campaigns in order to ensure an orderly transition from the Clinton administration. Read the article Bush Opens, Staffs Transition Office 11/30/2000 10:14 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush today conspicuously plunged ahead with planning for the presidency today, opening a 20,000-square-foot transition office in the Washington suburbs. But for logistical reasons--one-third of the time from Election Day to the inauguration already gone--and because they are anxious to encourage the perception that Gore has lost, Bush campaign aides declared today that preparations will be stepped up. Top staffers are moving from campaign headquarters in Austin to an office in McLean, and a transition Web site is to open later this week. "The business of our nation must proceed--transitions are not long to begin with," said Ari Fleischer, the transition spokesman. "It's in our national interest to proceed." Read the article Powell Meets With Bush, Cheney in Texas 11/30/2000 10:10 PM Starting a serious sit-down on a light note, retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell told Texas Gov. George W. Bush today, "Congratulations, governor, on your success in your election." Powell, who was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under former President George Bush during the Gulf War, is Bush's near-certain choice for secretary of state. The Bush team says no Cabinet announcements will be made until next week, at the earliest, in part out of deference to the oral arguments being held in a recount case Friday at the United States Supreme Court. Powell, tieless and wearing a brown leather jacket, was asked if he had been invited to serve in a Bush administration. Read the article Florida Speaker Ready to Call Special Session, Likely Early Next Week 11/29/2000 10:52 PM Florida's House speaker said Wednesday he is convinced the Republican-led Legislature needs to go into special session as early as next week to name its own slate of presidential electors. ``I don't believe there's an option at this point and I'm prepared to go,'' said Tom Feeney, who along with the Senate president has the power to call a special session. ``I'm standing on the playing field ready to put my helmet on.'' Read the article NBC Promises No Calls of State Winners Until Polls Close 11/29/2000 10:50 PM In the face of criticism from Capitol Hill, NBC became the third television network to promise not to project election-night winners in a state until all the state's polls are closed. NBC and Fox News Channel also said Wednesday they were questioning their participation in Voter News Service, a consortium that provides exit polling and election data to news organizations. It's part of the continued fallout from Election Night. Television networks twice projected winners in Florida -- once for Al Gore, once for George W. Bush -- only to later take those calls back. The Florida results are still in dispute. Read the article Democrats May Rule Senate for 17 Days 11/29/2000 10:48 PM When the Senate convenes on Jan. 3 to swear in its newly elected members, it likely will usher in a unique 17-day stretch in which the Democrats will actually control the chamber and, both parties agreed yesterday, Sen. Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) will officially be majority leader. That's because, barring a change in the outcome of the tight Senate race in Washington state, the Senate will be tied 50-50 for the first time in more than a century on Jan. 3. And between that moment and noon on Jan. 20, when the Clinton administration leaves office, Vice President Gore will remain in his role as Senate presiding officer, giving the Democrats a tie-breaking 51st vote. Read the article Bush Turns To Veterans of Father's Term 11/29/2000 10:44 PM As he makes up for lost time with aggressive planning for a possible presidency, Gov. George W. Bush has turned first to a tight inner circle of Texans and veterans of his father's administration. Several high-level Republicans said they consider the choices to be proof of Bush's confidence and noted that the steady hands should be reassuring for the nation, considering the chaotic events that have followed the election. Read the article Nunn: 'Not Interested' in Bush Cabinet Job 11/29/2000 10:40 PM Former senator Sam Nunn of Georgia announced today that he is "not interested" in joining the prospective cabinet of Texas Gov. George W. Bush, who hopes to have a prominent Democrat at the top of his administration if he wins the White House. Nunn issued a statement this morning saying he has not discussed such a job with either Bush or Vice President Gore. "While I am honored to have my name mentioned for a Cabinet position, I am not interested in going back into government at this juncture Read the article Powell Says He'll Join Bush Team 11/29/2000 10:37 PM Retired Gen. Colin Powell prepared to join George W. Bush at his Texas ranch, where Bush worked to assemble a national security team that he could announce as early as next week. Powell was expected to get the job of secretary of state if Bush overcomes court challenges to his presidency. The retired general has told associates that he would accept the post if Bush asked him to serve. The Bush high command on Wednesday courted top members of Congress, hoping to lay the groundwork for bipartisan legislative cooperation after the achingly close national election. Read the article Elder Bush Mixes Fishing, Politics 11/28/2000 10:38 PM But seriously, folks: President Bush has plenty of time for jokes, even as his son battles for the presidency. Bush arrived in the Florida Keys on Monday for the annual George Bush/Cheeca Lodge Bonefish Tournament, a fund-raiser for conservation issues. At first, he didn't talk much about politics, dominated by the sprawling legal battle between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Read the article Texas Lt. Governor Accepting Resumes 11/28/2000 10:37 PM Texas Lt. Gov. Rick Perry is collecting resumes from his staff and others in case he takes over as governor. Perry, a Republican, would automatically become governor if George W. Bush resigns to become president. Bush's gubernatorial term runs through 2002. Perry also is taking applications from those outside of his office, including members of Bush's staff who are interested in keeping their jobs. Read the article Bush Sets Key Role For a Family Foot Soldier 11/28/2000 10:36 PM Andrew H. Card Jr., the man who Texas Gov. George W. Bush has named to be White House chief of staff if Bush becomes president, has been a loyal foot soldier in the cause of the Bush family political dynasty almost from the beginning. In 1980, as a young, up-and-coming Massachusetts state legislator, Card was the Massachusetts chairman and part-time driver for Bush's father, former president George Bush, in the elder Bush's first, unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Eight years later, Card was at the helm of the Bush operation in the crucial New Hampshire primary. He helped turn back the challenge of Sen. Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.) and clear a path to the White House for the then-vice president. Read the article In Interim, Bush Seeks Private Funds 11/28/2000 10:33 PM Vice presidential nominee Richard B. Cheney moved yesterday to bolster the Bush campaign's position as a presidency-in-waiting, announcing that the Republican ticket will raise funds from private donors to cover the costs of initial presidential transition activities. The Gore campaign's refusal to concede the election and the administration's denial of $5.3 million in federal transition funds and office space was "regrettable," Cheney said. And Gore's refusal to concede was "unfortunate," he said, "in light of the penalty that may have to be paid at some future date if the next administration is not allowed to prepare to take the reins of government." Read the article Bush Plays Transition in Low Key 11/28/2000 10:32 PM As he launched a government-in-waiting today, Texas Gov. George W. Bush set a restrained but unapologetic tone that won praise from Republican officials, who are increasingly confident that public opinion will push Vice President Gore from the presidential race. Bush's longest public sentence was "Good morning, everybody--nice to see you all," which he tossed off as he walked briskly into the Texas Capitol to conduct state business and plan his transition to the White House. But Bush signaled that he plans to maintain the humble but determined demeanor that characterized his speech to the nation on Sunday night. Read the article Bush Gains Edge In Public Opinion 11/28/2000 10:31 PM Vice President Gore faces a formidable new opponent in his bid to win the presidency: public opinion, which has sided initially with Texas Gov. George W. Bush as he attempts to lay final claim on the White House, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. The survey, conducted Sunday night, found that slightly more than half of Americans believe the vote count in Florida was accurate and six in 10 want Gore to concede. A similar percentage of those surveyed--56 percent--also approved of the decision by the Florida secretary of state to deny a request by Palm Beach election officials to extend Sunday's deadline for completing their hand recount. Read the article McCain Doesn't Want Cabinet Post 11/28/2000 10:30 PM Sen. John McCain says he stands ready to go to bat for George W. Bush's assertion that he has won the presidency, but wants no role in a Bush administration. During a tour Monday through southern Arizona McCain said he has not been in the forefront of Bush's post-election campaign because he has not been asked to. He added that, if asked, he would join his Republican counterparts on the talk shows to urge Vice President Al Gore to concede. "I think most Americans and I believe that Governor Bush is now the president-elect," McCain said. "We may have some more court proceedings, but there's a certain inevitability to it now." Read the article Bush Considers Democrats for Cabinet; Will Get Daily CIA Briefings 11/28/2000 10:29 PM George W. Bush is "on track" in planning a new government, one that would include Democrats in key positions, aides suggested Tuesday. Still, continuing legal clouds subdued some of Bush's optimism. "We are now in uncharted waters," said Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes. "We're in an unprecedented period where a presidential candidate is going to court essentially to try to contest and overturn the results of an election that has now been certified." Card said that Bush clearly intends to reach out to Democrats in forming a government because of the closeness of the election. But he refused to respond to a question on whether former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., was among those Democrats being considered. Nunn, former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was viewed as a possible Bush choice for defense secretary. Read the article Bush Says He Is 'Preparing to Serve' 11/26/2000 9:48 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush said Sunday night he was "honored and humbled" to have won Florida's contested election and he asked Al Gore to reconsider his decision to contest the outcome. The Florida certification, Bush said, "gives us the needed electoral votes to win the election" and the White House. In late night remarks delivered from the Texas state capitol, Bush said he and running mate Dick Cheney would "undertake the responsibility of preparing to serve as America's next president and vice president." Read the article Senator Lott Urges Gore to Concede Election 11/26/2000 9:39 PM Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott Sunday called on Democrat Al Gore to concede defeat after the state of Florida certified Republican George W. Bush the winner of its disputed presidential election. "While Vice President Al Gore may have other legal options to pursue, for the good of the country, I call upon the Vice President to end his campaign and concede this election with the honor and dignity the American people expect," Lott said in a statement read by his communications director Susan Irby. Read the article Democrats Plan Challenge Strategy 11/26/2000 9:37 PM Al Gore believes he could yet be the nation's 43rd president if courts reopen the vote count in a handful of counties in Florida. The Democrats will contest these results in court as early as Monday. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, a Republican and Bush campaigner, certified Bush's 537-vote lead and declared him the winner of the state's decisive 25 electoral votes -- even as the vice president vowed to challenge the results in state and federal courts. "This is not some forlorn hope," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. "This is not just acting out. They are, in fact, close to overcoming Governor Bush's lead." Read the article Bush Certified Winner of Florida; Gore To Contest Results 11/26/2000 9:33 PM George W. Bush officially won the Florida recount that could deliver him the presidency on Sunday, but Al Gore promised to contest the results and ask a judge to review thousands of disputed ballots. Bush won by 537 votes, out of 5.8 million cast, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris said when she certified the results at 7:30 p.m. EST. "I hereby declare George W. Bush the winner of Florida's twenty-five electoral votes for the president of the United States," Harris said. The news brought cheers from the hundreds of demonstrators and Bush supporters who gathered outside the state office building in Tallahassee and near the Texas governor's mansion in Austin. It also came after Harris rejected a last-minute plea by Palm Beach County officials to extend the 5 p.m. deadline for submitting amended returns. Read the article Bush Won't Get Keys to Transition Office Even With Win 11/21/2000 10:52 PM The White House has ordered the General Services Administration not to turn over keys of the presidential transition office to Texas Gov. George W. Bush, even if he is declared the winner in Florida. Federal law requires the GSA administrator to "ascertain" the apparent winner in a presidential election and sign forms allowing the winner to begin obligating $5.3 million in appropriated funds for the presidential transition through Jan. 20. But the White House has ordered GSA and other federal agencies not to proceed with any transition activities "until the time when the election is decided," presumably by the Electoral College on Dec. 18. Read the article The Caretaker Speaker Comes Into His Own 11/21/2000 10:42 PM J. Dennis Hastert was an unknown and unlikely leader when he became speaker of the House of Representatives during the chaos of impeachment two years ago. Propelled into office by the sudden, stunning departures of two predecessors, the Illinois Republican was by his own admission a weak and accidental speaker. "People called me a caretaker, a temporary speaker," he recalls, surveying the view down Washington's Mall from his Capitol office, where the elections have given him a new two-year lease. "There were folks in here kind of measuring up the drapes to try to take over." Read the article Counties Battle to Define Method for Hand Recount 11/21/2000 10:38 PM At first dimpled chads in Broward County didn't count, and now they might. In Palm Beach County, ballot counters looked for a glimmer of sunlight through a pin-size hole, and then ditched that method. In Florida's contentious recount of presidential votes, the means and manner in which a vote is analyzed are in flux. The indecision on what counts as a vote has fueled criticism of the process and prompted allegations of vote tampering and manipulation. Read the article Officials Ignoring Attorney General's Opinion on Military Ballots 11/21/2000 10:37 PM Democratic Party sources in Florida Tuesday said local election officials are ignoring an opinion issued by Florida's attorney general stating that un-postmarked overseas military ballots should be included in the absentee ballot count. A source told FOX News that, "We are sticking with the decision of locally elected officials. There are ways to contest those ballots later on. Butterworth has one opinion, we have another opinion. The only thing that matters is what local officials decided." Read the article Court: Amended Tally Must Be Accepted 11/21/2000 10:36 PM The Florida Supreme Court ruled tonight that state officials must accept updated results from manual recounts of presidential ballots in three big counties as late as Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. The unanimous ruling delivered a critical boost to Vice President Gore's hopes of overtaking Gov. George W. Bush's narrow lead. The decision dismayed Republicans, who wanted the court to uphold last week's deadline for certifying election results. Gore's prospects for victory depend on the manual recounts detecting enough previously overlooked Democratic votes to overcome Bush's 930-vote margin. Read the article Republican Governors 'Subdued' at Meeting 11/19/2000 10:44 PM Republican governors who were banking on new power and patronage in a Bush administration left here today dispirited, some of them openly worried that Vice President Gore will trump the GOP and move into the White House. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said the 25 Republican governors meeting here over the last two days have experienced an emotional "roller coaster," as Texas Gov. George W. Bush's fortunes have risen and fallen with various legal rulings. Read the article Christopher Sought to Influence Recount Decision 11/19/2000 10:43 PM Former Secretary of State Warren Christopher called the Democratic lawyer for Palm Beach County's elections supervisor to try to get the attorney to use his influence to assure a manual recount would be conducted there. Christopher, who is leading the Gore campaign's recount effort in Florida, made the phone call Thursday morning to Bruce Rogow, who represents elections supervisor Theresa LePore. "It was an effort to have me persuade my client to vote in favor of starting the manual recount on Thursday. I told him no. I told him we'd have to wait," Rogow said. Read the article Schwarzkopf, GOP Criticize Rejection of Military Votes 11/19/2000 10:41 PM George W. Bush's margin among voters who sent ballots from overseas should have been even larger, say Bush backers including retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf. While gaining 1,380 votes to Al Gore's 750 from the overseas absentees, the Bush campaign complained about the large numbers of ballots that were thrown out, often for a lack of an overseas postmark. Schwarzkopf, the Desert Storm commander who lives in Florida, said Saturday, "These armed forces ballots should be allowed to be tallied." And Sen. John Warner, R-Va., a veteran and former Secretary of the Navy, also criticized the rejection of some 1,400 ballots during county-by-county tallies. Read the article GOP Governors Defend Florida Secretary of State Harris 11/18/2000 12:30 AM The nation's Republican governors, holding their annual post-election meeting here Friday, rushed to the defense of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who has been under heavy criticism from Democrats for her role in overseeing the recount of the presidential vote for George W. Bush and Al Gore in her state. "I am offended by the partisan attacks on her integrity," said Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, who was Ohio's secretary of state for eight years. "I am terribly troubled by these character assassinations," said Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, also a former secretary of state. Read the article On Election Night, Democrats Called Florida Voters About Problem 11/17/2000 3:34 PM Faced with a cliff-hanger election, the Democratic Party directed a telemarketing firm on Election Night to begin calling thousands of voters in Palm Beach, Fla., to raise questions about a disputed ballot and urge them to contact local election officials. The Democratic National Committee paid Texas-based TeleQuest to make the calls Tuesday night -- while polls were still open -- alerting voters in the heavily Democratic enclave in Florida of possible confusion with the ballots they cast. Read the article Congress Could Affect Status of Electors 11/17/2000 3:27 PM Under a 19th century law, it would take only a single member from both the House and Senate to try to invalidate Florida's electoral votes if they were cast for Al Gore. A majority of both chambers would be needed to nullify the Florida electoral ballots. The process has been used once, in 1969, when a pair of lawmakers unsuccessfully challenged a North Carolina electoral vote cast for George Wallace. Among those voting to disallow that electoral ballot were Rep. George Bush, R-Texas, the future president and father of George W. Bush, currently locked in a legal battle with Gore over Florida's 25 electoral votes. Read the article Democratic Activist Admits Effort to Change GOP Electors' Votes 11/17/2000 2:14 PM The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that an Arlington, Va., political consultant with close ties to Warren Christopher has been looking into the background of Republican electors with the aim of convincing them to switch their votes. Bob Beckel, who managed Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, told the Journal that he had yet to contact any electors, and that his activity was on an "ad hoc basis" without the backing of the Gore campaign. But he confirmed the investigative effort. Read the article Florida Election Certification on Hold 11/17/2000 2:13 PM The Florida Supreme Court intervened dramatically yesterday in the nation's tangled presidential election, ordering Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris to withhold certifying the results until the court rules on Vice President Gore's legal challenges to her authority and the validity of the Florida vote count. The unanimous order blocked a Republican plan to declare Texas Gov. George W. Bush the winner of Florida's crucial 25 electoral votes and the presidency today, and assured that the identify of the president-elect will not be known until at least Monday, when the Florida high court has scheduled oral arguments on the Gore legal challenges. Read the article Observers Say Ballots Manipulated by Examiner 11/16/2000 10:59 PM Five observers to Saturday's hand count in Palm Beach County have filed affidavits in federal court charging that a Democratic county commissioner manipulated ballots so Al Gore would receive more votes than George W. Bush. Carol Roberts, a de facto appointee to the three-member elections canvassing board, is accused in the filings of asking a Democratic observer to the count whether ballots should count and that she "twisted the ballots and poked her finger directly in sections of, and aggressively handled, the ballots." Read the article Florida Voting Official's Decision Next on Docket 11/16/2000 10:51 PM A Florida judge said he will rule Friday morning on whether Florida's secretary of state has the authority to ignore recounts of presidential ballots. Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis said he will issue a ruling or a update the status of his deliberation by 10 a.m. on whether Secretary of State Katherine Harris used her best discretion in deciding not to accept adjusted totals to four counties' votes in last week's presidential election. Read the article The Chad Controversy 11/16/2000 10:49 PM The word "chad" was relatively unheard of before this election. But over the past few days it has become perhaps America's most important new vocabulary word and is surrounded by controversy -- especially when chads are found all over the floor. A chad is simply a small piece of paper produced by punching a paper ballot. Yesterday, Republicans monitoring the recount process found chads scattered on the floor where the recount is taking place in Broward County. The GOP asked Broward County sheriffs to pick up the fallen chads as evidence of how ballots are being handled and tainted. Read the article Florida Supreme Court Could Have Final Word on Election 11/16/2000 10:48 PM The Florida Supreme Court, which may end up playing a key role in resolving the presidential election, has a history of both clashing with the state's Republicans and ruling in the name of protecting voter rights. While experts say this could benefit Al Gore more than George W. Bush, most doubt the court will allow partisanship to muddle its rulings. So far the high court has only ruled that the hand recount of ballots could continue -- rejecting Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris' request that it be stopped. Harris has also filed suit asking that the court consolidate the various election lawsuits that have been filed in the state. Read the article Florida Court Says Keep Counting 11/16/2000 10:46 PM Florida's high court gave the go-ahead Thursday to ballot recounts in the state's chaotic presidential election but left unanswered the question of whether the results will matter. "There is no legal impediment to the recounts continuing," the court said in a case brought by Palm Beach County. Within minutes, county officials announced they would join adjacent Broward County in reviewing hundreds of thousands of ballots by hand. The Palm Beach count began Thursday evening. A state judge was to decide as early as Friday whether to overturn the Republican secretary of state's decision to reject any further recount totals from Democratic controlled counties. Read the article The Other Governor Bush Keeps a Low Profile 11/15/2000 10:50 PM Seventy miles to the east, the political universe was erupting. With the outcome of the closest presidential election in more than a century in dispute, a media village worthy of the O.J. Simpson trial vibrated with opinions, assertions and accusations. Just about every local politician with an ounce of ambition had figured out a way to saunter through the thicket of cameras and into the nation's view. Except for Gov. Jeb Bush. Read the article Democrat Attorney General Butterworth Goes Against 22-Year-old Office Standard and Gives Election Advice 11/15/2000 10:49 PM When he issued a legal opinion helpful to Al Gore in Florida's election dispute, Democratic Attorney General Bob Butterworth went against a 22-year-old office standard to avoid giving advice on election issues. The principle that election opinions should be deferred to the Florida secretary of state was written in 1978 by a Butterworth predecessor, Attorney General Robert Shevin. Read the article Indecision 2000 Brings Out Net Comedians 11/15/2000 10:46 PM As with any event of monumental import, the election of 2000 is bringing some of the Internet's more talented satirists out of hiding. And the results so far -- regardless of your political persuasion -- are hilarious. We know many of these have already found their way into your e-mailboxes. But in case they haven't, we offer these links to some of the best election gags as a public service to faithful readers. Read the article House GOP Keeps Chair Term Limits 11/15/2000 10:44 PM The Republican majority in the House decided Wednesday to retain its six-year limit on how long a committee chairman can serve. As a result, some of the most powerful lawmakers in the House will have to give up their posts when the next Congress convenes in January. Republicans, in a closed meeting, voted 141-27 against a motion to waive the requirement, imposed when the party took control of the House in 1995, that chairmen step down after three two-year terms, GOP aides said. Read the article Bush Camp Faces Dilemma in Iowa 11/15/2000 10:43 PM The battle for the presidency threatens to spread beyond Florida tomorrow when the Bush campaign must decide whether to demand a recount in Iowa, setting the stage for recounts in as many as three other states, including Wisconsin, where there are allegations of criminal misconduct, and New Mexico, where the outcome has shifted three times. The decision to pursue a recount pits Republican fears that Vice President Gore would be declared the winner in Florida--and for the presidency--against the liabilities of doing just what Texas Gov. George W. Bush's operatives have sharply criticized Gore for doing. Because of Iowa's 5 p.m. Thursday deadline, the Bush campaign will not have the luxury of knowing the Florida outcome before making the recount decision. Read the article A Look At Appellate Court Judges 11/15/2000 10:42 PM Four of the federal appeals judges who will consider George W. Bush's request to halt the hand counting of ballots in Florida were nominated to the appeals court by Bush's father. Four others were nominated by President Clinton. All 12 judges on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are familiar with making tough decisions in the national spotlight. The court based in Atlanta stood at the center of the Elian Gonzalez case in June. The court first issued an order that kept the Cuban boy in the United States while his American relatives appealed plans to reunite the boy with his father who planned to take him back to Cuba. Three weeks later, the court lifted the order and the boy returned to Cuba. Read the article Postal Service Rushing Military Ballots to Florida 11/15/2000 10:41 PM The U.S. Postal Service is hurrying military overseas ballots arriving in Florida through the delivery process, getting them to the 67 county election departments the same day they arrive in the country. Because of the close race between Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore to capture decisive Florida, the postal service says it is trying especially hard to assure the ballots arrive in the proper counties before Friday's midnight deadline. Read the article James Baker: We're Not Causing Delay 11/15/2000 10:40 PM Former Treasury Secretary and Secretary of State James Baker, the Bush team's spokesman in Florida, said Wednesday at a press conference that he believed the Gore team wants to continue counting votes and filing lawsuits until the Presidential election comes out in their favor. Following is the transcript of Baker's press conference, followed by questions from the press and responses by Baker and Bush campaign attorneys Theodore Olson and Barry Richard. Read the article Florida Secretary of State Denies Hand Counts 11/15/2000 10:39 PM In the latest election twist, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced Wednesday night she was denying attempts by counties to submit hand recounts of ballots in the contested presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Gore's camp promptly responded that they would go to court Thursday to fight the decision. In his response to the ruling, Bush supported Harris' decision, saying that Florida's votes had been counted and recounted, and that manual counting "introduces human error and politics" into the process. He also rejected Gore's proposal to do a statewide recount. Read the article Bush Rejects Gore Recount Proposal 11/15/2000 10:38 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush rejected Al Gore's proposal for a statewide manual recount in Florida, calling the procedure underway in Democratic-leaning countries "neither fair or accurate. It would be arbitrary and chaotic," he said Wednesday night. Following Gore in front of a nationally televised audience, Bush accepted Gore's offer to meet together after Florida's contentious election outcome is resolved -- but did not mention the vice president's suggestion that they meet sooner. Read the article Bush Wraps Up Race on Hopeful Note 11/6/2000 11:02 PM In an in-your-face gesture, George W. Bush began his final campaign day in rival Al Gore's home state and ended it Bill Clinton's, predicting victory in both. "People here know there's a better day ahead with my leadership in Washington, D.C.," Bush told an energetic crowd of about 6,000 people in an open airport hangar on a cold, rainy night, his last event of the long campaign. Bush and top advisers projected an air of invincibility Monday, though polls showed the presidential race was close. Campaign officials at times seemed almost giddy, sharing jokes with reporters, taking photographs, even talking about schools, neighborhoods and real-estate prices in Washington. Read the article Cheney Campaigns With Personal Touch 11/6/2000 11:01 PM In an all-but-giddy last day of campaigning, Dick Cheney telephoned voters -- "Need a ride to the polls or anything?" -- shook hands with an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas and mused about being able to make up for lost fishing time. Appearing relaxed and confident, Cheney swept through four Western states Monday in a final pitch for his boss George W. Bush. Though the race is too close to call in Nevada, where he manned a GOP phone bank, and in Oregon, where he addressed a small rally, the usually no-nonsense candidate was ad-libbing in an upbeat manner. Read the article Odds Favor GOP in Senate Races 11/6/2000 10:57 PM Middle East politics in New York, racial issues in Virginia and a Missouri widow's extraordinary appeal for support of her dead husband have injected election-eve drama into three critical Senate campaigns. But Democrats still face daunting odds Tuesday in capturing control from Republicans, who now hold a 54-46 majority in the Senate and have 35 of the 66 holdovers not up for election this year. If Democrat Al Gore wins the White House, the odds become even longer. A re-election victory by Joseph Lieberman in the Connecticut Senate race would be wiped out when he becomes vice president and the state's Republican governor appoints his replacement. Read the article Cigarettes Distributed to Homeless For Gore Vote 11/6/2000 10:55 PM Campaign volunteers for the Democratic Presidential campaign were discovered distributing cigarettes to homeless voters after the volunteers had recruited the homeless specifically for their vote Saturday. WISN 12 News caught workers for Vice President Al Gore's campaign giving packs of cigarettes to homeless voters that they had transported to cast absentee ballots. Read the article Ashcroft, Talent Make Last-Minute Appeals 11/6/2000 10:51 PM candidates, including Sen. John Ashcroft and Rep. Jim Talent, blitzed across Missouri on Monday in a final push to energize voters about the GOP ticket and get them to the polls. "We are barnstorming this state!" bellowed Ann Wagner, chairwoman of the Missouri Republican Party, as she took the podium to fire up the 75 or so supporters who gathered at the Drury Plaza Inn downtown. "The energy is in the air. I hope you feel it like I do." Read the article Turnout Efforts Key for GOP Majority 11/5/2000 9:42 PM On the eve of an election with little more than a dozen of the 34 Senate races still competitive, Democrats face a Herculean task to have any hope of bringing six years of Republican control to an end. GOP senators hold a 54-46 margin in the outgoing Congress and go into the election with 35 holdovers returning to the 31 Democrats with two years or four years left in their terms. But Republicans also have a virtual lock on 12 of the 19 seats they are defending; Democrats are safe in only 10 of their 15 seats at stake. Read the article New York Senate Race Focuses on Turnout 11/5/2000 9:41 PM Wrapping up the grueling final weekend of their Senate campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at seven black churches Sunday while Rep. Rick Lazio sought to rally supporters in traditionally Republican upstate New York. Both had one goal in mind, and it was emblazoned on the cardboard fans distributed at the Bronx Christian Fellowship Church, where Clinton began her day: "All Souls to the Polls." With polls showing the race so close it could go either way, getting supporters to the polls is crucial for both candidates, and Lazio and Clinton focused on their most loyal supporters Sunday. Read the article Bush Could Make White House History 11/5/2000 9:39 PM Choosing politics later in life after decades in his father's long shadow, George W. Bush sought to stimulate a big Republican turnout that would put Bush after Adams as the second father-son combination to win the White House. "The voters are there, let's turn them out!" he exhorted Sunday. Read the article Cheney, Powell Stump Through California 11/5/2000 9:35 PM Making a final pitch in voter-rich California, Dick Cheney campaigned Sunday with retired Gen. Colin Powell in an area steeped in military ties, and both promised that a White House led by Republican George W. Bush will repair U.S. troop strength. "We're getting down to the point where it's going to be absolutely essential to get all your friends and neighbors to the polls," the Republican vice presidential candidate said in this San Diego suburb. "If you'll help us next Tuesday, we are going to carry California and win this election." Powell said Republicans will win because "Governor Bush and Secretary Cheney have made a commitment ... that they are going to do whatever is necessary to make sure that they (U.S. troops) stay No. 1." Read the article Chance for Change Makes High Court a Rallying Point 11/5/2000 9:34 PM In this highly polarized campaign season, just about everyone agrees on one thing: On Nov. 7, not only the White House but also the Supreme Court will be at stake and, by extension, national policy on a host of issues ranging from gay rights to abortion. With three justices on the nine-member court over 70 years of age, the likelihood of major change on the court in the next presidency has acquired the status of conventional wisdom. Read the article Two Days to Go, and Too Close to Call 11/5/2000 9:33 PM The presidential election that ends on Tuesday is so close that some pollsters are raising the specter of a split decision, with Vice President Al Gore losing the popular vote but winning the presidency in the Electoral College. It's one of those rare elections, moreover, where just about everything seems up for grabs, with no one certain which party will end up controlling the House of Representatives or the Senate, and many state legislatures in play as well. And no state exemplifies the nail-biting nature of the season better than Missouri. Read the article Bush Upbeat as He Begins Final Swing 11/4/2000 11:00 PM Tempering his words and promising once more to "put the people's business ahead of politics," Texas Gov. George W. Bush opened the last swing of his presidential campaign today believing he had survived the final crisis and reached the threshold of the White House. Bush, grinning and looking chipper in this auto town despite a three-states-a-day schedule, was backed by daytime fireworks and a balloon drop so huge it took two cranes to lift. Blowing kisses and dispensing a double thumbs-up to raucous crowds, he confidently flashed the "W" for victory that has become a Republican symbol of solidarity. Read the article Two Days to Go, Burden Is on Gore 11/4/2000 10:59 PM The outcome of the uncertain presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush depends on half a dozen states spread across the country. Gore needs to win about three-quarters of the remaining electoral votes in those states to clinch a victory on Tuesday. With just two full days of campaigning left, Bush and Gore appear headed for the tightest finish in the electoral college since 1976 and the closest popular vote margin since 1968, according to an intensive Washington Post canvass of political insiders in all 50 states and analysis of public and private polls. Read the article Determined to Make up for Lost Time, Ashcroft Keeps Campaign Moving 11/4/2000 10:39 PM For a time, U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft kept quiet. It was the right thing to do, he insisted, while Missouri mourned the death of its governor and his campaign opponent -- Mel Carnahan. "Every man, woman, child, Republican or Democrat, Independent or anything else," he said on a brisk Friday morning, "it didn't matter, you still lost a governor." His campaign, he reminded about 70 supporters gathered around him outside a Pony Express museum, shut down for more than a week. "We literally forfeited $1 million of communication with the voters." Read the article Bush Winning Wall Street 11/2/2000 11:54 PM Wall Street players are famous for hedging their bets but when it comes to the upcoming presidential election, they're placing more chips in the Republican camp. It's not that they think Republican candidate George W. Bush would necessarily make the best president, but rather that they like his promise to cut taxes. The theory goes that a tax-cut plan would put more money in consumers' hands, hence more money would show up in corporate profits. That would ultimately translate into more money flowing into Wall Street. Read the article Perot Endorses Bush For President 11/2/2000 11:31 PM Reform Party founder Ross Perot endorsed George W. Bush for president Thursday, eight years after his own White House bid helped turn Bush's father out of office. "Here is a man that I have never heard anybody criticize once for improper conduct as governor, for improper taking of political funds for payoffs for impropriety in the governor's mansion or at any time," Perot, who hails from Bush's home state of Texas, said on CNN's "Larry King Live." Read the article In St. Charles, Bush Rallies to Get Out the Vote 11/2/2000 6:11 PM George W. Bush's appearance Thursday in suburban St. Louis turned into a rally to get out the Republican vote. Everyone who took the stage at The Family Arena -- from Bush to Missouri Sens. John Ashcroft and Christopher Bond -- issued the call to go to the polls Tuesday, saying many of the races were still too close to call. Even Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck made a plea. Read the article Is 1888 Casting a Long Shadow? 11/2/2000 11:42 AM Imagine a presidential campaign matching two solid but somehow uninspiring men. One boasts a pale power of incumbency; the other--a governor from the nation's midsection--bears the surname of a former president. The skyrocketing cost of old age pensions is an issue, along with the question of what to do with a huge federal surplus. The race is close--so close that, come Election Day, one man carries the popular vote, while the other wins the Electoral College. Year 2000? Not yet. This was 1888. Read the article GOP Denies Plan to Challenge a Carnahan Election 11/2/2000 11:32 AM Republican leaders denied Wednesday making plans to challenge the possible election of the late Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan to the Senate. There is a growing discussion whether Republicans might attempt to block Carnahan's widow, Jean Carnahan, from being seated in the Senate if Sen. John Ashcroft is defeated. Some Republicans and legal experts continue to question whether a deceased candidate can qualify, while Democrats characterize such arguments as additional efforts to confuse voters. The Senate leadership and Republican Party officials sought to douse that speculation Wednesday. Read the article Ashcroft Lauds Bush in Tour Through St. Louis 11/2/2000 10:09 AM Sen. John Ashcroft returned Wednesday to the spot where he began the final push in his re-election bid for the U.S. Senate last July: the sunlit front porch of Ken and Abby Peck's home in Kimmswick. It was a much different campaign then, with Ashcroft, R-Mo., and his opponent, Gov. Mel Carnahan, engaged in a bitter war of words over everything from abortion to judicial nominations. But Ashcroft's message in July and on this latest campaign swing were very similar. Read the article Talent Edges Ahead of Holden in Gubernatorial Contest 11/2/2000 10:08 AM Michael Hoffman, an autoworker from west St. Louis County, disagrees with his pro-Democratic union and plans to vote for Republican Jim Talent for governor. "I work hard for my money and I want to keep some of it," said Hoffman, 41. He reasons that Talent is less likely to back state tax increases than Democratic nominee Bob Holden. Hoffman also likes Talent's support for some school voucher programs and gun owners' rights. He was among 593 likely Missouri voters participating in the Zogby Tracking Poll. Wednesday's results show Talent nudging ahead of Holden, 45.2 percent to 40.5 percent. Read the article Kansas City Star: Ashcroft for U.S. Senate in Missouri 11/1/2000 11:19 PM The Kansas City Star believes Missourians should make all the potential legal bickering moot by re-electing John Ashcroft. We have not agreed with all of his stands on issues, but we consider him a public servant whose integrity is unquestioned. He has a record of fiscal stewardship that has helped him gain significant majorities in five previous statewide elections. When Ashcroft ran for the Senate six years ago, he pledged to work toward balancing the federal budget, paying down the national debt and reforming welfare. He has worked effectively in dealing with all three issues. Read the article Carnahan Campaign is About More Than Missouri 11/1/2000 12:09 PM With Democrats given a good shot of knocking off GOP incumbents in Delaware, Minnesota, Washington state and maybe Montana, it is conceivable that control of the Senate could hinge on the death-defying verdict in Missouri. (The calculations are complicated by open seats in Florida, Nevada and Nebraska; the tight re-election battle of Democrat Chuck Robb in Virginia; Hillary Rodham Clinton's fortunes in New York; and the vagaries of politics in other states.) Read the article Ashcroft Kicks Off a 25-City Tour of the State with Talent by his Side 11/1/2000 12:06 PM Sen. John Ashcroft began a 25-city, four-day bus and plane tour of the state Tuesday, talking to crowds about protecting Social Security, paying down the national debt and giving local schools more control. He talked about welfare reform and the balanced budget at a rally in Ozark, Mo. And he bounded onstage at the College of the Ozarks to implore a group of young Republican students to vote on Election Day. Read the article Ashcroft Must Battle 3 Opponents: Late Governor, Widow in Waiting, Media Infatuated with Rare Story 11/1/2000 12:01 PM Republican Sen. John Ashcroft wanted to talk about Social Security, women's issues, health care. But everywhere Ashcroft traveled Monday, from the Ozarks to Kansas City to St. Louis, reporters asked him about political turmoil that has rocked Missouri since his Senate opponent's death. Missouri's freshman senator finds himself in a "political straitjacket," as one analyst put it -- facing not one, but three opponents as he seeks a second term Nov. 7. Read the article A Pivotal Election Finds NRA's Wallet Open 11/1/2000 11:56 AM National Rifle Association officials don't like to speak too loudly about how much they want GOP nominee George W. Bush to become president. But even as NRA chief lobbyist James J. Baker took pains in a recent interview to highlight the differences between his organization and Bush, he added, "The differences between a President Bush and gun owners and a President Gore and gun owners are like the differences between night and day." Read the article Prevailing Theme: Gore is in Trouble 11/1/2000 11:56 AM It's carefully hedged in some instances, less so in others. But some journalists are openly saying that Al Gore is in trouble -- a conclusion that, given the imperatives of pack journalism and the mere six days left in the race, is likely to grow louder real soon. Like maybe today. Read the article