Posted on 11/04/2004 12:06:19 AM PST by ambrose
-snip-
Kerry aides originally believed there might be enough provisional ballots -- those cast by voters whose eligibility was in doubt -- to win Ohio. At that point, Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), made a speech at Boston's Copley Plaza in which he vowed that "every vote would be counted," a thinly veiled warning that the Democrats were prepared to begin legal action to contest the state. At the time, Kerry aides said, there was pandemonium inside the campaign.
Overnight, the Kerry campaign's senior staff, in a series of calls with the boiler-room leadership in Washington and political and legal advisers in Ohio, analyzed the situation. They concluded that the estimated 150,000 provisional ballots were not enough to overcome Bush's margin of 136,000 votes in Ohio, even if Kerry were to win the lion's share of them.
Some lawyers argued that Kerry had a good legal argument to make and said that if the campaign was serious about a possible challenge, it needed to move immediately to force the state's counties to adopt uniform rules for counting the provisional ballots. Eventually, senior adviser Tad Devine said, the Kerry high command presented the candidate with a unanimous recommendation not to fight the count. "It's fair to say the unanimous recommendation was that this would not succeed," he said.
Kerry further discussed the situation with Edwards, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, eventually agreeing that it was time to concede. At 11 a.m. yesterday, Kerry called Bush in the Oval Office to concede the election and pledge to bridge the nation's divisions. Three hours later, accompanied by his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, he left his home in Boston's Beacon Hill area for the short drive to Faneuil Hall.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It would have been a complete disaster if Kerry challenged Ohio. His margin of victory is Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire were much smaller than Bush's victory in Ohio.
It would have been nice if he had the class to concede the election the same night. There was no way he was going to win Ohio and no information available when he conceded that wasn't available the previous night.
I've been wondering if some threats were passed his way about Republican challenges or other tactics later that would make his life painful as a senator.
It seems unlikely he was threatened. But I can believe it took 10 hours for them to figure out how ridiculous they would look mounting this challenge. The Dems would have had the Sore Loserman anvil around their neck for the next 50 years.
The Kerry Camp based thier hopes on a bunch of aged hippies and teenage college students
And from the sound of the Dem talking heads on TV .. they still don't get that magjority of Americans have grown up since the 60's
I think this version is more than likely the correct one. I think they had a come to Jesus meeting.
One of the real beauties of this situation, overshadowed by GWB's victory, Daschle's defeat and the mood of the nation in general, is the obscurity into which John "The Breck Girl" Edwards will now fade.
At some future date, should he happen to meet Lloyd Bentsen (is he still alive?) he can start the conversation with "...I also ran with an also ran...".
I guess it's back to channeling the thoughts of unviable tissue masses for juries with the collective IQ of a Jerry Springer guest.
Sorry, John, here's your official crying towel, autographed by Ed Muskie.
Always think twice before responding to a lawyer encouraging you to sue. Especially if that lawyer would then be on your payroll.
. . .Kerry; as Kennedy's 'water boy' for years; has probably never done ANYthing 'unilaterally'.
No doubt when the plug was pulled; Kennedy's hand was firmly wrapped around it; and mercifully; we truly escaped a pathetic excuse of a human being.
If any threats were passed along, I would have suspected Hillary's camp. Dragging this election out a la 2002 would have done serious damage to the Democrat party and Hillary has a big stake in that.
We know what happens to people who anger Hillary.
Yes, we know what happens to her enemies...they commit suicide with antique weapons and disappearing bullets, calmly laying the gun down at their side in a public park and reclining to succumb to their bloodless wounds.
Say what you will about Gore, but he at least has a solid popular vote lead when he challenged the Florida results. He was also behind by only 1000 votes.
For Kerry to try to overturn 150,000 votes to win an electoral college win when he lost the popular vote by millions would have just looked silly---even to his lapdogs in the MSM.
Bridge and Ted in the same article? How did that make it past the MSM censors?
Kerry was overheard saying : "Honey, wake up ........cmon - hey Terry, help me get her sobered up - this is going to take hours...........damnit, who gave those freakin raisins again"
Translation: blame the rednecks and the rubes.
The phone rings.
Kerry: Hello?
Karl Rove: Hello, Senator. Karl Rove here. Got a proposition for you.
Kerry: Um... well... [looks around nervously]
Rove: Tell you what. We have come across a little artifact from the early '70s. Seems you were dishonorably discharged.
Kerry: I have an honorable discharge.
Rove: Thanks to Jimmy Carter five years later, yes. But just like you voted for the troops before you voted against them, you were dishonorably discharged before you were honorably discharged. Don't insult my intelligence. You know what I'm talking about.
Kerry: [long silence]
Rove: So what I propose is this. I propose to do nothing with it. Got that? Nothing. Bringing this up now would merely lower the lofty tone we're both striving to maintain, don't you agree?
Kerry: [long silence]
Rove: On the other hand, should a situation like Florida in 2000 arise, and you are under pressure to send out your legal buzzards to pick through chads, you might want to remember that we have this.
Kerry: Is that a threat?
Rove: Did I say threat? On the contrary, I am proposing to do nothing with this. Nothing at all. I was very clear about that. I am also soliciting your ...support... so that we won't drag the country through another sore-loserman affair, only to have you be disqualified for the presidency for reasons of collaboration with the enemy.
Kerry: So... to win, I must win, is that what you're saying?
Rove: Beyond the margin of lawyer, yes. Look, I gotta run. Have a nice day, Senator.
[click]
Kerry: [silence]
Kerry: Teresa, where do you keep your raisins?
Translation, We don't want to get caught with voter fraud!
BTW, everyone was wormed at W when he bombed the first debate. Consider this. He was both physically and mentally exhausted because he'd spent all day visiting with hurricane victims instead of buffing his fingernails. I think the people of Florida found an appropriate way to say,
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.