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| JOSEPH LIEBERMAN | |
 November 27, 2000  |
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Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman talks about Al Gore's formal challenge of Florida's certified election results.
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JIM
LEHRER: Senator Lieberman, welcome.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Jim. It's good to be with you. JIM LEHRER: How far and how long are you and Vice President Gore prepared to go in challenging the Florida results?
JIM LEHRER: Well, the legal schedules aside, is there a kind of public schedule too that the two of you have talked about? I mean, how far, how long can this go before whatever, wherever we are in terms of the courts we've got to back off? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, we really haven't thought about that, although, again, I'd say we're operating within the timeframe that the Florida law and the Florida Supreme Court set out, and that is to have this all done by December 12th, and Florida's electors, certified and ready to participate in a vote on December 18th. The fact is, Jim, that if the two or three counties where hand recounts were requested because evidence was presented to those county canvassing boards that those recounts were justified - if those canvassing boards had been able to proceed with their work and not been stopped by either actions by the secretary of state of Florida or legal actions by the Bush campaign or the Republican Party, it all would have been done by now. We think it can be done in a matter of days and, again, it's only about counting the votes that were cast, which is a sacred fundamental American principle, and every citizen's interest, we think, in having that happen surmounts everyone's desire, including our own, to have this end quickly, but this is a matter of days, not weeks, and the government is stable and not in crisis at all. |
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| Premature declaration | |||||||||||
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SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, it was certainly premature, and in that sense I'd say respectfully it was unrealistic. Everyone -- JIM LEHRER: What should he have done? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, I think he should have expressed pleasure - of course, that's up to him - but I'm sure he was happy that he was certified yesterday, but, beyond that, it's been clear from the day the Florida Supreme Court ruled last week and set the deadline of Sunday or Monday morning for the counting - for the hand counting to end and then specifically said there was time between that counting and December 12th to pursue any appeals left, and, of course, the Bush campaign itself took this matter to the United States Supreme Court, which will hear the case this Friday, so no one really had any reason to expect that the election would be over last night when the secretary of state did what everyone expected her to do. So I thought - I guess Governor Bush's remarks were tactical, but everyone knows that this election is not over until the court rules here. JIM LEHRER: But on the tactical front, not only did Governor Bush do what he did last night, Senator Lott, the Senate Majority Leader, announced that on January 4th, he wants hearings to begin, confirmation hearings on the Bush cabinet nominees. Secretary Cheney held a news conference this afternoon and said they're going to open up a transition office here in Washington, even though they're not going to have official money from the federal government. Some kind of train is moving from a station, is it not, senator? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, you know, they're trying to move their train from the station, and certainly when it comes to beginning a transition, as Vice President Gore said last week, it's appropriate for both campaigns to begin a transition, as we have begun, to plan for it, so we will be ready, but the election is not over. It's like calling a baseball game after the seventh or eighth inning. Everyone understands that the rules here - and the rules are - the law of Florida as applied by the Florida Supreme Court say that there is at least an inning or two left before this particular game is over. JIM LEHRER: Do you believe that you and Vice President Gore won in Florida? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Yeah, Jim, I mean, and that is really at the heart of it. I certainly believe that a majority of people who went to cast their votes in Florida on Election Day intended to vote for Al Gore and me. JIM LEHRER: How do you know that? |
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| One person, one vote | |||||||||||
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JIM LEHRER: You're taking it to the system of justice and you're going to abide by the result, but you've just laid out a scenario for suggesting that if, in fact, it doesn't end with you and Vice President Gore in office as president and vice president of the United States, you were robbed. Is that the way Americans should feel about this now? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, if there is not a completion of the counting of the votes that were cast in Florida - and we believe - and it is a fact that at least 10,000 votes in Dade County in Florida, have never once been counted - then a cloud will be over the next president. And that's part of - that's at the heart of why Al Gore and I are pursuing this relief to come to a fair result, because whoever is elected - and we still don't know how those votes would count - who they voted for - but whoever is elected the next president, as many Americans as possible, hopefully an overwhelming majority, would feel that the election was fair and square when the next president takes office, so that they are not in doubt about the legitimacy of that election. So I'd say and Al Gore said this probably two weeks ago when he made that offer to Governor Bush, if you agree to hand count the votes in these three counties - or even if you think that's somehow unfair, hand count all the votes in Florida, we'll abide by that result because we will have felt essentially that the process was fair and the result, therefore, was legitimate. JIM LEHRER: But let's say you lose in the courts. And let's say those hand counts do not happen, and George W. Bush is the president of the United States. Should the American people say, hey, the wrong guy is in office because those votes were not counted in Florida? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, I hope that doesn't happen and I hope it doesn't happen because I don't think it's good for the country, and I mean, the process. Look, if Governor Bush and Secretary Cheney are elected in a fair process, Vice President Gore and I have said over and over again that we will give our support to them, and I, as a member of the Senate, will do everything I can to cooperate with them in the interest of our country. But this ought to be done in the right way, and when it's done in the right way, then I think not only Vice President Gore and I, but every other American can feel that we met this test. Most unusual - unprecedented occasion - it begins with a fact, which is that this is the closest election in American history…. |
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| Free and fair elections | |||||||||||
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JIM LEHRER: It's a tie essentially, isn't it? SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: It's essentially a tie, so that's why every vote that was cast ought to be counted and why our system is being tested - it's important not only to us and our own sense of self-government and adherence to the values and democratic principles that have made us great, but the whole nation, the whole world is watching us, and we want to stand for the principles the world associates with us, which is free and fair elections.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Not specifically. I think that the vice president feels and I know that I feel that there's an important principle involved here. We feel that the vote that was certified last night by the secretary of state of Florida was inaccurate and incomplete and, therefore, it is unfair, and we want to take that sense of unfairness to the courts, and ask the courts to decide what is right. We don't want this to go on interminably. We think it could be done in a matter of days. The vice president is mindful not only of achieving fairness for us as candidates and for the 50 million Americans who voted for us but also is very mindful of what is best for this country, and while I can't say that we have specifically discussed an answer to the question that you have just raised, Jim, I can tell you that Al Gore is not going to do anything that will hurt this country. I think the people understand that's what is happening now is important. Somebody said to me the other day that people seem more interested in the post election period than they were in the campaign. I don't think the American people are out of patience now. I think they know that something significant to our democracy is happening, that every vote must be counted. And thousands have not yet been counted in Florida. And it's much better to get it right than to get it done quickly. The transitions are beginning in both campaigns. The president is in office until January 20th. There's stability at the heart of our government, and when a decision is made, and if the court allows, it will be made in a matter of days, we can move on to our future, and we can move on with a much greater prospect of being united and having the kinds of bipartisan agreements that make the government go that I've always worked hard on in the Congress and not have a sense of division with people feeling that somehow this was a raw deal. JIM LEHRER: Okay. Senator, thank you very much. SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Jim. |
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SEN.
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: It's a fair question, and we just want a fair result.
We want the votes that were cast on Election Day to be counted. That's
exactly what we've wanted ever since that memorable election night,
and that is the basis of our appeal to court today. The Florida Supreme
Court has set out a schedule, and it specifically set the deadline for
certification yesterday so there'd be two weeks and three or four days
in which any contests, any appeals could occur by December 12, so that
Florida's electors would never be prejudiced as the chief justice of
the Florida Supreme Court said. In other words, there are limits here.
I also want to say that Vice President Gore has been very measured and
balanced in his judgments here, and, there are other avenues of appeal
that lawyers suggested might have some strength, than the ones that
we are pursuing, that Vice President Gore turned away from, because
he, one, thought they might be too divisive, and two, might take more
time than he wanted to take before this was resolved.
JIM
LEHRER: What did you think of Governor Bush's kind of declaration of
victory last night?
SEN.
JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: Well, I don't know it exactly, and that's exactly
why we are asking that every vote be counted. And, remember, though
others have said that there have been two, three, four recounts - there
are thousands of votes in Florida, particularly in Dade County, that
have never been counted - not even once - and when that happens in our
country, it compromises the fundamental constitutional principle of
one person, one vote. And if we let it go by, particularly in a presidential
election, I think it threatens the vote of every American, wherever
they live, not just the vote of the people in Florida, so, yes, we believe
that we carried Florida. We know we're ahead in the popular vote nationally.
We know we won the popular vote by over 300,000. We know that we have
267 electoral votes. That's three short of the 270 required, and we
believe we carried Florida, so we are doing what Americans are supposed
to do, when they feel that they've been unfairly treated by government.
We're taking our claim to the system of justice and we'll abide by that
result.
JIM
LEHRER: Have you and Vice President Gore discussed how long you stand?
In other words, there are public opinion polls - there are already two
or three out and there are editorials saying, giving you two all kinds
of advice on maybe it's time to go now; maybe it's time to try to put
the country back together, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Have you
discussed that element in this, above and beyond what the courts may
or may not do?