>From: <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: A washingtonpost.com article from [log in to unmask]
>Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 01:32:54 -0500 (EST)
>
>You have been sent this message from [log in to unmask] as a courtesy of the
>Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com).
>To stay on top of the latest political headlines, live discussions and
>breaking news, register now for the OnPolitics email at
>http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/email/email.htm.
>
>To view the entire article, go to
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3043-2000Dec13.html?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTenseContentServer=331a0c8d92e78729
>
>Gore Accepts Bush As 43rd President
>By Ron Fournier
>AP Political Writer
>December  13, 2000
>
>Soon to be the 43rd president, Republican George W. Bush turned Wednesday
>to the twin challenges of constructing a government and uniting a nation
>divided. Al Gore exited the tortuously close race with a pledge to put
>aside partisan rancor and a plea for national unity behind the new chief
>executive.
><P>
>"May God bless his stewardship of this country," Gore said in an address to
>the nation. The vice president, who called Bush to concede shortly before
>his speech, joked that he had promised not to "call him back this time," a
>reference to the concession he phoned to Bush on Election Night and later
>withdrew.
><P>
>Bush, for his part, closed his conversation with the vice president by
>telling Gore, "I look forward to working with you to heal the nation."
><P>
>The two made plans to meet in Washington on Tuesday.
><P>
>Victorious Republicans, in conciliatory and sympathetic tones, prepared to
>claim control of both the White House and Congress for the first time in
>more than 45 years, while Democrats talked ominously of deep partisan
>schisms to condemn the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that pushed Gore from the
>race.
><P>
>"This might be the end of a campaign, but it's just the beginning of a much
>longer, difficult process," Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said.
><P>
>In a televised address that lasted less than 10 minutes, Gore mixed words
>of unity with the unmistakable message that he felt wronged by the Supreme
>Court ruling that stopped the Florida recount and prompted his concession.
><P>
>"While I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it," he
>said. "I accept the finality of this outcome."
><P>
>He allowed there would be time for disagreements down the road, but said
>"now is the time to recognize that that which unites us is greater than
>that which divides us."
><P>
>Leaving the White House office that he soon will vacate, Gore was greeted
>outside by cheering supporters who chanted "Gore in Four," a hopeful wish
>for his political revival in 2004.
><P>
>Bush moved quickly into the breach, scheduling a 10 p.m. EST address at the
>Texas state Capitol and tapping the state's Democratic House speaker to
>introduce him. He told campaign chairman Don Evans to reach out to Gore
>chairman William Daley – a move that led to the scheduling of the two
>rivals' meeting next week. And he dusted off transition plans laid dormant
>by the legal wrangling, as aides reminded reporters that a Democrat or two
>were certain to join the Bush administration.
><P>
>In his first act as president-elect, Bush will attend a "prayer and hope"
>church service Thursday in Austin, spokeswoman Karen Hughes said. "He wants
>to start this on a message of prayer and healing," she said.
><P>
>Each move was calculated to heal divisions caused by the brutal, five-week
>election postscript. His mandate in doubt, Bush already is being urged to
>curb his legislative agenda, particularly the $1.3 trillion program of tax
>cuts over 10 years.
><P>
>Reacting to Democratic criticism, Justice Clarence Thomas told high school
>students that the court is not influenced by the politics of the presidency
>or Congress.
><P>
>"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."
><P>
>A few miles away, the doors to a government-run transition office were
>still closed to Bush, though the General Services Administration said a
>concession speech from Gore would change that. Florida's GOP-led
>Legislature also awaited word from Gore, deferring plans to appoint a
>backup slate of state electors loyal to Bush.
><P>
>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.
><P>
>And thus closed an election for the history books, the closest in 124
>years. On Inauguration Day Jan. 20, the Texas governor will become:
><P>
>– The first presidential candidate since Benjamin 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. Harrison'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.
><P>
>– The nation's second father-son presidential 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.
><P>
>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.
><P>
>Cheney visited conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill, telling reporters
>afterward, "We're moving forward on the transition."
><P>
>Bush may soon join Cheney in the nation's capital; aides said that a trip
>to Washington next week was being planned, including a courtesy call on
>President Clinton, congressional Democrats and hopefully a meeting with
>Gore.
><P>
>Bush has said he hopes to "seize the moment" if the courts ruled in his
>favor. "Part of seizing the moment is reaching out to the other party, to
>show his bipartisanship," said Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer.
><P>
>Advisers said Democrats are under consideration for Cabinet posts,
>including Sen. John Breaux, D-La. Also mentioned in GOP circles: 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.
><P>
>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.
><P>
>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.
><P>
>Democrats laid down their political markers for 2002, when Congress will be
>up for grabs, suggesting that wounds inflicted in the recount war will
>still be grist for the next campaign.
><P>
>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."
><P>
>The party's core constituencies, particularly minorities, seemed the most
>stung by Gore's defeat. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., called the high
>court "a willing tool of the Bush campaign" that orchestrated "a velvet
>legal coup."
><P>
>Rep. Charles Rangel, a senior black lawmaker, said, "I am shocked by the
>partisanship that has bubbled up to the lofty halls of the Supreme Court."
><P>
>A number of other Democrats urged Gore to bow out graciously. "His
>statement should be clear and unequivocal that, according to the highest
>court in the land, George W. Bush is going to be the next president," Sen.
>Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said.
><P>
>After eight years of Democratic control in the White House, Republicans
>promised compromise 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."
>

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

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

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------