-Caveat Lector- Subject: RE: L.A. Times > > Seasoned Democratic Army Hits the Shores of Florida > Partisans: Boston's Whouley leads troops in Florida to oversee recounts. The > party operatives have one goal--whittle away at Bush's slim vote margin.. > > > By ELIZABETH MEHREN and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, Times Staff Writers > > FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--This is the Democrats' last, best stand--their > final hope to find non-tallied votes that could put Al Gore in the White > House. Here in Broward County, a Democrat can hardly take a step without > running into a party operative from somewhere else in the country. > To scrounge for every last vote, Gore has flooded Fort Lauderdale with > tough, seasoned Democrats, the sort who are used to keeping wafflers in line > and to count and recount votes until they know exactly what it will take to > outdo their opponents. Many of the hired hands speak with a Boston > brogue--no > accident considering the man who was dispatched here to do the impossible > for > Gore one more time. > To win in Broward, Gore summoned his best on-the-ground political > operative: Michael Whouley, the Boston political consultant who helped > deliver Iowa and New Hampshire for him during the Democratic presidential > primaries and who, on election night, vigilantly phoned the vice president > at > the last minute to head him off from delivering a concession speech to > supporters in Nashville. > Whouley's loyal Massachusetts contingent is only the most visible in a > small army of pros, all camped here for the biggest trove of all: virgin, > non-retallied votes. > Broward is perhaps the strongest Gore county in the state, a seaside > enclave where 68% of the 588,000 votes cast in the Nov. 7 election went for > their man. Democrats feel that if they're going to pick up more votes for > Gore anywhere, it is here in a resort town known best for its yearly > invasion > of party-obsessed college students. > For the last week, Whouley--a largely invisible presence here but whose > name is reverently whispered by the Bostonians doing his bidding--has led a > team of as many as 500 loyalists assigned to do whatever is necessary to > whittle away at Bush's 300-vote statewide margin. > > Whouley Dispatches Aides, Issues Orders > In the chaotic first day after the election, the first contingent of > Whouley's Minutemen, many of whom have worked together in the political > trenches for decades, began arriving in Florida. Whouley began issuing > orders > from Palm Beach, deciding each day where to send fresh troops. > "It was a visceral reaction for Whouley to get here, to get us all here > immediately," said Boston lobbyist Paul Pezzula, one set of Whouley's eyes > and ears here. > Whouley, 42, is a former ward boss whom Gore calls "the Brain." He > whipped the vice president's faltering primary organizations into shape > earlier this year and was reported to be the architect of Gore's successful > town hall meetings. > In Broward, Whouley has tapped John Sasso, a longtime Boston political > consultant, as his point man. Sasso, who was the top aide in Michael S. > Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign, was deliberately vague about the > precise > details of his assignment when interviewed briefly Thursday. > "Who knows what I'm doing here, exactly?" he said. "I'm helping with > the > recount." > Enough Boston lawyers have descended on Broward County that one > Massachusetts lawyer guessed that they could field a quorum for a meeting of > the Boston Bar Assn. Responding to a mass e-mail seeking help in Florida, > some fanned out to Tallahassee to plot court strategy to keep the hand > counts > going. Others filed motions and fired off memos every time this state's > Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris, set up what Democrats saw > as > another roadblock to Gore's march to an electoral college victory. > > Imported Democrats Go After Votes > But at the Broward County Emergency Operations Center, the Bostonians > and other imported Democrats were doing what they had learned years ago at > political conventions and primary nights: going for the votes. > Inside a hulking, custard-colored building that serves as an emergency > shelter for hurricanes, from 50 to 100 tables were set up. With two county > employees and two party observers--one Democrat, one Republican--at each > table, the scene resembled a high-stakes bridge tournament. > The fiercest battles of the day were waged on the steaming hot blacktop > of the parking lot in front of the recount center. Every hour or so, > Democrats and Republicans dispatched lawyers into the thicket of waiting > reporters to fire off accusations. > First they bickered over the chads found on the floor. Then the > Democrats accused the Republicans of stall tactics. Then came the Republican > lawsuit seeking an injunction against Broward's canvassing board. Then the > two sides argued over the injunction's chances. > Suddenly, they all paused to gaze upward. High above, a small white > plane towed a banner. It trailed a Republican message that played on the > ultimatum delivered by the wicked witch in the "Wizard of Oz": "Surrender > Gorethy." > In Broward, even some Republicans were impressed with the Democrats' > ferocity. "They're definitely beating us at the spin game," said lawyer > Shari > McCartney, part of the Broward Republican legal team. "We're being made out > to be the antithesis of the democratic process." > Not far away, in an abandoned Payless shoe store, vanloads of AFL-CIO > staffers and Gore loyalists from New York, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, > San Francisco and elsewhere had disembarked to learn how to observe the > ballot count. > "Our goal," said one lawyer as he patiently lectured his new charges, > "is to preserve the Al Gore vote." The volunteers nodded. "It's very, very > important that if you see any kind of mark--a scratch, a dent, a pinprick in > Al Gore's column--that you challenge." > When someone then asked what they should do if they found a Bush ballot > with an indent, the lawyer said: "Keep your lips sealed." > It was hardball that the Bostonians and other imported pros understood > well. > But by day's end, after canvassing 90 of 604 precincts, Democrats had > garnered just 21 net votes. Not a good sign, the hired hands knew. > Putting a voice to the frustration, Pezzula said: "Whatever we can get, > we get. But it's like sipping swamp water out of a flavored straw. You're > involved in the minutiae of the process, looking for any vote you can get. > So > you get one vote here and one vote there and hope they'll add up to make the > difference." > Despite their numbers, despite their thick-skinned professionalism, the > Bostonians and other imported Democrats are looking for any angle, any last > coin under the carpet. > "We only need 301 votes," the Democratic lawyer reminded his volunteer > observers, "to win this." > > Times staff writer Geraldine Baum contributed to this story. > > Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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