Though it was an offer Bush couldn't accept, the Veep's apparent olive branch could still help in the battle for public opinion and soften his hard-edged image
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In a single stroke, Al Gore has shown the nation and the world why he is perhaps better suited for the job of President than George W. Bush. Gore is sneakier. Now, don't laugh. Sneakiness and statecraft, as luminaries like Henry A. Kissinger and even the esteemed James A. Baker III will tell you, are closely intertwined qualities. Stealth is valued in war, politics, and diplomacy because it's an element of jujitsu: You find your startled foe's pressure points, then use that leverage to throw him off balance. Ka-chow!
That's what Gore did on Nov. 15. Standing before a Presidential-looking podium, he made this Once-in-a-Lifetime, Act-Now offer to his Republican rival: If you agree to accept as final the current manual recount of ballots in three Democratic-leaning counties in southeast Florida, I'll promise to forgo future legal challenges. Of course, if you should temporarily take leave of your senses and agree to a weeklong hand recount of all ballots in every Florida county, I'll abide by that judgment, too. Finally, in order to make us both look like statesmen rather than a pair of brawling ward heelers, I propose two summit meetings to cool partisan passions and "lift up this discourse."
Bush may have fallen off a hay wagon during the Skull & Bones homecoming weekend, but even he could not accept an offer that essentially gave in to all of Gore's demands for ballot-by-ballot justice in the Sunshine State, otherwise known as "Death by Chad." Hours after the Vice-President threw this curveball his way, Bush summarily rejected the deal. As for the offer of a quick powwow, the Texan demurred: "Once this election is over, I would be delighted to meet with Vice-President Gore," Bush said in a televised address, looking about as happy as if Yassir Arafat had just invited himself to dinner at the ranch.
CAUGHT FLAT-FOOTED. Still, give Gore some credit for this maneuver: It may give the Vice-President a momentary edge and certainly caught Bush flat-footed. The Texan huddled with his advisers for hours before group wisdom emerged and he was able to shape a response. The essence of Bushian wisdom: No deals, because I trust the people -- except when it's a tossup between people and voting machines, in which case, I trust the machines. Okeydokey.
Gore was able seize the offensive, however briefly, for several reasons. For starters, his offer is in sync with public opinion. According to several recent polls, a majority of Americans think a full Florida recount is the fairest way out of the current electoral deadlock. There is less certainty about the fairness of a selective count.
The Veep also was emboldened by a big day in court. Florida's Democrat-dominated Supreme Court rejected a Republican-backed bid to halt the hand recounting in counties where local officials suspect confusing ballot designs led to a massive misvote or no-vote. Thanks to those reexamined ballots, Gore has edged to within 300 votes of Bush in the statewide tally, and he has good reason to believe that the more those votes are sifted, the more support he will gain.
The whole game here is trying to get enough of a cushion from this county-by-county hand jive to offset a possible surge of Bush votes when some 4,000 overseas absentee ballots are counted by midnight Friday, Nov. 17. Those ballots are expected to favor the Texan because Republicans and conservative military personnel usually cast many of these votes from afar.
HIDE THE ASHTRAYS. So what has Gore actually given up with this late overture? Very little. The solemn pledge to forgo future legal challenges is really a bow to the obvious: If the manual recount doesn't ultimately trump the overseas tally, Gore has little legal recourse. Conversely, if Bush comes out on the short end of the stick -- perhaps because expatriate Florida Jews cast enough votes for the Gore-Lieberman ticket to swamp the sentiments of the guys and gals in uniform -- Bush would be the one under pressure to seek further legal redress. His next step might be to try and overturn the election verdict in close-margin states, such as Wisconsin, Iowa, New Mexico, and Oregon. If he agrees to Gore's plan, he would be giving that option up.
Gore's offer for a pair of peacemaking meetings is a clever response to the growing clamor in his party for some lowering of the partisan temperature. As such, it's not a bad idea -- though, typically, Gore had to go and overdo it when he intoned: "I'll [even] be ready to travel to Governor Bush's home." (Yikes, Laura, hide the ashtrays...).
Of course, one reason things have gotten so heated is Fighting Al himself: He has done nothing prior to Nov. 15 to rein in his attack-dog surrogates on TV and cable news shows, nor has he been willing to disavow the scorched-earth strategy of state-by-state legal warfare.
With a pro's practiced sense of timing, Gore is finally conceding what most political pros know: For him, it has always come down to Florida. There is no tomorrow. With his cunning peace offer, he is finally admitting that reality -- but doing so on terms that cast his adversary in an adverse light. Now it's Bush who looks like he's petulantly refusing an olive branch. It's Bush who has been cast in the difficult role, for a Republican, of arguing that state or local authority must be trumped by a higher, more uniform federal standard. It's Bush who seems to be losing the public-relations war even as he may be about to gain a decisive advantage in Friday's Florida head count.
If this state of affairs holds, Gore could still lose the Presidency. But he would win the endgame and perhaps rise majestically above his petty partisan image. (I can just see Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s bow tie bobbing wildly in approval...) Would any of this late-blooming grace lead to a future political career for Gore? Somehow, I doubt it. But it sure beats a quick trip to the showers.
Walczak is Washington bureau chief for Business Week Edited by Beth Belton
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