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Tony Clark: Bush doing business as usual

Tony Clark
Tony Clark  

National Correspondent Tony Clark is in Austin, Texas, following the campaign of Gov. George W. Bush as it awaits a ruling after Monday's Florida Supreme Court hearing.

Q: What is the Texas governor doing today? Has there been any change in mood following the Florida hearing?

Clark: The thing that is so interesting and unusual here in Austin is how normal everything seems. ... It's a beautiful cool, crisp fall day here. Gov. Bush got up this morning and climbed into the back seat of his blue Suburban and was driven over to the Capitol just about a block away, where he's doing office work, doing state business today.

His actions belie the kind of anxious feelings I think a lot of people on both sides of the campaign have. He makes it look like just another day, business-as-usual -- smiling, waving, going to the office. Were it not for all the TV cameras across the street and the occasional person carrying a sign, you would have thought this was just another day for the Texas governor heading off to work.

Q: How do lawyers for the Bush campaign feel about the Florida Supreme Court hearing?

Clark: The attorneys were pleased just to have their day in court yesterday (Monday). I think the sense is that everybody's ready to get it over with. They think the decision is going to go in their favor.

Q: Have the attorneys given any interpretation of the questions the Florida justices asked? Do they feel that, based on the line of questioning the justices followed, they can read the direction the ruling might take?

Clark: You can't really judge from the questions. Examples have been given: Last week, when (Leon County, Florida, Circuit Court) Judge Terry Lewis was asking questions, ... the impression you had was that he might side with the Gore campaign -- and he did just the opposite. So it's not something that you can judge. That's why Bush attorney Barry Richard was saying ... he didn't feel he had any idea of which way the court would go.

Q: Is there any sense that if the court ruling went in Bush's favor his campaign would go ahead and declare victory? Or does the campaign anticipate more legal fights?

A: That's what they want -- for this to be the end, for the Supreme Court to be the final word. That's what they would hope. We've seen over the past few days, and especially this weekend, supporters carrying signs outside the governor's mansion. Both in their chants and their signs, they say it's time for this to come to an end. They think Gov. Bush has won and it should be over at this point.

Q: Has there been any more talk of transition?

A: They (Bush camp) haven't been nearly as visible talking of transition ever since they came under a lot of criticism in those first few days after the election -- when they were talking about transition, when there were photo ops with (foreign policy adviser) Condoleeza Rice and (economic adviser) Larry Lindsey, the people who might be in a Bush administration. ... They are not making a big deal out of that right now.

Q: What are Gov. Bush's plans for the holiday?

A: Aides said that his Thanksgiving plans are very flexible at this point. It all depends on what happens with the courts. The word they used is that his schedule is very "fluid" at this point. He will decide based on whatever the court decides.


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Tuesday, November 21, 2000

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