4 - The Michigan Daily - Special Edition - Thursday, December 14, 2000 ELECTION 2000 Gore's decision c!.r soon after Courrulg Los Angeles Times Lieberman. "There wasn't a big, long, drawn-out meeting,' the aide said. "It was clear there was little wriggle room." WASHINGTON - As late as 10 p.m. Tuesday, Al Gore Shortly before 2 a.m., Gore said that he would hold off his thought he still had a chance - a chance that one of the decision overnight. But there was little doubt which way he "swing" justices on the Supreme Court might move his way was leaning, several advisers said. and bring his campaign back to life. The lawyers worked all night long. By dawn, they had pro- "I've been back from the dead a couple of times," he told an duced a brief that, in eflect, would ask the Florida Supreme old friend. "Maybe all is not lost." Court for permission to make their new arguments. But by 2 a.m. yesterday, when Gore went to bed after a har- But when Gore got up yesterday morning, it took him little rowing night, the Democratic nominee knew he had almost time to decide. certainly lost his long battle for the presidency, advisers said. Overnight, a slowly building chorus of Democrats had He let eager lawyers in Tallahassee, Fla., work overnight, begun calling on him - both privately and publicly - to looking desperately for what one called "a glimmer of hope," withdraw. "I think the American people are ready for it to a way to persuade the Florida Supreme Court to start recount- end," Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.) said. ing votes again. But even they could tell About 8 a.m., Gore talked with that Gore's thinking was beginning to By 2 a.m. yesterday, Daley. At 8:30 a.m., Daley called Klain shift to the end game. in Tallahassee to "pull the plug," one At dawn, the exhausted lawyers he s femocrarc aide said. faxed their findings to Washington. At 9 a.m., Gore's senior staff con- About 8 a.m., Gore telephoned cam- nominee knew he ferred in a conference call. There were paign chairman Bill Daley.h ,t t no arguments against the vice presi- It didn't make sense to prolong the .Tr dent's decision, just a discussion of battle further, Gore told his aides. The how a public statement should be odds of success were too low. lnh a b t e imade. At 10 a.m., 12 hours after the for the presidency. They recommended a formal state- Supreme Court issued its opinion, Daley __ _ment on prime-time television yester- released a laconic public statement: "The day evening, to get the biggest possible vice president has directed the recount committee to suspend audience. But they also decided on a quick statement in the activities." morning - to avoid suffering through a day of speculation Gore's presidential campaign was over. over whether Gore was keeping his dying campaign alive. "He was very cool, calm and collected," said one adviser At 9:30 a.m., Gore telephoned the lawyers in Tallahassee to who spoke with Gore several times. "I'd be a lot angrier if I thank them fortheir work. Some wept. were in his place." Even at the end, Gore's reactions were At 10 a.m., Daley issued his statement. characteristically cautious and analytical. "It was a careful And by 10:15 a.m., Gore was ois the telephone again - exercise," the adviser said. "He wanted his best legal thinkers first with President Clinton, who called from Ireland, and then to see if anything was there." asking friends and allies for advice on his television speech. The last 12 hours of the Gore campaign began in confusion, The Gore residence was once again full of aides Daley, as the vice president and his aides scrambled to figure out political consultants Robert Shrum and Carter Eskew, and exactly what the Supreme Court had said in its ruling. speechwriter Eli Attie --working on the text. Gore got the first news from CNN, one aide said - but the Aides and friends insisted that throughout the last week, network's correspondents were not sure what the decision Gore never talked about whether or not lie should run again meant. "There was a period of time when no one understood for the presidency in four years. what was going on, including us,' said an aide to vice presi- But Gore has rebutted them. dential nominee Joseph Lieberman. "He doesn't want to talk about it the friend said. In a series of conference calls that lasted almost 90 minutes, "This is really painful" ie said. "And he's got to take some Daley and lawyers Roml Klain and David Boies finally deci- time off to relax and unwind and enjoy himself, which he phered the decision and delivered their diagnosis to Gore and hasn't done for years." President-elect George W. Bush waves with hisu trademark "W", sign, after his r victory speech in4, the Texas House of Representativess Chambers at thez state Capitol in Austin, Texas, last night. Vice President Al Gore gets a hug from running mate Joe Lieberman as daughter Karenna GoreSchiff watches after he gave his concession speech at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building yesterday in Washington. itOVen dent ready to moeafter battle By Nick Bunkley Daily News Editor In the waning hours of Al Gore's extended presidential campaign yester- day, students of all political leanings breathed a collective sigh of relief and prepared to welcome George W. Bush as the nation's next leader. More than a month after the polls closed, Gore's concession last night means the vice president's supporters must now accept that Bush will reside in the White H-louse for at least the next four years. "We're just going to wait and see how he does," Students for Gore Chair Alicia Johnson said of the Republican Texas governor. "Hopefully he'll do a good job" Republicans and Democrats alike agree it is time for the nation to sew up the partisan rifts that have developed during the 36-day post-Election Day dispute. "It's been a long and drawn-out process, to say the least," said Students for Bush co-Chair John Carter, an LSA sophomore. Carter, one of many students who spent the day studying for final exams while awaiting Gore's prime-time address to the nation, said the vice president should have acknowledged his fate and brought the saga to a close sooner. "I can sympathize with him for fighting on, but for the stabilityof the country I would have liked to see him concede ... before now," Carter said. Meanwhile Democrats, even as court rulings and recounts failed to give Gore an advantage over Bush, didn't give up until Gore finally stepped aside last night. Following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court issued late Tuesday, few options remained for the vice president to con- tinue his quest. "We're all pretty upset about that, said Johnson, an LSA junior. "We kep up hope. It's too bad that a lot of peo- pie are losing faith in the political sys- tem." LSA sophomore Doug Tietz, who also co-chairs Students for Bush on campus, said Gore's fight in Florida wound up legitimizing the Texas gov- ernor's victory. "The recounts have been good because each and every time George W. Bush has won, and that's what it really comes down to," Tietz said. "They've counted and recounted, and he's won. No matter what excuse you can make, he won" Johnson may not be around in four years, but she is confident Students for Gore will reappear on campus in time for the 2004 presidential campaign. "I'm sure," she said. "I have no doubt." Bush fourti BUSH Continued from Page 1 message of prayer and healing," she said. Each move was calculated to heal divisions caused by the brutal, five-week election post- script. His mandate in doubt, Bush already is being urged to curb his legislative agenda, par- ticularly the $1.3 trillion program of tax cuts over 10 years. Across the nation, Americans took stock and looked forward - with hope and doubts. "The most important thing is that we've got- ten a new president without violence, without undue civil unrest, and that speaks highly of our country, our democracy," said Tobey Lewallen, a salesman from Williamsburg, Mich, who voted for Bush. Anthony Joern, a college professor in Lin- coln, Neb., who backed Gore, questioned whether Bush would be able to lead the nation, saying, "I think his stated ability to be a con- sensus builder is much overblown." Speaking for many was Mark Abbey, who works in a bar in Topeka, Kan. "The biggest part,"he said, "is I'm glad it's over." Reacting to Democratic criticism, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told to win White House while losing popular vote high school students that the court is not influenced by the politics of the presidency or Congress. "We happen to be in the same city but we might as well be on entirely different planets," said Thomas, nominated to the bench by Bush's father. "We have no axes to grind." A few miles away, the doors to a government- run transition office were readied to be open to Bush by the General Services Administration. A formal ceremony was scheduled for today. Flori- da's GOP-led Legislature also awaited word from Gore, deferring plans to appoint a backup slate of state electors loyal to Bush. Gore topped his GOP rival by more than 300,000 votes out of 103 million ballots cast nationwide. But Florida's 25 electoral votes, to be cast Dec. 18 and counted Jan. 6, would give Bush a total of 271 -- one more than the 270 required to win the presidency, and four more than Gore. And thus closed an election for the history books, the closest in 124 years. On inauguration Day Jan. 20, the Texas governor will become: The first presidential candidate since Ben- jamin Harrison in 1888 - and only the fourth in American history -- to lose the national popular vote but win the state electoral contest, thus the White House. larrison's foe, Grover Cleveland, rebounded to win the presidency in 1893, offering a glimmer of hope for Gore who, at 52, may want to make another run at the White house. * The nation's second father-son presiden- tial team after John Adams (1791-1801) and John Quincy Adams (1825-1829). Bush has relied on his well-to-do family's connections, both to raise money and build the foundation of a new administration. Andrew Card, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and GOP running mate Dick Cheney held top positions in the first Bush presidency and are slated for senior roles in the second. Cheney visited conservative Republicans on Capitol hill, telling reporters afterward, "We're moving forward on the transition." Bush may soon join Cheney in the nation's capital; aides said that a trip to Washington next week was being planned, including a cour- tesy call on President Clinton, congressional Democrats. "I know Arnerica wants reconciliation and unity," Bush told the nation. "I know Ameri- cans want progress. And we must seize this moment and deliver." Advisers said Democrats are under consider- "he long trail that has kept the nation in suspense since November 7th is now over." ation for Cabinet posts, including Sen. John Breaux (D-La.). Also mentioned in GOP cir- cles: Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas), former Sens. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) and Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and former Dallas Democratic Party chairman Sandy Kress. Bush's schedule is in flux, but aides said a presidential-style news conference was likely this week. They debated whether to roll out White House staff and Cabinet appointments or delay the activity while Bush builds an image as a uniter. With the Senate evenly split, the House nearly so and Florida falling to Bush by a near-invisible 537 votes, it was fitting that the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 against recounts in the state - a decision they nine justices knew was tantamount to awarding Bush the White House. Democrats laid down their political markers for 2002, when Congress will be up for grabs, - Dennis Hastert House speaker suggesting that wounds inflicted in the recount war will still be grist for the next campaign. Sen. Patrick Leahy, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the "majority has dealt the court a serious blow by taking actions many Americans will consider to be political rather than judicial." The party's core constituencies, particularly minorities, seemed the most stung by Gore's defeat. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-tll.) called the high court "a willing tool of the Bush campaign" that orchestrated "a velvet legal coup." After eight years of Democratic control in the White House, Republicans promised cc#if promise and consensus. "The long trail that has kept the nation in suspense since November 7th is now over," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert. "Now, as a nation, we must come together." A crowd gathers to watch Bush on a television at the Princeton University student center in Princeton, N.J., yesterday after Gore's concession speech.