Top Gore aides confident, but acknowledge 'turbulence' in recount struggle
From CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With some Democrats in
Washington worried that Florida recount results were less encouraging than expected, Al Gore's senior advisers said Tuesday they were confident now-disputed ballots would give the vice president more than enough votes to pull ahead in the state's presidential recount.
"We are all very comfortable that we are going to be in good shape when
the hand counts are done," said a senior Gore adviser involved in
the recount effort on the ground in Florida.
This adviser conceded, however, that his prediction depended on most of
the "disputed" or "contested" ballots being counted -- with local canvassing
boards using dimples or other marks on the paper ballots to determine voter
intent.
The Gore camp hopes the Florida Supreme Court's ruling will make clear
that state law allows such a process to determine voter intent, but says it
believes officials in counties where the recounts are under way will consider
most of these ballots anyway.
"We certainly would not be pursuing the recount if it was not
winnable," the senior Gore adviser said. "We are confident that we are within
the range of victory, but there is a little turbulence in getting there."
In Washington, many Democrats -- including some Gore advisers -- have
begun voicing concerns that the ongoing tally does not show the vice president
making up enough ground to give them confidence that he will ultimately
overtake Republican George W. Bush if the state Supreme Court orders the
secretary of state to accept the recount results.
Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska was dispatched by the Gore campaign to
Florida in part to address the controversy over counting military overseas
ballots.
Kerrey said some accommodation should be made to count dimpled ballots.
"Are they willing to do the same thing for 85-year-olds that simply
didn't have the strength to punch through a punch card, that simply didn't have
the capacity to get that done?" he asked.
Kerrey said he spoke to the vice president Monday night and that Gore
said he believed he had carried the state of Florida and was confident that a
recount would show that to be the case. But Kerrey said Gore acknowledged he
could lose the court ruling -- or come out of the recount process still
trailing.
"He understands that at some point it's going to be over, and he's
not going to appeal this thing infinitum. He's going to stop and say, 'I still
believe on the 7th of November I had a majority of the votes, but I know this
thing's got to go on, I know that the electors have to be certified and I know
that I may not end up being president.' "
Senior Gore advisers say they are confident the state Supreme Court
will allow the recounts to continue, but they acknowledge there would be little
rationale for continuing the legal fight if the court ruled Secretary of
State Katherine Harris was within her rights to refuse to accept the results of the manual recounts.
The support the vice president enjoys from fellow Democrats would
likely evaporate as well if the court's ruling had the effect of shutting the recount process down.
"I think there is a growing feeling among a number of individuals that
this should be the final decision," Louisiana Sen. John Breaux told CNN. "This is, after all, the Supreme Court of the state of Florida. Supreme means the final decision."
Breaux said he had spoken to Gore recently and to Democratic vice
presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman on Tuesday, "They're very calm," he said.
"Surprising to me -- I mean, I would be a nervous wreck."
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