Stephanopoulos: Candidate Not Wrong to Say Bush Stole Election

Don Imus, Quoted in NewsMax ^ | 5/14/03 | Carl Limbacher

[Paul Ross]

NewsMax.com

 

Wednesday, May 14, 2003 12:07 p.m. EDT

Stephanopoulos: Candidate Not Wrong to Say Bush Stole Election

In a radio interview Wednesday morning, ABC's "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos defended a claim by one of the Democratic Party presidential candidates that President Bush stole the 2000 election, saying it was "a reasonable inference" based on the evidence.

Stephanopoulos was asked to respond to a comment by former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, who told Sen. Joe Lieberman during the party's May 3 presidential debate: "We need to pursue opportunities for individuals to vote, instead of making it a high hurdle that they have to leap. And in all cases, make certain that we never again allow for the stealing of an election, as happened with you and, and Senator Gore."

Asked why, as the debate's moderator, he didn't challenge Moseley Braun when she made the erroneous claim, Stephanopoulos told radio host Don Imus that the debate rules didn't allow him to follow up.

But in the next breath the objective newsman insisted that Bush really didn't win the state of Florida legitimately.

"I believe that Al Gore got more votes both in, obviously the popular vote," insisted the "This Week" host, "and if you count all the votes in the state of Florida, Al Gore would have had more."

When Imus pointed out that investigations by numerous media organizations failed to turn up compelling evidence that Gore won more Florida votes than Bush, the former Clinton spokesman countered, "To not believe [that Gore beat Bush], you'd have to believe that 30,000 elderly Jewish voters in South Florida voted for Pat Buchanan.

"You can't believe that," Stephanopoulos added.

The Democrat spinmeister-turned-ABC newsman then explained that while he disagreed that the election was deliberately stolen by Bush, he didn't think the claim was unreasonable.

"It doesn't mean that George Bush stole the election," he told Imus. "I don't think he did. But it's just this. I just think it's a reasonable inference."

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

[Petronski]

The Democrat spinmeister-turned-ABC newsman...

BOYCOTT DISNEY: a vortex of seductive evil™

[SAJ]

Just tell Staphlococcolus to put some ice on it.

[snooker]

You know, the same thing that applies to the NYTs LATs applies to the CNNABCCBSNBC news. You know what lies you are going to get before you turn it on. So why watch?

[William McKinley]

http://elections.harpweek.com/9Controversy/events-controversy.htm

Day by Day: What Happened in the Electoral College Controversy of 1876-1877

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June 14-16 The Republican National Convention in Cincinnati nominates Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio for president and Congressman William Wheeler of New York as vice president.

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June 27-29 The Democratic National Convention in St. Louis nominates Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York for president and Governor Thomas Hendricks of Indiana as vice president.

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November 7 Democrat Samuel Tilden wins a narrow majority of the popular vote against Republican Rutherford Hayes, but both sides claim to have won the presidency in the Electoral College vote. The 19 electoral votes in three states—South Carolina (7), Florida (4), and Louisiana (8)—are disputed. They are the only remaining Southern states with federal troops stationed under Reconstruction policy. One elector in Oregon is also disputed. Tilden’s total stands at 184 electoral votes, one short of a majority, with Hayes at 165 needing all 20 of the disputed electoral votes to win the presidency.

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December 6 The Electoral College meets in all the states and cast ballots for president and vice president. The results are certified and sent to Congress. Two sets of results are returned for Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina.

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December 7 The Congressional session opens. This is the final session for the lame-duck Congress which leaves office on March 5, 1877 (the day for inaugurating the new president and swearing in the new Congress). Republicans control the Senate and Democrats control the House in both the outgoing and incoming Congresses.

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December 21 A special Senate committee for establishing a process for resolving the disputed electoral count is announced. It is chaired by Republican George Edmunds of Vermont. Other Republican majority members are: Roscoe Conkling of New York; Frederick Frelinghuysen of New Jersey; and Oliver Morton of Indiana. Democratic minority members are: Thomas Bayard of Delaware; M. W. Ransom of North Carolina; and Allen Thurman of Ohio.

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December 22 A special House committee for establishing a process for resolving the disputed electoral count is announced. It is chaired by Democrat Henry Payne of Ohio. Other majority Democratic members are: Abram Hewitt of New York; Eppa Hunton of Virginia; and William Springer of Illinois. Republican minority members are: George Hoar of Massachusetts, George McCrary of Iowa, and George Willard of Michigan.

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January 25, 1877 The Senate passes the Electoral Commission bill, which establishes a 15-member commission—of five senators, five representatives, and five Supreme Court justices—to decide the disputed election. Its decisions will be considered final unless overridden by both houses of Congress. The bill is approved by the Senate, 47-17, with Democrats voting 23-1 and Republicans voting 24-16 in the affirmative.
Justice David Davis, an independent assumed to be the deciding vote on the Electoral Commission, is elected to the U.S. Senate by a Democratic - Greenback coalition in the Illinois state legislature, 101-99. He later resigns from the Supreme Court and refuses to serve on the commission. His place on the Electoral Commission is filled by Justice Joseph Bradley, a Republican.

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January 26 The House passes the Electoral Commission bill, 191-86, with Democrats voting 158-18 in the affirmative. A majority of House Republicans voted against the measure, 68-33. In both houses combined, Democrats overwhelming favored the measure, 181-19, while Republicans opposed it, 84-57.

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January 29 President Grant signs the Electoral Commission Act into law.

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February 1 Congress meets in a joint session to count the electoral votes for president and vice president. Senator Thomas Ferry of Michigan, a Republican and president pro tempore of the Senate, opens the electoral reports and begins the count of states in alphabetical order. Conflicting sets of returns are presented for Florida, which are referred to the Electoral Commission.

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February 2-3 The case of Florida is argued by lawyers for both the Republicans and the Democrats before the Electoral Commission.

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February 5 William Evarts, lead counsel for the Republicans, argues for admitting only the evidence already submitted to the joint session of Congress. Charles O’Conor, counsel for the Democrats, argues for admitting other evidence. The Electoral Commission dismisses the lawyers and audience, then deliberates in a secret session.

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February 8 By an 8 to 7 party-line vote, the Electoral Commission accepts Evarts proposal to disallow the presentation of additional evidence.

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February 9 The Electoral Commission votes 8 to 7 to give Florida’s four electoral votes to the Republican ticket of Rutherford Hayes and William Wheeler.

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February 10 A joint session of Congress receives the Electoral Commission directive that Florida’s electoral votes be counted for Hayes/Wheeler. The two houses meet separately, with the Senate affirming the decision of the Electoral Commission.

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February 12 The House rejects the Electoral Commission’s report on Florida, 168-103.

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February 13-15 The Electoral Commission hears arguments from both sides on the case of Louisiana, then goes into secret deliberations on the 15th.

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February 15 According to Harper’s Weekly, an assassination attempt is made on the life of Governor Stephen Packard of Louisiana, a Republican. The governor knocks down the gun aimed at his heart, and the bullet grazes his knee. The perpetrator is taken into custody.

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February 16 The Electoral Commission, on an 8 to 7 party-line vote, awards Louisiana’s eight electoral votes to the Republican ticket of Hayes/Wheeler.

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February 18 Congress receives the official word of the Electoral Commission’s decision to award Louisiana’s electoral votes to Hayes/Wheeler. The House is in recess.

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February 19 A joint session of Congress announces the Electoral Commission’s findings on Louisiana. After a two-hour debate, the Senate approves the decision, 41-28. The House recesses until the next day.

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February 20 The House rejects the Electoral Commission’s directive on Louisiana, 172-99. The joint session of Congress reassembles. The electoral count continues until the state of Michigan, at which time a Democratic objection is made to one Republican elector from that state. The houses separate, and both overrule the objection.

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February 21 The joint session of Congress continues the electoral count through the state of Ohio. The disputed electoral return in Oregon is submitted to the Electoral Commission.

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February 22 Lawyers for both sides argue before the Electoral Commission concerning Oregon, then the commission goes into secret session.

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February 23 By an 8 to 7 party-line vote, the Electoral Commission awards Oregon’s three electoral votes to the Republican ticket of Hayes/Wheeler.

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February 24 Congress receives the Electoral Commission directive to grant Oregon’s electoral votes to Hayes/Wheeler. The Senate affirms the finding, 40-24, while the House rejects it, 151-107. The joint session of Congress reassembles, and the electoral count continues.

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February 26 Democratic objections are made to the electoral returns of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, but are overruled by both houses meeting separately. The South Carolina returns are referred to the Electoral Commission, which hears arguments from lawyers for both sides.
Negotiations begin at the Wormley House hotel in Washington D.C. between a group of Southern Democrats and Ohio Republican supporters of Hayes.

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February 27 The Electoral Commission, on an 8 to 7 party-line vote, awards South Carolina’s seven electoral votes to the Republican ticket of Hayes/Wheeler.

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February 28 A joint session of Congress receives the directive from the Electoral Commission to count South Carolina’s electoral votes for Hayes/Wheeler. The Senate affirms this finding, while the House rejects it. The Congress reassembles in joint session, and the electoral count continues. Congressman Abram Hewitt, the Democratic party chairman, presents a second set of electoral returns for Vermont, but Senate President Ferry refuses to accept it. Meeting in separate session, the Senate votes down the objection to Vermont’s electoral report. In the House, Democrats filibuster the vote on Vermont by a series of delaying tactics.

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March 1 In a late-night session, the objection to Vermont is finally overruled at 10 p.m., and Vermont’s electoral votes are awarded to Hayes/Wheeler. The electoral count continues, but a Democratic objection is made against one Republican elector from Wisconsin. The Houses separate, and the Senate quickly overrules the objection, voting to grant Wisconsin’s votes to Hayes/Wheeler.

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March 2 After a long, boisterous session, the House finally overrules the objection at 3:38 a.m. and approves Wisconsin’s votes for Hayes/Wheeler. At 4:10 a.m., a joint session of Congress then awards Wisconsin’s electoral votes to the Republicans. Rutherford Hayes is declared president of the United States and William Wheeler is declared vice president; winning 185-184 in the Electoral College.

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March 5 Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in publicly as president of the United States.

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Spring 1877 President Hayes removes the remaining federal troops in the South from political duty (guarding the statehouses) and the era of Reconstruction formally ends.

[capitan_refugio]

People forget that Pat Buchanan lives in Palm Beach! He maintains a residence there and in a previous election received a higher percentage of the vote locally than he did nationally.

The dumbocraps are STILL in denial.

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

It depends what the meaning of "votes" is. If "votes" means "ballots lawfully cast," then Bush got more of them. That's why Gore spent so much time after the election trying to destroy Florida election law and the US Constitution.

[timestax]

"I believe that Al Gore got more votes both in, obviously the popular vote," insisted the "This Week" host, "and if you count all the votes in the state of Florida, Al Gore would have had more."

What a retard!

[Helms]

Pssst!, don't forget the lost votes for Republicans in the Panhandle (thanks to the major networks)

[The Brush]

saying it was "a reasonable inference" based on the evidence.

The "evidence" is that the Supreme Court ruled otherwise.
While Stephanopoulos is talking evidence, shouldn't he also say that Clinton was impeached in the Senate since the "evidence" proved overwhelmingly that he should have been and that most Senators refused to look at all the evidence?
The democrats are drowning in their own cesspool of spin. Someone needs to throw them an anchor.

[MHGinTN]

More to the point, Steponallofus is covering up the fact that a DNC operative made a major mistake in his/her hole punching gambit, accidentally punching the Buchanan vote instead of the Gore vote, to create the duplicity the DNC exploited for the court challenge. When the error was discovered, the only way to account for the 'phantom ballots' was to punch them again, a second time. Stolen election?... The DNC failed to do their thievery accurately and was rebuffed, so now they claim the Pubbies stoel the theft gambit of the Gore operatives. Yeah, that's typical of the people running the current democrat party ... and they've fielded at least nine of their ilk, with more to come, just you wait and see!

[MHGinTN]

More to the point, Steponallofus is covering up the fact that a DNC operative made a major mistake in his/her hole punching gambit, accidentally punching the Buchanan vote instead of the Gore vote, to create the duplicity the DNC exploited for the court challenge. When the error was discovered, the only way to account for the 'phantom ballots' was to punch them again, a second time. Stolen election?... The DNC failed to do their thievery accurately and was rebuffed, so now they claim the Pubbies stole the theft gambit of the Gore operatives. Yeah, that's typical of the people running the current democrat party ... and they've fielded at least nine of their ilk, with more to come, just you wait and see!

[TC Rider]

"To not believe [that Gore beat Bush], you'd have to believe that 30,000 elderly Jewish voters in South Florida voted for Pat Buchanan.

"You can't believe that," Stephanopoulos added.

Especially since Buchannon only got 3,389 votes in Palm Beach County, 560 in Dade County and 788 in Broward County.

[Cobra64]

Like caps; do ya?

[dead]

Stephanopoulis is obviously an idiot (where he gets that 30,000 elderly south Floridian Buchanan votes is beyond me), but Imus is an idiot as well.

In a debate, the moderators role is not to debate the debaters. It was Joe "Captain Integrity" Lieberman's responsibility to point out the lie, since the comment was directed at him. Thankfully he didn't, because I would have likely died of heart attack on the spot if he had.

[Pharlap]

Actually there were at least three attempts to "steal" the Florida vote and none of them had anything to do with President Bush. First, the media wrongly announced that Gore had won Florida when the polls were still open in the heavily republican panhandle, thereby suppressing the vote in that area that would have favored Bush. Second, the Gore camp chose to go to the Florida courts to seek a limited manual recount of votes only in those counties where they believed a recount would help Gore. Third, the Gore camp systematically challenged overseas military votes because they thought those votes would go more for Bush.

[Pharlap]

Actually there were at least three attempts to "steal" the Florida vote and none of them had anything to do with President Bush. First, the media wrongly announced that Gore had won Florida when the polls were still open in the heavily republican panhandle, thereby suppressing the vote in that area that would have favored Bush. Second, the Gore camp chose to go to the Florida courts to seek a limited manual recount of votes only in those counties where they believed a recount would help Gore. Third, the Gore camp systematically challenged overseas military votes because they thought those votes would go more for Bush.

[Bigg Red]

...investigations by numerous media organizations failed to turn up compelling evidence that Gore won more Florida votes than Bush...

Why this answer is not given more often to these clymers is beyond me.

As for Stephanopoulos, I watched that show almost every Sunday until that little lying sissy was brought on board, at which point they lost all credibility with me.

[BibChr]

Wow!

Wow!

You mean a guy who could do everything he could to help BILL CLINTON win, and keep, the White house, and still live with himself, is also capable of having a butt-stupid, uninformed, dishonest opinion about the 2000 election???!

WOW!!!

Dan

[Recovering_Democrat]

heh. No wonder Georgie boy's "punditry" show is the lowest rated one of the Big 3's.

There was a day when "This Week" ran second to Meet The DePressed. Not anymore, not since the punk kid started hosting.

[BillyBoy]

>> Bill Clinton was also elected president by default....thanks to one Ross Perot!! But you will never here libs talking about that. <<

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It's OKAY to lose 57% of the "popular vote" if you're a DEMOCRAT.