Just like there were a lot of his supporters down in Florida
when they tried to storm the office of the people trying to
do a recount? Or, were they athletic supporters?

--
"j" ganz @@


I remember seeing that on cable news. A bunch of middle-age and older
guys in golf shirts and white loafers were shouting because the Miami-
Dade (democrat) poll officials were taking the recount behind closed
doors, against Florida law. On the tape they looked like a bunch of
retired car salesmen and accountants yelling indignantly, about as
frightning as my grandma. Scary only if you're about five years old.

Another case of the Gore spin outliving the true facts.

--------------------------------------

Text: Bush Legal Team Makes Remarks
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/docs/...mbush11-28.php

Following is the full text of a Tuesday news conference held by George
W. Bush adviser James A. Baker III to introduce senior members of the
Buwh campaign's legal team.

[snip]

BARTLIT: My name is Fred Bartlit. I'm going to talk about myth number
two. That's the myth that Miami-Dade would have conducted the manual
recount unless they--if it wasn't for a Republican mob that intimidated
the canvassing board. Gore lawyer Ron Klain said that a mob stormed the
counting facility to stop the count. That's the myth; here are the
facts.

The board is composed of independent David Leahy, a supervisor of
election for 26 years, a highly experienced individual, and two other
sitting judges. What was being protested was a violation of the Florida
Sunshine law; the count was moving behind closed doors.

The New York Times was at the forefront threatening litigation if the
count wasn't opened. Mr. Leahy said that the demonstration was - all he
saw was something that was noisy and peaceful and nothing else. There
were babies in the crowd. There were little kids there. There was, in
some ways, a holiday atmosphere.

Mr. Leahy and others said that they were not intimidated. They said the
count was stopped because they could not possibly - could not possibly -
meet the deadline set by the Supreme Court. The air in the room when
they made the decision was calm, it was relaxed, there were no shouts.
There was no pressure in the room. There were many, many police there.
There wasn't a single arrest. No one ever asked the crowd to desist.

A statement under these circumstances about a mob storming a counting
facility is desired to heat up the situation, and it really is time to
tune back the rhetoric.