November 27, 2000
The Turning
Point
By John McIntyre
More
than 100 million Americans voted on Tuesday and more voted for
Al Gore than Governor Bush. If the will of the people is to prevail,
Al Gore should be awarded a victory in Florida and be our next
president. Bill Daley 11/9/00
Today,
Florida's Supreme Court rewrote the legislature's statutory system,
assumed the responsibilities of the executive branch, and sidestepped
the opinion of the trial court as the finder of fact. Two weeks
after the election, that court has changed the rules, and has
invented a new system for counting the election results. So one
should not now be surprised if the Florida legislature seeks to
affirm the original rules. James
Baker 11/21/00
Less than 48 hours after the election, Gore campaign Chairman
Bill Daley stated emphatically that more people voted for Al Gore
nationally and that "if the will of the people" was
to be honored, Al Gore should be "awarded a victory in Florida
and be our next President." It's that simple to the Gore
campaign. Forget what the official vote count from election night
showed. Forget that George Bush won the official machine recount
mandated by Florida law. Forget the fact that on the third count
Gore has been officially certified the loser, even after the Florida
Supreme Court rewrote the law favoring the Vice President. Forget
the rules, the deadlines, what's fair, what's right, what's wrong
- the only factor that is relevant in their minds is GORE WON.
While the Gore junta was hatching their plan to manipulate the
legal system to achieve what they couldn't on election day, Reverend
Jesse Jackson and Representative Robert Wexler were spouting lies
about black vote suppression, Selma and illegal ballots. As if
any person who has any intelligence and isn't a complete partisan
hack would believe that Jeb Bush is a Bull Connor. The press,
once again demonstrating their institutional liberal bias, willingly
cooperated with the Gore strategy, providing nonstop airtime of
"illegal" ballots that weren't illegal, and stories
about voter "irregularities" that weren't irregularities
at all, but normal, everyday election occurrences.
Gore and his lawyers came up with a simple plan to force manual
recounts in four overwhelmingly pro-Gore counties where they controlled
the canvassing boards and thus had ultimate power. They knew they
had the Florida Supreme Court in their pocket and thought - with
some justification - the US Supreme Court would leave the issue
to be resolved in the state courts. The plan was brazen in its
simplicity: manufacture enough votes in Democrat controlled counties
and then have the state Supreme Court rubber stamp their "legal
right" to steal the election. All the while cloaking the
theft in high-minded babble about "the will of the people"
and "the rule of law."
After the state Supreme Court's ruling on Tuesday, Vice President
Gore addressed the nation and could barely control his glee in
thinking he had checkmated George W. Bush. Gore pompously told
the country that "the Florida Supreme Court has now spoken
and we will move forward now with a full, fair and accurate count
of the ballots in question. I firmly believe that the will of
the people should prevail." There is no question that at
this point, the Gore team thought they had succeeded in the heist.
They had their Democratically controlled counties working to find
the needed votes, and they had the blessing of what they felt
to be the final legal authority.
But it quickly started to unravel. Everything changed when James
Baker walked out and told the world Governor Bush would not sit
idly by and let Al Gore steal the election. The gauntlet had been
thrown down. The smirks on the faces of network newscasters disappeared.
Liberals were outraged that the Bush campaign had the audacity
to challenge a court decision while suggesting they may pursue
other legal avenues to secure their victory. To the media establishment,
it was completely legitimate for Al Gore and the Democrats to
use all means necessary to achieve the presidency, but for Republicans
to fight back in the venues where they hold the advantage was
somehow "going nuclear" or creating "a Constitutional
crisis."
Baker's line "so
one should not now be surprised if the Florida legislature seeks
to affirm the original rules" was a clear shot across the
bow. Bush
was telling Mr. Gore in no uncertain terms, "if you continue
to persist in trying to steal this election, we will fight you
and we will defeat you."
At the end
of the day, Bush and the GOP hold all of the final controlling
cards in this fiasco. Baker and Bush's statements following the
state Supreme Court decision, along with the statements from the
Florida Legislature, made it clear they are willing to use those
options, if the Gore campaign forces their hand.
Maybe it
won't come to that now that Gore has failed to cook up enough
votes to take the lead. Having been certified the winner of Florida,
Governor Bush now has 271 electoral votes and is therefore President-elect.
Gore is entitled, as are all losers, to contest the election results
and it is clear he intends to. How far this charade continues
is now completely up to Al Gore, the Democrats and the courts.
With Bush the certified winner even under the amended Gore rules,
the likely favorable Supreme Court ruling will simply be icing
on the cake for the Bush campaign. However, there is no question
that had Gore been able to count himself ahead (or in the small
chance he can manage to litigate a lead in the state courts during
the contest) that from a public relations standpoint it is better
to have the U.S. Supreme Court deliver the deathblow to the Vice
President rather than the Florida Legislature. But make no mistake
about it, the turning point in this fiasco came last Tuesday night
when James Baker made it clear, George W. Bush was not going to
allow Al Gore to steal this election.
John McIntyre writes for RealClearPolitics
Mr.
McIntyre can be heard live every Monday morning on the
Hugh Hewitt Show 9:30 EST
