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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
Angry Hill Republicans Would Reject Gore Presidency
By Eric Pianin and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 20, 2000; Page A8
Growing GOP anger about the recount in Florida could make it much more
difficult – if not impossible – for Vice President Gore to forge consensus
on Capitol Hill even if he were to gain the presidency, according to
lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Although they staunchly back his aggressive legal tactics in seeking a hand
recount of votes, some Democrats fear that if Gore prevails and wins the
election, a conservative backlash could cripple his presidency and lead to a
reprise of the bitter feelings that attended the impeachment of President
Clinton.
Already, some prominent Republicans, including former Senate majority leader
Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), have mentioned the possibility of a boycott of the
inauguration if Gore is elected president over George W. Bush. And House
Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) has circulated a staff memorandum to
congressional Republicans pointing out that the House and Senate can reject a
state's electoral votes if they decide that the votes are tainted.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said in an interview that he and other
Democrats are concerned about the growing intensity of Republican outrage
over Gore's tactics-and what that might mean for the future if Gore is
elected.
"I think Gore has handled [the election recount] as well as he could, but
it's a very delicate situation," Durbin said. "If he ends up the president,
he will feverishly reach out to members to try to build bridges. But he will
be carrying some Clinton-Gore baggage that's going to keep some Republicans
from wanting to work with him."
A Senate Democratic leader added, "The depth of resentment and the
extraordinary hostility the Republicans already have demonstrated towards the
vice president is far greater than the somewhat mild opposition that
Democrats have expressed about Bush."
Interviews with House and Senate lawmakers and aides suggest a growing unease
on Capitol Hill over the historic post-election battle for the presidency,
which could drag on for weeks and eventually come before the House to be
resolved.
House GOP Chief Deputy Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who is advising the Bush
campaign in Austin, warned that a Gore win in Florida would make Republicans
question the legitimacy of the outcome.
"It's difficult for me to see a way [Gore] can get there in a way that's not
very troublesome," Blunt said. He noted that Democratic officials control key
posts in the counties that are undergoing a manual recount, and that they
have objected to hundreds of military absentee ballots: "It would be
difficult for people to believe that the process wasn't cynically manipulated
at the end."
For the moment, the Democrats are standing firmly behind Gore. During a
conference call in which Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I.
Lieberman briefed 120 House members Friday, House Minority Leader Richard A.
Gephardt (D-Mo.) was unwavering.
"We want you to know all of us are behind you," said Gephardt, who jointly
issued a news release with Senate Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.)
supporting Gore's efforts to delay certification of the election. "We're
there, [and] we will stay there."
Moreover, some Democrats warn that if DeLay and other House conservatives try
to challenge a Gore win in Florida, the repercussions would be dire. "If
Republicans try to invalidate electoral votes, that certainly would poison
the well," said Rep. Martin Frost (Tex.), chairman of the House Democratic
Caucus.
Behind the scenes, however, Democrats, who came up short in their bid to
reclaim control of Congress, have begun plotting strategy for how to go about
dealing with a new Republican administration. Last week, Gephardt met
privately with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in a bid to mend
their strained relations.
Gephardt and other House Democratic leaders also met with the 14 freshmen
Democratic House members and with the conservative "Blue Dogs" and more
centrist "New Democrats" to begin mapping out a new agenda.
What came through loud and clear at those meetings, said a senior House
Democratic aide, was that many of these Democrats would be eager to work with
a new Bush administration if that meant they could play a role in shaping tax
legislation, health care reform, campaign finance reform and other key
measures that have languished in Congress.
"I think the conservative and moderate Democrats would eventually work with
Bush," said a top Democratic aide. By contrast, he added, Gore would have
enormous trouble winning support for his programs from moderate Republicans,
who would be pressured by GOP conservatives to stay in line, just as they
were during the impeachment proceedings.
"The conservative Republicans have made it impossible for the moderates to
work with Gore," the aide said.
Blunt noted that in the past two years the vice president has not made a
single call to a Republican House or Senate leader. That level of distance,
argued Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute, would only
exacerbate Gore's problems in working with Congress.
"I couldn't think of a single Republican who, if Gore became president, would
serve as an intermediary. That will make it tough," Ornstein said.
Durbin said that as "the new kid on the block," Bush could "walk into
meetings with congressional leaders with no history or baggage," while "Gore
has a history." He said Gore would bring far more experience to the job than
Bush, but conceded that it is unlikely he could galvanize Republican backing
for his proposals.
"I guess we can pray for [that], but it would be a triumph of hope over
experience," Durbin said.
Conservative Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) said he would give Gore "the benefit
of the doubt" and might cooperate if Gore were sincere about reaching a
consensus on taxes and other issues. But he charged that the Clinton
administration repeatedly misled the Republicans in the past and that "you
become very jaded."
Republicans retained control of the Congress in the Nov. 7 election, though
their margins shrank. In the House the GOP holds a nine-seat advantage, while
in the Senate the margin will be either 51-49 or 50-50, depending on the
outcome of Sen. Slade Gorton's (R-Wash.) reelection bid.
As of Saturday morning, Gorton had withstood an influx of absentee ballots to
hold a 1,771 lead over Democrat Maria Cantwell, with 51,000 absentee ballots
yet to be counted.
With neither party scoring a resounding victory and Congress still struggling
to complete its work for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, many believe that
neither Bush nor Gore would be able to get much of their ambitious agendas
enacted into law.
"Recent history shouldn't give anyone a lot of confidence that things are
going to change that much," said Rep. Calvin M. Dooley (D-Calif.), a centrist
who supports some GOP initiatives. "It's going to be incumbent on either
President Bush or President Gore to send a strong mandate to the Hill that he
expects people to work in a bipartisan fashion."
But appearing on "Fox News Sunday" yesterday, Sen. John Breaux (D-La.),
another leading moderate, said: "We're going to be forced to like each other
whether we like each other or not. It's going to be a different Congress."
© 2000 The Washington Post Company
*COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107,
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without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest
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