November 18, 2000
Written Nov 09, 2000
United Republican Fund of Illinois, Chicago
From: Joseph A. Morris, President
To: URF Leaders and Friends
Herewith is some practical advice on action that every
citizen can take in the event that the Florida recount confirms the election of
George Bush, but Al Gore fails to concede.
We all know what is going on in Florida, and that the
election hinges on the outcome. I am writing you today to prepare us all for
what we will have to do if what I think is going to happen actually does.
The recount, which will be finished by 5 p.m. Thursday,
will likely show Bush to be the winner once again, with only a few thousand
overseas ballots to be counted. Those ballots will be overwhelmingly for Bush, a
minimum of 60% and probably closer to 75%. If the count goes our way tomorrow,
we have won this election.
This is when something critical happens. Either Gore bows
out gracefully or he doesn't, and I can almost guarantee he won't. These are
people wedded to power who will only go down kicking and screaming. They will
use every legal maneuver in the book to steal the election. (In 1960, when
Richard Nixon had every right and reason to challenge the election results he
didn't for the sake of the country. Expect no such noble behavior this time.)
What will they try? One bet is to find a friendly judge to
throw out the Florida results on a flimsy premise. They are already floating
this as a trial balloon in the form of the allegedly "confusing"
ballots in Palm Beach County. I have seen the ballots - they are not confusing
in the least. Indeed, they are identical in form to the punch-card ballots used
in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, in this very election. What is more, it is
just as likely that Palm Beach County voters who wanted to vote for Bush
inadvertently voted for Nader. All parties approved the form of ballot before
the election. The form-of-ballot issue is a mere pretext for an effort a
judicial invalidation of the Florida election.
While I hope this scenario doesn't come to pass, I fear
that it will, and it will only have disastrous results for the country. The
election fight could drag on for months and actually be decided by a court! If
this comes to pass the vision of our Founders and the blood of patriots will
have been betrayed.
Personally, I am not going to stand for this, and I hope
you won't either.
The good news is that we are not without voice. HERE IS
WHAT MUST BE DONE: if the vote count affirms Bush's election, we allow a short
grace period to see the reaction of the Gore camp. If they have not graciously
conceded after a few hours, we must bombard the news media and our public
officials AT EVERY LEVEL with phone calls of outrage that demand Gore's
concession. I mean literally millions of phone calls. We must jam their phone
banks with calls. There are millions of us so it shouldn't be too difficult.
)While you're at it, send e-mails to your local newspapers as well.)
If it becomes widely reported - and it will - that there
is a groundswell demanding that Gore back down and not embarrass the country, it
will be very difficult for Gore to withstand the pressure. He will have to
relent.
Here are some places to start:
The White House:
TELEPHONE: (202) 456-4114
FAX: (202)456-2461
E-Mail: president@whitehouse.gov
The Vice President's Office:
TELEPHONE: (202) 274-5000
FAX: (202) 456-2883
E-Mail:vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Vice President's Senate Office:
TELEPHONE: (202) 224-2424
Senator Tom Daschle (Senate Democratic Leader):
TELEPHONE: (202) 224-2321
Also: (202) 224-5556
Representative Dick Gephardt (House Democratic Leader):
TELEPHONE: (202) 225-2671
Also: (202) 225--0100
Also, be sure to call your congressmen and both your
senators.
All these numbers are easily located on voter.com.
You can also contact them through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard:
U.S. Capitol Switchboard (all
Senators and Representatives):
TELEPHONE: (202) 224-3121
Another office to call is
that of
Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley
(the brother of Gore's campaign
manager, Bill Daley):
TELEPHONE: (312) 744-3300
FAX: (312) 744-2324
If you've never made a call
like this, there's no reason to be shy.
They get opinion calls all the time
and are set up to take them. In fact they like calls. It helps them tell
which way the wind is blowing.
Some media contacts:
Boston Herald
Andrew Costello, Editor
TELEPHONE: (617) 619-6400
E-Mail: acostello@bostonherald.com
Chicago Sun-Times
TELEPHONE: (312) 321-3000
Michael Cooke, Editor in
Chief
E-Mail: mcooke@suntimes.com
Chicago Tribune
TOLL FREE: (800) 874-2863
Howard A. Tyner, Editor
E-Mail: ChiEd@aol.com
Bruce Dold, Editorial Page
Editor
E-Mail: bdold@tribune.com
Los Angeles Times
TELEPHONE: (213) 237-7935 (opinion
department)
TELEPHONE: (213) 237-4511
FAX: (213)
237-7679 (letters to the editor)
TELEPHONE: (202) 293-4650 (Washington
bureau)
E-Mail: www.latimes.com
(follow prompts to e-mail windows)
New York Post
TELEPHONE: (212) 930-8000
John Mancini, News
E-Mail: jmancini@nypost.com
New York Times
TELEPHONE: (212) 556-1234
Joseph Lelyveld, Executive
Editor
Letters to the Editor
FAX: (212) 556-3622
E-Mail: letters@nytimes.com.
Philadelphia Inquirer
TELEPHONE: (215) 854-4500
Letters to the editor:
E-Mail: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com
USA Today
TELEPHONE: (703) 276-3400
Karen Jurgenson, Editor
E-Mail: www.usatoday.com and
follow feedback prompts
Washington Post
TELEPHONE: (202) 334-6000
Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page
Editor
E-Mail: hiattf@washpost.com
Time Magazine
E-Mail: letters@time.com
ABC
E-Mail: http://abc.go.com/abc/help/contact.html
CNN
TELEPHONE: (404) 827-1500
CBS
TELEPHONE: (212) 975-432
MSNBC
E-Mail: World@MSNBC.com
NBC
NBC-Nightly News: e-mail: Nightly@NBC.com
NBC Today Show: e-mail: Today@NBC.com
I'm hoping none of this will
be necessary, but I fear otherwise. As Edmund Burke said, "The price of
freedom is eternal vigilance."
This page is just to
prepare you for the battle that we must engage.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS LINK TO EVERYONE YOU CAN THINK OF.
IF WE HARNESS THE POWER OF THE INTERNET, BY
TOMORROW MILLIONS OF US WILL BE READY!
