Bush wins Electoral College vote
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Adios, Vote 2000
The Dec. 18 vote by the Electoral College wraps up coverage of this political campaign on StarNet's Vote 2000.
We'll leave the site in place for research and review, but look for daily updates of news coverage in our online pages of the Arizona Daily Star.
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— John Bolton, online editor
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By ROBERT TANNER
The Associated Press
With unwavering support Monday from the electors who had pledged to vote for him, George W. Bush secured the Electoral College majority needed to become the 43rd president.
Nevada's four electors put the Texas governor over the top with a total of 271 votes, one more than the Constitution requires.
That closed the door on the remote possibility that a few "faithless electors'' who had pledged to vote for Bush might upset his victory by casting their ballots instead for Vice President Al Gore.
All that remains is for Congress to make the votes official on Jan. 6.
The electors gathered in their state capitals across the country to cast their votes. Hawaii cast the last votes, giving Gore a total of 266.
Though Democrats and political reformers tried to persuade Republicans to defect, the only rogue elector was a Democrat from the District of Columbia who had been pledged to Gore but left her ballot blank as a protest against Washington's lack of representation in Congress.
Elsewhere, Gore's home state of Tennessee cast its 11 electoral votes, as expected, for Bush. And Florida — after five turbulent weeks of recounts and legal challenges — kept its promise and cast its all-important 25 votes for the Republican.
"It was like finally, we did it,'' said Mel Martinez, an elector in Florida, where members hugged and high-fived after the vote. "It's like a close ballgame and the clock ticks and your team wins.''
As the day began, a small chance for a Democratic victory remained, with Bush holding a 271-267 lead over Gore among the 538 pledged electors.
A switch by three Bush electors, along with the uncast Gore vote, would throw the election to the House. A switch by four Bush electors and the election was Gore's.
But most expected the Bush-pledged electors to keep their promise.
In many states, electors are bound by law to keep their pledge. But other states — like Florida — have no such law. Some scholars say the laws probably are unenforceable.
Several electors in the past have broken their pledge, most recently in 1988, but never in a close election where it could change the result.
Gore's running mate, Joseph Lieberman, discouraged any vote-switching as he thanked Connecticut voters for re-electing him to the Senate.
"Al Gore and I don't expect any surprises,'' Lieberman said. Asked if they would accept such a victory, he laughed and said: "It's too unlikely to think about.''
Both parties mounted campaigns to reach the electors, with Bush aides seeking out all 271 votes pledged to the GOP. Democrats used e-mails and telephone calls to argue that Gore deserved to be president because he won the popular vote. Republicans dismissed the effort.
"There was never any doubt,'' said New Hampshire elector Wayne McDonald, who was besieged with calls from reporters and voters after news reports hinted that he was thinking of backing Gore.
Some electors said they received thousands of e-mails.
"They said, `Don't vote for Bush. Vote for Gore. Think about what the American people want,"said Arkansas elector Sarah Agee, a state representative. "And I did with all my heart and voted Bush.''
Some Gore electors criticized the Electoral College system, which for the first time since 1888 allowed the loser of the popular vote to win the electoral vote and with it, the presidency. Others were simply unhappy with the outcome.
Maryland Senate President Mike Miller remained convinced Gore would have won had the U.S. Supreme Court not halted the last recount. "We only wish that somehow those 10,000 votes in Florida had been allowed to be counted,'' he said.
This year's Electoral College meetings, like this year's election, were unlike any seen in recent years.
Usually the Electoral College gatherings are a rubber stamp of the popular vote. But the meetings in Indiana and Mississippi were marked by standing ovations and cheers. And the Arkansas Supreme Court chambers looked like a disco from the strobe lights of flashing news cameras.
Bush elector Beverly Gard, an Indiana state senator, stood and took a picture of her ballot after she voted. Former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer hesitated a moment before marking his ballot for Bush: "I thought it was a Florida ballot. I couldn't find the box.''
"Your guy is B-U-S-H. Push it all the way through,'' GOP Gov. Bill Owens told Colorado's electors as they cast their eight votes.
And officials in many states took the opportunity to call for voting improvements to avoid the confusion in Florida that left the election undecided for five weeks after Election Day.
"We have to keep the revolution that began over 200 years ago moving forward. Michigan is going to lead the fight for election reform in America,'' said John Kelly, an elector and Oakland University political science professor.
In keeping with tradition, the ballots in New Hampshire were sealed with wax, placed in envelopes and carefully carried from the room. New York's ballots, cast secretly, were placed in a 16-pound mahogany box with a brass latch.
Each state's result is copied six times, with one copy each sent to the U.S. Senate and the chief judge of the federal district, and two copies each to the state's secretary of state and to the U.S. archivist in Washington.
Like the election on Nov. 7 and the turmoil that followed, this process had an occasional glitch.
Illinois' ballots had a few errors, including Ralph Nader's party listed as Reform instead of the Green Party. Electors fixed it and cast their votes.
"The main parties were properly represented on the ballot,'' Secretary of State Jesse White said. "No one would have voted for those other individuals, anyway.''
Bush names 3, heads to D.C. for meetings
The Associated Press
Texas Supreme Court Justice Alberto Gonzales is President-elect George W. Bush's choice for White House general counsel.
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By David Ward and James Tyson
BLOOMBERG NEWS
AUSTIN, Texas - President-elect George W. Bush named Condoleezza Rice as his national security adviser, making the 46-year-old Stanford professor the first woman to hold the post.
The appointment of Rice, who advised Bush during the presidential campaign, came one day after Bush nominated retired Gen. Colin Powell as his secretary of state. Bush then left for Washington, D.C., to meet with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and congressional leaders on his first trip to the capital as president-elect.
"It's the beginning of a relationship where they're going to find out about me," Bush said. "I'll tell them what I believe, and I'll listen to what they believe. I'll talk about what I intend to do, and they'll talk about what they intend to do."
Bush also named longtime aide Karen Hughes as counselor to the president and appointed Texas Supreme Court Justice Alberto Gonzales as his White House counsel. Gonzales was a counsel to Bush when the latter was governor of Texas and was named by Bush as Texas attorney general before being appointed to the state Supreme Court.
Rice's positions - reflected in Bush's policies outlined in the campaign - suggest that she is skeptical of overseas partnerships. She backs a nuclear missile defense system, views China as "a problem for and challenge to American interests" and says U.S. troops are overextended across the globe.
Comments criticized
Comments that she made in a New York Times interview in October drew criticism from European officials and from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
In explaining Bush's position that the Clinton administration had overextended U.S. military forces overseas, Rice said, "Carrying out civil administration and police functions is simply going to degrade the American capability to do the things America has to do."
Critics said that a united world front had been necessary to stop bloodshed in Kosovo and to unseat Slobodan Milosevic from power in Belgrade.
She spoke yesterday only generally about the foreign policy views of the Bush administration.
"It's a wonderful time for the United States in foreign policy because it's a time when markets and democracy are spreading and our values are being affirmed around the world, yet it's a time of great challenge," she said.
Having named two women, two blacks and a Hispanic to his White House team, Bush was asked whether that signaled anything more than these were the most qualified people for the jobs.
"You bet," he said. The message is "that people who work hard and make the right decisions in life can achieve anything they like in America."
Washington visit
While in Washington, Bush said, he will continue to push for his $1.3 trillion tax-cut package, a centerpiece of his campaign, despite comments last week from U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., that Congress should forgo the large package and instead focus on smaller, targeted tax cuts.
"I campaigned on a tax-relief package that I firmly believe . . . is important as an insurance policy against any economic downturn, and I look forward to discussing my vision of tax relief," Bush said.
Bush is to meet with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, Hastert and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat.
Republicans hold a 10-vote majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate, which will vote on confirmation of Cabinet and other nominees, is split 50-50 between Republicans and Democrats.
Lott suggested yesterday that the Republican conservative wing may try to exercise its influence on Bush's Cabinet choices.
Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" about two moderate Republicans possibly under consideration for cabinet posts - New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge - Lott said, "There are some places I would prefer they not be put."
Whitman and Ridge support abortion rights, while the party platform calls for banning or restricting abortion.
Lott said he favors Daniel Coats, a retired Indiana senator and counsel to Mutual Security Life Insurance Co., as defense secretary. Bush said he is still "deliberating" his choice.
Vice President-elect Dick
Cheney said Bush will almost certainly include a Democrat in his Cabinet. Addressing the abortion-rights issue, Cheney said, "There are no litmus tests, but President-elect Bush and I are committed to the pro-life position."
Bush, meanwhile was named yesterday as Time magazine's Person of the Year.
He received the nod over Vice President Al Gore. According to Time Managing Editor Walter Isaacson, the magazine decided last week that the new president-elect - either one - would receive its annual honor as "a symbol of a historic showdown that would be remembered and cited a century hence."
Former aide to head security council
By Laura Meckler
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AGE - 46, born in Birmingham, Ala.
EDUCATION - B.A. in political science, University of Denver, 1974; M.A., University of Notre Dame, 1975; Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, 1981.
EXPERIENCE - Hoover Senior Fellow and professor of political science, Stanford University, 1981-present; provost, Stanford University, 1992-99; director/
senior director, Soviet and East European Affairs, National Security Council, 1989-91; special assistant to the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1986.
FAMILY - Single, no children.
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WASHINGTON - The Moscow Times wasn't sure what to make of Condoleezza Rice when the 34-year-old Stanford professor came to town in 1988 to inaugurate a series of seminars at the U.S. ambassador's residence.
She spoke of arms control policy and of a coming summit with the United States, but the writer could not quite get past the notion of a young black woman as an expert on Soviet affairs.
It would be neither the first nor the last time that Rice, President-elect George W. Bush's choice to head the National Security Council, would exceed expectations.
"I've seen it happen time and time again," said Michael McFaul, a Democrat who advised Al Gore's campaign but is close to Rice. "Foreign policy is dominated by bald, graying white men and they're not used to someone like Condi Rice."
Philosophically, she is quite conservative. Rice argues against humanitarian missions and international treaties and for a hard line on Russia and putting U.S. strategic interests at the center of all decisions.
"American foreign policy in a Republican administration should refocus the United States on the national interest," Rice wrote this year in Foreign Affairs magazine.
An expert on the Soviet Union, Rice was plucked from academia in 1989 by Brent Scowcroft to serve on the National Security Council of former President Bush, where she helped shape U.S. policy during the tumultuous time of the Soviet Union's collapse.
She met George W. Bush in 1995 when she happened to be in Texas visiting his father. They talked mostly about their shared passion - sports. Bush, in his first year as Texas governor, had neither foreign policy nor the presidency on his mind.
But by August 1998, when they were together again at the Bush family house in Kenne-bunkport, Maine, that had changed.
"In between tennis games and going out on the boat and sitting out on the back porch, we would have conversations about what foreign policy challenges would face the next president," Rice said last week in an interview.
As Rice ran on the treadmill and Bush worked out on a glider, the college professor began a two-year tutorial of her most important student yet.
Bush has said that he likes Rice because she explains issues in a way he can understand.
Condoleezza Rice was born into segregated Birmingham, Ala., in the autumn of 1954.
By the time she reached junior high, her family had moved to Colorado. She skipped two grades, beginning the University of Denver at age 15, planning to study music.
She was turned onto international studies by Josef Korbel, who would become her first mentor. (Korbel died before his daughter - Madeleine Albright - would become secretary of state.)
By 1981, she was on the faculty of Stanford University, and by 1986, she was considered an expert on Soviet military and arms control.
That year she attended a lecture by Scowcroft during which she asked a question she considers "slightly rude," but which impressed the retired general.
When George Bush was elected president in 1988, Scowcroft became national security adviser and recruited Rice.
Burned out after two years in Washington, she returned to Stanford.
Now, as Rice prepares to become the first woman to head the National Security Council, there's some concern that she has been too far removed from international affairs.
Bush's presidential counselor member of his 'Iron Triangle'
Karen Hughes
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN, Texas - Karen Hughes, the loyal and media-savvy general's daughter who shepherded President-elect George W. Bush through three campaigns, will go with him to Washington as a counselor to the president.
Hughes will help Bush with strategic planning.
The former TV reporter and public relations and media consultant first went to work for Bush as press secretary for his 1994 gubernatorial run.
She was Bush's chief spokeswoman for his two terms as governor before taking the job of communications director for his presidential campaign.
A trusted confidante, Hughes is part of Bush's "Iron Triangle" - including strategist Karl Rove and campaign manager Joe Allbaugh - of fiercely loyal advisers. She helps write Bush's major speeches and often travels at Bush's side.
The daughter of an Army major general, Hughes, 43, was born in Paris, France, and lived in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, Kentucky, Canada, Panama and Texas.
She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1977 and became a Fort Worth TV reporter.
In 1984, she became Texas press coordinator for the Reagan-Bush campaign, later became the Texas GOP executive director and joined Bush during his 1994 gubernatorial run.
