Mullings A Political Cyber Column By Rich Galen

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Truckin' on up to Tally-hassee

Friday, December 1, 2000

In an interview with Newsday, yesterday, about the manner in which these two guys are conducting themselves I made this point: One is acting like a President; one is acting like a candidate.

George W. Bush appears to be headed toward the Presidency. The choices for the Gore team are diminishing by the minute and, by most accounts, he cannot prevail even if he runs the judicial table.

One of the problems the Gore team has been facing since last Sunday night when Bush was certified as the winner of Florida is the fairly steady number of 60-or-so percent of Americans who think he should concede.

A Mason-Dixon poll taken for the Orlando Sentinel showed that Floridians believe, by a margin of 62-37, that Bush won the election. The poll also showed 54 percent do not think Gore should continue his contest.

The Gore team must reverse that. They are doing that by running a, guess what? Campaign! And there is some evidence the All-Al-All-The-Time TV schedule is having a positive effect on the party faithful. In that Orlando Sentinel poll only 12 percent of Blacks think Bush won.

They trot Al Gore and Joe Lieberman out to TV cameras five or six times a day, just as they did during the campaign.

Governor and Laura Bush, meanwhile, was at the ranch yesterday having a very public meeting with Colin and Alma Powell to "discuss foreign policy issues," if not Secretary of State issues.

One is acting like a President. The other is acting like a candidate.

The question running around NOG (Non-Official-Government) Washington late this week is this: What is the Gore end game? How does he get to the West Front of the Capitol on January 20th without a ticket?

Most people don't think he can win in the Florida courts. As a grizzled veteran of many an election recount and more than a few election contests, I can tell you that getting a court to overturn the results of an election is very, very difficult.

But it can happen. It is possible that the Florida Supreme Court will rule for Gore and, in a convoluted recount under court supervision most favorable to Gore, he wins. Then what?

Then he runs into the Florida Legislature.

Many Republicans around the country consider this post-election period to be like World War II: The GOP didn't start it, but if you have an atom bomb, and if you're serious, you can't be shy about using that weapon to end it.

If the Florida courts rule for Gore, the Florida Legislature will, if necessary, certify its own slate of Republican electors to send up to Washington, in effect, dropping The Bomb.

The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as everyone - even people who watch Drew Carey reruns rather than the late news - is now aware, allows the U.S. House of Representatives to decide between a slate of electors sent by the court and a slate of delegates sent by the legislature.

And the vote is state-by-state. California gets one vote. Wyoming gets one vote. The first guy to get to 26 wins the election. The GOP controls 28 state delegations. You do the math.

From the 12th Amendment: "�in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice."

By the way, the ex-ex-eye-eye-th amendment was rejected by Delaware, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in 1804, but I think they get to vote anyway.

Bill Bennett on Hardball last night: " The rule of law" does not mean "litigate to death."

Meanwhile, in America: Former Saturday Night Live and movie comedy star David Spade was attacked with a stun gun by his personal assistant. The name of his current TV show? "Just Shoot Me."

Still more star stuff: A Reuters science writer reported: "A galaxy near the Big Dipper constellation that was once believed to be the 'Most Distant Object Known' is closer than originally thought, scientists said Thursday." If only the same could be said for the end of this election.

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Copyright © 2000 Richard A. Galen

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