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As the nation awaits its next President, another scramble is on -- to make a quick buck off the Florida recount. How can one profit? Let us count the ways.
Out-of-town attorneys have been converging on West Palm Beach ever since reports appeared on Election Day of a confusing ballot that may have led some local residents to cast their vote for conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan instead of Vice-President Al Gore. Message: If you misread the "butterfly ballot," you have a lawyer.
So far, of the eight cases filed on behalf of local residents, four are headed by attorneys who don't live anywhere near West Palm Beach. "It has been a circus around here. Most of [the lawyers] are out-of- towners," says attorney Theodore Babbitt of Babbitt & Johnson, one the largest West Palm Beach law firms. Babbitt says his firm won't get involved in the chaos, but there's no shortage of others who will. A line of lawyers, most waiting to file affidavits in cases related to the election, spilled out of the local courthouse on Nov. 10, the Friday after the election. And this in a county that already had 30,000 practicing attorneys.
WISHFUL THINKING. Ambulance-chasing isn't the only enterprise getting a boost from the Sunshine State's quagmire. Billy T. Tsangares, a Los Angeles graphic designer, has been staying up nights on the West Coast slapping logos on T-shirts, buttons, and yes, even mouse pads with phrases like: "REVOTE 2000" and "REDECISION 2000." He's selling the creations in his L.A. clothing store, LA-Y-QUE Trading Post, and on his impromptu Web site, liveactionelections.com. "At first, I didn't make anything for this year's Presidential election because it was boring. But I jumped at this," says Tsangares, who has already made profits marketing Clinton-Lewinsky paraphernalia and T-shirts that poked fun at the Y2K bug that never showed up.
Another apparel maker has designed an "Electoral College" sweatshirt. And a local West Palm Beach carpenter was selling metal screws for Democrats to hold up in protests. Price: $1 for a collector screw.
Online retailers may get a boost from the chaos, too. eBay.com is already rife with Election 2000 political memorabilia. At least five people are auctioning off copies of the now legendary butterfly ballot, hoping lines like "will one day be worth millions" and "the perfect holiday stocking stuffer" will close sales with political junkies. It's anybody's guess what the controversial ballots may someday be worth -- but minimum opening bids range from $2 to $300.
Newspapers that went to press before 4 a.m. on Nov. 8 -- after the TV networks called the election for Bush but before they retracted it -- are being sold over the Internet, too. Fortune-hunters are hoping the "Bush Wins" headlines splashed across The New York Post and The St. Petersburg Times will someday be as hot of a collector item as the Chicago Tribune's "Dewey Defeats Truman." One extreme eBay optimist is trying to fetch $25,000 for the erroneous -- or prescient -- Post. But that may be wishful thinking. A rival auctioneer on the same site is hawking the paper for $25.
FUND-RAISING OVERTIME. The most enterprising entrepreneur may be the mysterious Floridian who snatched up the Internet domain name Gorerecount2000.com early on Nov. 8 -- and now vows to take no less than $1,000 for the name on eBay. So far, no takers. But if the uncertainty over the recount continues, a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) may just place a bid soon.
Both the DNC and Republican National Committee (RNC) usually take a breather from fund-raising after Election Day. But both have continued the hunt this year, anticipating a possibly lengthy courtroom battle. In the three days following the election, the DNC had already raised more than $3 million for Vice-President Al Gore's special "recount committee."
Anticipating its own legal fees, the George W. Bush's campaign sent out more than 30,000 e-mails on Nov. 11, urging voters to send a $5,000 personal check to Bush's campaign headquarters ASAP. "You would hope the parties don't look on this as a fund-raising opportunity," says Larry Makinson, president of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan political fund-raising watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Although donations paid into a recount fund doesn't have to be disclosed as a matter of law, both parties say they will post the contributions on their respective Web sites. The RNC is promising to return all monies not used in the recount on a pro rata basis.
EARLY OPENER. Meanwhile, Recount 2000 is providing a nice autumn economic boost for Palm Beach. "Our season usually doesn't start until after Thanksgiving," says Dennis Grady, president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches. Already, hotels are at capacity, and local restaurants have unusually long waits at lunch. The newspaper headquartered in the epicenter of it all, The Palm Beach Post, is selling in record numbers and getting thousands of additional visitors to its Web site each day, says staff writer Janis Fontaine.
Area residents aren't missing their opportunity to make a little cash either. In Tallahassee, on the Florida panhandle some 300 miles from Palm Beach, they "have been calling to make sure we know that their rental property is available for the media or politicians -- for anyone that wants it," says Janet Roach, chairman of the Tallahassee Visitors Bureau. "Housing is getting tight everywhere."
The outlook isn't all rosy. Almost 100 Palm Beach police officers and government workers have been working overtime with crowd control and setting up for press conferences. That's raising concerns in the community about busting the local government's budget. The Economic Council of Palm Beach already estimates that more than $100,000 in overtime will have to be paid. And that's not counting the impact on local merchants who have been forced to close shop early because of protests.
But hey, finding yourself at the epicenter of the political universe doesn't happen everyday in Florida, so most people are just enjoying it. Every Thursday night in November, West Palm Beach closes some streets to traffic for its "Clematis Festival" -- a block party named after the main street through town. "There were so many people there from all over the country last Thursday you could hardly move," says Fontaine. "I know the beer concession stand was raking in the money."
By Nicole St. Pierre in Washington Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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