http://www.voter.com/home/news/article/0,1175,2-17814-,00.html
Recount Reunion
The Florida recount seemed to last forever, and now it seems like forever ago
-- long enough, at any rate, to merit a reunion. Which is exactly what
Washington power lobbying firm Patton Boggs hosted the Sunday after
Inauguration.
The hundreds of Republicans who flew (read: were flown) down to Florida in
the weeks after Election Day were feted at "An Inaugural Reception Honoring
the Men and Women Who Made it Happen," as the event's invitation put it.
The fully catered, open-bar event was hosted by Bush campaign manager (and
incoming Federal Emergency Management Agency director) Joe Allbaugh and Bush
attorney Ben Ginsberg, a partner at Patton Boggs, which is an investor in
Voter.com.
(Patton Boggs is a historically Democratic firm, a fact that wasn't lost on
the visiting Republicans. "Everybody's got their price," one GOP attendee
quipped. "Mine is free glasses of wine.")
Among the guests at the event were power-lawyer couple Ted and Barbara Olson,
and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (remember her?), with whom
some partygoers got their pictures snapped.
Allbaugh got choked up when he spoke to the crowd, thanking them for their
help during the difficult post-election phase.
Veterans of the "19th floor riot" -- the angry protest in Miami-Dade County,
which Democrats allege intimidated vote-counters into abruptly ending their
recount efforts -- were awarded T-shirts celebrating their moment of glory.
All partygoers were given Lucite paperweights etched with the words "George
W. Bush for President Florida recount team, November 8 to December 13, 2000."
Suspended inside: handfuls of chads
