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| JERROLD NADLER | |
 December 4 , 2000  |
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Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) discusses today's court rulings with Margaret Warner. |
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MARGARET WARNER: And joining us now is Congressman Jerrold Nadler, a Democrat from New York. |
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| Reaction to the day's rulings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MARGARET WARNER: Welcome,
Congressman. Your reaction to today's rulings?
REP. JERROLD NADLER: Well, I think that question is getting a little irrelevant at this point. All of these court matters are going to be decided by next Tuesday one way or the other. And if the Florida Supreme Court decides that Judge Sauls was right and if the Seminole County case does not look as if it's going anywhere, then will be the time when all of the... when everything is played out and the game is over, that's when you concede. Frankly, and let me say very clearly, this is not for Governor Bush or Vice President Gore to concede. It's for the courts to determine what the voters of Florida said, who got a plurality of the votes. They will determine that. And that will be dispositive. I think to ask Vice President Gore to concede while some of these court fights are still going forward, he would look very foolish if he conceded and the courts came along a day or two later and said you won. So you let the courts decide this. It's all going to be decided within a week, one way or the other. That will be that. |
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| Going beyond December 12? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MARGARET WARNER: Now you mentioned next Tuesday. I assume you mean December 12, the dates by which states are supposed to choose their electors.
MARGARET WARNER: David Boies, the Gore attorney, said late this afternoon he thought the Florida Supreme Court would end it. So it sounds like-- and that he thought that would happen by December 12. REP. JERROLD NADLER: Yes. MARGARET WARNER: It sounds like you agree with that, that that should be the final word? REP. JERROLD NADLER: Well, there are two cases going forward that could have an impact on this. One is the case we've all paid attention to, that's now going to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court either will sustain the lower court's decision, or it will overturn it and order the ballots counted and Gore will emerge the winner or he won't. And that will decide that one way or the other. The other case is the Seminole County case which alleges-- and the facts are clear; everybody admits them-- that the Republican registrar in Seminole County allowed Republicans to come in and, to the board of elections, and to rehabilitate by putting on information that voters had left off -- about 4700 I think it was -- absentee ballot applications and refused to allow Democrats to do the same thing throughout Democratic applications of a similar nature. And some voters have brought suit there to overturn all the absentee ballots. That case will be argued Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, Wednesday. It will be decided probably Thursday -- I assume appealed to the Supreme Court. That will be decided by the Supreme Court over the weekend also probably. So it will all be over by the end of the weekend. MARGARET WARNER: All right, Congressman, but on "60 Minutes" last night, Vice President Gore seemed to suggest that he could imagine it going beyond the 12th. Do you see any scenario where you think that would be a wise course?
MARGARET WARNER: I'm looking for your political judgment actually. REP. JERROLD NADLER: I don't think the political judgment frankly - and I've said this consistently -- is all that relevant. It'll go as long as the courts let it go. I think it will be over by the 12th. If it takes an extra day or two and if that's permissible by law, so be it. But the courts will decide this. The voters voted. The courts have to decide which votes count, which votes don't, what was properly done. And they'll decide this. That will decide it, you know, this is not a tennis match where it's all personal and you hop over the net and you say congratulations on a good game. Gore and Bush both have responsibility to the 50 million or so voters who voted for them, to the people who support the pro-choice or pro-life or whatever issues it may be. And they have to, both of them, right now it's on Gore but it could turn out to be on Bush in a few days, they have to both of them pursue it as far as the courts will take it and that will all be over in a week more or less. MARGARET WARNER: All right. Congressman, thanks for being with us. REP. JERROLD NADLER: You're quite welcome. |
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REP.
JERROLD NADLER: Well, there are two rulings. The Supreme Court of the
United States just punted. It sent it back to the Supreme Court of Florida
and invited the Supreme Court of Florida to say, no, no, we were not
deliberately disobeying a federal statute. We did not make new law.
We were simply construing the law with...and doing it in accordance
with the constitution of Florida but not using the constitution of Florida
to overturn federal law. That's what we meant, and that's all it has
to say to the Supreme Court. Now the reality, of course, is that I'm
not sure how relevant any of that is. The real question is the decision
by Judge Sauls today which was a total negation of all the arguments
that the... that Vice President Gore's campaign made. Now, of course,
both... and if that decision stands, then the Gore campaign is in very
poor shape. Now, of course, both sides have said from the outset that
whatever Judge Sauls decided that would be appealed speedily to the
Supreme Court of Florida. And I think that-- I'm not an expert in Florida
law-- but looking at it and having followed it fairly closely, I think
there's a good shot - a good chance that the Supreme Court of Florida
will overrule Judge Sauls as it overruled Judge Lee, I think his name
was, a week ago. It seems like a long time ago. But that's where the
real action is going to be. And the Supreme Court of the United States
put very little limitation on what the Supreme Court of Florida does.
It told it in effect what to say to make sure there's no federal question.
And I think the whole case is going to be decided by the Supreme Court
of Florida in the next few days, the next week. 
MARGARET
WARNER: The latest polls show that the public, 57 percent in the latest
Washington Post poll, really think it's time for the Vice President
to concede even though they have some questions about the Florida count.
At what point do Democrats on Capitol Hill start telling him it's time
to concede? 
REP.
JERROLD NADLER: Yes. 
REP.
JERROLD NADLER: Well, I've seen some legal scholars say it could go
an extra day or two and I'm not enough of an election expert to say....