The fraud gets more odious with each passing day. While Gore et al may not be behind this, they sure as Hell aren't telling these people to cease and desist.
HOW TO STEAL AN ELECTION, PART XX
Republican electors urged to choose Gore
By David Cox, Tallahassee Bureau
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on December 03, 2000
"But I`m very loyal to the [Bush] family, and there will be no chance I`ll ever change my vote."
-- Cynthia Handley, Republican elector
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida`s Republican presidential electors are getting hit with letters and telephone calls asking them to buck their party affiliation and vote for Democratic Vice President Al Gore.
The writers` and callers` messages go something like this: Because Gore won the nation`s popular vote by about 300,000 votes, the electors should do the right thing and give him the Electoral College votes needed to be the next president.
Orange County Chairman Mel Martinez, a Bush elector, said he`s received several letters but only two phone calls so far asking him to vote for Gore. Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood, another Bush elector, said she`s received two or three letters a day but just started getting telephone messages on her home answering machine during the past couple of days.
"They`re antagonistic -- not obscene," she said of the phone messages. "They`re just very forthright: `You have an obligation to do the right thing.` "
But the state`s Republican electors contacted by the Orlando Sentinel aren`t listening. Texas Gov. George W. Bush leads Gore by 537 votes in the state`s certified vote total. And unless the courts overturn that vote count, Bush will get Florida`s 25 electoral votes to become president.
There is no evidence that anyone in the Gore campaign is involved. In fact, many of the solicitations are coming from a group called Citizens for True Democracy, California college students and political activists who want to get rid of the Electoral College and have the president elected by popular vote.
The future of Florida`s presidential electors has been the subject of intense debate, lawsuits and legislative discussions since the Nov. 7 general election.
Both major political parties and the presidential candidates from other parties pick their slate of electors prior to Election Day. Bush`s Republican electors, however, are receiving the most attention because -- for now, anyway -- he is the certified winner in Florida.
Who are they? Loyal GOP activists and high-powered financial contributors. They are ardent George Bush supporters and feel duty-bound to cast Electoral College votes for him. Most of them didn`t think it would be such a big deal being a presidential elector. But this isn`t just any old election.
"I`m a housewife and sometimes-Republican volunteer who never thought she`d get to do anything like this," said Cynthia Handley, 59, the Brevard County chairman of George W. Bush`s presidential campaign and Gov. Jeb Bush`s two gubernatorial campaigns. "But I`m very loyal to the [Bush] family, and there will be no chance I`ll ever change my vote."
There`s Armando Codina, a Miami developer whose most famous ex-business partner is Jeb Bush, and H. Gary Morse, developer of The Villages retirement community. There`s Carole Jean Jordan of Vero Beach, past president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women.
The list of electors also includes politicians such as House Speaker Tom Feeney of Oviedo, Senate President John McKay of Bradenton and former Speaker John Thrasher of Orange Park.
One Bush elector said anyone on the Texas governor`s list of electors who doesn`t vote for him would be labeled a traitor.
"How could any person do this?" asked Tampa developer Al Austin, 71. "They would be the Benedict Arnold of their party. They would just be ostracized."
But David Enrich, director of Citizens for True Democracy, thinks there`s a chance of getting a couple of Bush electors from Florida or another state to switch allegiance. He said two Bush electors, one in Arizona and one in Tennessee, have mentioned in news reports that they might consider voting for Gore since he won the popular vote.
"We feel there are maybe another seven, eight, nine or 10 of them out there that might feel the same way," said Enrich, a registered Independent.
The group put a form letter on its Web site for people to copy and send to Bush electors across the country, asking them to consider voting for Gore. Enrich said one Indiana Bush elector reported receiving 163 of the letters from Nov. 24 to Nov. 27.
One person who sent Florida electors the letter is Padgett Coventry Price, a Democrat and former attorney living in Los Angeles. She`s watched every nuance of Florida drama during the past 31/2 weeks and thinks the election is being stolen from Gore.
"I thought, well, if these electors are getting a lot of very similar letters they might think there is a movement going on," Price said.
Enrich couldn`t attest to a movement, but guessed that one-third to one-half of the 12,230 people who have visited the Web page since Election Day may have copied the letter.
The nation`s 538 presidential electors will gather in their respective state capitals Dec. 18 to elect a new president. Florida`s 25 electors are likely to gather in the state Senate chamber, the same place Democrats gathered four years ago to cast their votes for Bill Clinton and Gore.
Without Florida, Gore has 267 electoral votes and Bush has 246, thus Florida`s votes will determine the next president.
The deadline for a state to have its electors in place to vote in the Electoral College is Dec. 12. The electors then meet Dec. 18 to elect the new president.
All of Florida`s Bush electors contacted said they planned to travel to Tallahassee in two weeks to vote for Bush.
While Bush clings to his thin lead in Florida, Democrats say it`s too early to count out Gore, who is trying to have Florida`s vote count overturned in court. Sen. Buddy Dyer, an Orlando Democrat and Gore elector, said he, too, is planning to be in Tallahassee when the electors meet. "I think electors on both sides should be preparing to be up there on the 18th," said Dyer.
None of the Florida Republican electors interviewed thinks that anyone on Bush`s list would vote for Gore when the electors meet.
In Florida, the law requires electors in each party to sign an oath to vote for their candidate if he wins the state`s popular vote. There is no penalty, however, for violating that rule.
In addition to any uncertainty that Gore`s electors still may be called to the state Capitol in two weeks to vote for president, the Bush electors face one other dilemma. The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to convene a special session soon to choose Florida`s electors -- a move that no doubt would favor Bush.
Gwyneth K. Shaw of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
HOW TO STEAL AN ELECTION, PART XX
Republican electors urged to choose Gore
By David Cox, Tallahassee Bureau
Published in The Orlando Sentinel on December 03, 2000
"But I`m very loyal to the [Bush] family, and there will be no chance I`ll ever change my vote."
-- Cynthia Handley, Republican elector
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida`s Republican presidential electors are getting hit with letters and telephone calls asking them to buck their party affiliation and vote for Democratic Vice President Al Gore.
The writers` and callers` messages go something like this: Because Gore won the nation`s popular vote by about 300,000 votes, the electors should do the right thing and give him the Electoral College votes needed to be the next president.
Orange County Chairman Mel Martinez, a Bush elector, said he`s received several letters but only two phone calls so far asking him to vote for Gore. Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood, another Bush elector, said she`s received two or three letters a day but just started getting telephone messages on her home answering machine during the past couple of days.
"They`re antagonistic -- not obscene," she said of the phone messages. "They`re just very forthright: `You have an obligation to do the right thing.` "
But the state`s Republican electors contacted by the Orlando Sentinel aren`t listening. Texas Gov. George W. Bush leads Gore by 537 votes in the state`s certified vote total. And unless the courts overturn that vote count, Bush will get Florida`s 25 electoral votes to become president.
There is no evidence that anyone in the Gore campaign is involved. In fact, many of the solicitations are coming from a group called Citizens for True Democracy, California college students and political activists who want to get rid of the Electoral College and have the president elected by popular vote.
The future of Florida`s presidential electors has been the subject of intense debate, lawsuits and legislative discussions since the Nov. 7 general election.
Both major political parties and the presidential candidates from other parties pick their slate of electors prior to Election Day. Bush`s Republican electors, however, are receiving the most attention because -- for now, anyway -- he is the certified winner in Florida.
Who are they? Loyal GOP activists and high-powered financial contributors. They are ardent George Bush supporters and feel duty-bound to cast Electoral College votes for him. Most of them didn`t think it would be such a big deal being a presidential elector. But this isn`t just any old election.
"I`m a housewife and sometimes-Republican volunteer who never thought she`d get to do anything like this," said Cynthia Handley, 59, the Brevard County chairman of George W. Bush`s presidential campaign and Gov. Jeb Bush`s two gubernatorial campaigns. "But I`m very loyal to the [Bush] family, and there will be no chance I`ll ever change my vote."
There`s Armando Codina, a Miami developer whose most famous ex-business partner is Jeb Bush, and H. Gary Morse, developer of The Villages retirement community. There`s Carole Jean Jordan of Vero Beach, past president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women.
The list of electors also includes politicians such as House Speaker Tom Feeney of Oviedo, Senate President John McKay of Bradenton and former Speaker John Thrasher of Orange Park.
One Bush elector said anyone on the Texas governor`s list of electors who doesn`t vote for him would be labeled a traitor.
"How could any person do this?" asked Tampa developer Al Austin, 71. "They would be the Benedict Arnold of their party. They would just be ostracized."
But David Enrich, director of Citizens for True Democracy, thinks there`s a chance of getting a couple of Bush electors from Florida or another state to switch allegiance. He said two Bush electors, one in Arizona and one in Tennessee, have mentioned in news reports that they might consider voting for Gore since he won the popular vote.
"We feel there are maybe another seven, eight, nine or 10 of them out there that might feel the same way," said Enrich, a registered Independent.
The group put a form letter on its Web site for people to copy and send to Bush electors across the country, asking them to consider voting for Gore. Enrich said one Indiana Bush elector reported receiving 163 of the letters from Nov. 24 to Nov. 27.
One person who sent Florida electors the letter is Padgett Coventry Price, a Democrat and former attorney living in Los Angeles. She`s watched every nuance of Florida drama during the past 31/2 weeks and thinks the election is being stolen from Gore.
"I thought, well, if these electors are getting a lot of very similar letters they might think there is a movement going on," Price said.
Enrich couldn`t attest to a movement, but guessed that one-third to one-half of the 12,230 people who have visited the Web page since Election Day may have copied the letter.
The nation`s 538 presidential electors will gather in their respective state capitals Dec. 18 to elect a new president. Florida`s 25 electors are likely to gather in the state Senate chamber, the same place Democrats gathered four years ago to cast their votes for Bill Clinton and Gore.
Without Florida, Gore has 267 electoral votes and Bush has 246, thus Florida`s votes will determine the next president.
The deadline for a state to have its electors in place to vote in the Electoral College is Dec. 12. The electors then meet Dec. 18 to elect the new president.
All of Florida`s Bush electors contacted said they planned to travel to Tallahassee in two weeks to vote for Bush.
While Bush clings to his thin lead in Florida, Democrats say it`s too early to count out Gore, who is trying to have Florida`s vote count overturned in court. Sen. Buddy Dyer, an Orlando Democrat and Gore elector, said he, too, is planning to be in Tallahassee when the electors meet. "I think electors on both sides should be preparing to be up there on the 18th," said Dyer.
None of the Florida Republican electors interviewed thinks that anyone on Bush`s list would vote for Gore when the electors meet.
In Florida, the law requires electors in each party to sign an oath to vote for their candidate if he wins the state`s popular vote. There is no penalty, however, for violating that rule.
In addition to any uncertainty that Gore`s electors still may be called to the state Capitol in two weeks to vote for president, the Bush electors face one other dilemma. The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to convene a special session soon to choose Florida`s electors -- a move that no doubt would favor Bush.
Gwyneth K. Shaw of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.