Tuesday, November 7. 2000
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The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Elections
For comments, contact Lori O'Otoole at 864-4810 or e-mail editor@kansan.com
Bush, Gore make final push on election eve
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — With the presidential contest still neck and neck a day before the nation votes, Al Gore and George W. Bush made their final sustained pushes yesterday through battleground states.
Republican Bush promised a sprint to the finish, while Gore
told audiences it's time to move their feet. Both candidates emphasized get-out-the-vote drives, hoping to energize their core supporters.
supporters and reach still-undecided voters.
Leaving Florida for the last time before the election, Bush told reporters, "We've laid the groundwork for victory, now it's up (to us) to get people to the poll."
Bush said he was excited heading into today's election.
"I trust the people," Bush said. "I trust they have heard our mess
sage. And tomorrow I believe we're going to have a good day. People got to go vote. My supporters have got to make sure they show up."
Bush was avoiding the tightest battleground states — Michigan and Pennsylvania, for example — sticking an election-eve thumb in the eye of Democrats by visiting Arkansas and Tennessee, the home turfs of President Clinton and Gore, respectively.
Appearing on NBC's "Today" show, Bush strategist Karl Rove said Republicans were concentrating on get-out-the-vote efforts in the campaign's last 10 days. They placed 70 million phone calls to voters, sent out 110 million pieces of mail and mobilized 243,000 volunteers in 28 battleground states.
While both had full schedules yesterday, Gore went a step further, campaigning around the clock and appearing with wife, Tipper, on all three networks' morning shows. In a wind-blown cold rain, he addressed about 100 campaign volunteers yesterday
morning in Waterloo, Iowa.
"You are the ones who are going to make a difference in this race," he said. "That's what's going to put this race."
The closeness of the election, he said, means that voter turnout will be key and volunteer operations essential. "Once again, it's in your hands, and I know it's in good hands," Gore said.
On CBS' "The
Gore: appeared on three networks' morning shows
Early Show," "Tipper Gore called a vote for her husband, "the last, best hope for everybody — so I wish they'd get to the polls for him because it means that you'll have a president that has foreign policy experience as well as one really committed to keeping the economy growing and going strong."
ing, Gore stood under a black umbrella meeting workers as they reported for shift at a John Deere tractor plant. He grinned when a red pickup truck slowed in the street and its driver shouted, "Give George Bush hell tomorrow!"
Gore was campaigning in Missouri, Michigan and Florida — including a dawn gathering at a Tampa, Fla., coffee shop — before heading home to Tennessee to vote and await the returns.
Bush spent the night in Orlando after a five-city blitz through Florida, the most populous swing state. Yesterday, the Texas governor was campaigning in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa and Arkansas before returning to his home in Austin, Texas.
Florida is crucial to Bush's hopes of capturing the White House, but polls continue to show a close race.
At a Philadelphia rally, Gore told a crowd, "This is one of those elections that you're going to tell your grandchildren about."
How important is last-minute campaigning?
In a close race, the final place you go can be crucial, said Rove.
the Mississippi River from Illinois.
Rove said in an interview that Bush's campaigning in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Arkansas gives them a shot in five very competitive states.
Bush was not actually campaigning in Illinois yesterday, but the Iowa stop is in Davenport, across
During get-out-the-vote phone calls yesterday, the candidates' running mates both had to convince voters that they really were the running mates.
Bush: said he was "excited" heading into the election
Joseph Lieberman visited a local Democratic headquarters in St. Paul., Minn., dialing 85-year-old Marie Connelly.
"Hey Marie, believe it or not, this
is Joe Lieberman. I am running for vice president," he said. Lieberman later said Connelly's response was, "Aw, come on." But he persisted: "It really is me, it is not a recorded announcement."
Connelly said she was voting for him and Gore. Lieberman told her, "Ah, you are wonderful. You made my morning. I love you."
In Las Vegas, Bush running mate Dick Cheney picked up the phone and told a voter, "Hello, this is Dick Cheney—no, I really am—it really is me. Need a ride to the polls or anything?"
Cheney later told volunteers, "Tomorrow marks the end of the Clinton-Gore era."
Pre-election surveys suggested the battle could be the closest in generations, and indeed the Senate and the House were up for grabs, too, with Republicans seeking to retain control.
National polls gave a narrow edge to Bush in the presidential race, but Gore's support in large battleground states made for an unpredictable race to 270 electoral votes and victory.
Clinton, Lazio seek supporters
The Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. — The most-watched Senate race in the country roared through its final hours yesterday, with Hillary Rodham Clinton planning rallies in cities from one end of the state to the other, and Rick Lazio hustling for votes in the suburbs.
The fighting forces of New York."
"I've felt like the underdog throughout the entire race," Lazio told reporters while campaigning in the Hudson Valley town of Chester. "We were up against a lot, but you know what I have faith in?"
Three new polls were released yesterday, with one showing the first lady opening up a double-digit lead over her Republican rival. The two others had the race remaining very close.
Clinton and her supporters, meanwhile, were predicting victory.
"I'll fight for you, I'll stick with you, I will go to the U.S. Senate and work my heart out for you!" Clinton told supporters in Albany. The first lady appeared energized despite a schedule that has
Clinton: crossed the state of New York seeking votes
that included a 15-hour day Sunday and
five events yesterday.
Lazio looked tired, but hustled throughout the day, with stops in and around New York City. At some of the stops, he was joined by two of his most prominent Republican supporters. Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudolph Gluani.
The race is one of the costliest Senate campaigns in history, with the candidates
spending $78 million through mid October.
Candidates vie for larger states' votes
Kansas traditionally lean toward one party. The last time Kansas' electoral votes went toward a Democratic presidential candidate was in 1964 when it elected Lyndon B. Johnson.
Continued from page 1A
"The electoral college is kind of a rip," Walter said. "My vote is not going to count because it's pretty much a sweep with Kansas being solidly Republican. Anyone that's a Democrat here pretty much doesn't count when it comes to the presidential election."
But Nick Johnson, Kansas City, Mo. senior, said that although his specific vote in today's election might not determine the winner, every vote still mattered.
"If everyone took that same attitude that their vote didn't count, there would be no democracy," he said.
Walling said the electoral college did not disrupt the democratic process.
"The system is completely based on the participation of the masses. Maybe it's an ideal thing to say, but I think if anyone votes for anything, it's not a wasted vote," he
said. "It's not about winning or losing in the grand scheme of things, it's a question of does the citizenry participate."
Cigler said the electoral system tended to lead candidates to overlook states such as Kansas — states heavily geared toward one party with a small number of electoral votes. But he said the candidates would probably not pay much more attention if the elections were strictly based on a popular vote.
"Even if it changed to a popular election, there would still be more campaigning in big states," Cigler said.
In the future
Although many people dislike the notion of the electoral college, Walling said it would be difficult to change the system.
"People might be intuitively offended by someone winning that didn't win the popular vote, but I don't know how likely is it that a constitutional amendment is passed," Walling said. "Think about how many amendments there are. There have only been 27 ever, and 10 of those basically came with the Constitution, so there's been 17 in 200 years. I don't know how likely that is to happen."
Cigler said if today's winner didn't win the popular vote, there would be discussion in Congress of modifying the system. One possibility, he said, would be to make the electoral college a proportional system. For example, if a candidate won two-thirds of a state's vote, he or she would get two-thirds of the electoral votes instead of all of them.
"Everybody's going to have a different view, but sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for," Cigler said. "Tallying votes and whoever gets the most wins is probably more democratic, but that changes the way politics is conducted. It moves it away from party politics to mass media politics."
"The bottom line is that it's more likely to happen now than in a very long time. Generally we don't have elections this close," Wailing said. "People are not used to close elections, and people are getting afraid that someone who doesn't win the popular vote will win the election."
Walling said the issue was under scrutiny this year only because of the close race.
Edited by Kimberly Thompson
Ashcroft covers Missouri; Carnahan talks from porch
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Republican Sen. John Ashcroft was dashing across Missouri to promote the value of his experience while Democrats stirred emotional support for their deceased Senate nominee and the widow who pledges to carry his values to Washington.
Ashcroft was flying yesterday to rallies in six cities, after stumping Sunday alongside former President Bush in St. Louis and telling a national television audience of his determination to "carry forth on the issues."
Questions dogged Ashcroft about the challenge he faces today from the late Gov. Mel Carnahan, the Democratic nominee who died in a plane crash three weeks ago.
He is also implicitly challenged by Carnahan's widow, Jean, who has agreed to accept an appointment as senator if her late husband outpollts Ashcroft. Mel Carnahan died after a deadline for changing Tuesday's ballot.
Mrs. Carnahan has won the endorsement of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which said in an editorial Sunday that she and her husband had been devoted "to progressive values and a view of government that appeals to the better angels of our nature." The Kansas City Star endorsed Ashcroft last week, saying he was more experienced.
Ashcroft said he "hasn't wasted one second" thinking about a legal challenge if he loses to Mel Carnahan. The senator said on ABC's This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts that "the people will settle this issue, and I trust the people to do so and very frankly, this is a distraction."
Mrs. Carnahan, who has never sought or held elected office, told ABC that a legal challenge would be viewed in Missouri as an attempt to "thwart the will" of voters.
The ABC program was the only political stage shared so far by Mrs. Carnahan, 66.
ON THE NET
http://www.carnahan2000.com
http://www.johnashcroft.com
and Ashcroft, 58, but they had no exchanges. Mrs. Carnahan's interview was just her second public appearance in a week; the first was a brief news conference announcing her acceptance of Wilson's appointment offer. She had no other public appearances scheduled through Election Day, Tony Wyche, spokesman for Mel Carnahan's campaign, said Sunday night.
Some voters said they deserved to know more about the woman who could be senator.
"Just because she was his wife isn't enough. If my doctor died, I wouldn't want his wife to operate on me," said Bob Baysinger, 57, a land developer from Jefferson City who supports Ashcroft.
Mrs. Carnahan has said she shared her husband's values and positions. Democrats were sympathetic about her decision to stay in seclusion, noting the widow's still-recent loss of her husband of 46 years and the couple's eldest son, Roger, in the Oct. 16 crash that also killed campaign adviser Chris Sifford.
On ABC, Ashcroft repeated his assertion that suspending his campaign after the plane crash hurt him politically. Democrats and political analysts said Ashcroft had little choice to avoid appearing insensitive.
"We gave a week away of the campaign by doing what was right," he said.
Rick Hardy, a political scientist at the University of Missouri in Columbia who ran twice unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican, said Ashcroft had three opponents: "Mel Carnahan in death, Jean Carnahan in dignity and the media who cannot resist the story and keep it before voters."
As Sheriff, Rick Trapp will focus on fighting the profileration of methamphetamine, confronting the problem of youth violence, providing the best law enforcement training in Kansas, attracting and retaining the highest quality personnel and maintaining the Douglas County jail in a
professional manner.
- 33 Years in Law Enforcement
- Graduate of the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas School of Law
- 10 years with the F.B.I.
- Four Commendation Awards from the F.B.I.
- Former Douglas County Sheriff's Deputy
- Current Douglas County Deputy District Attorney
District Attorney
On November 7,2000, please vote Rick Trapp for Douglas County Sheriff!
- Former Lawrence Police Officer
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