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The Florida Recount: Battle for Oval Office may Diminish its Power

Aired November 25, 2000 - 6:08 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: After the final votes are counted, after the winner is declared and sworn in, what can the next president hope to accomplish? Well, some have argued, not much, noting that the president-to-be faces a divided Congress and a divided nation.

Another perspective, though, from White House correspondent Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When either Al Gore or George W. Bush is eventually declared the winner, he will have overcome one extraordinary challenge in Florida only to face another one once inside the White House.

ROBERT DALLEK, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: When the vote is so indecisive, then the man entering the office loses a certain credibility, a certain legitimacy, and it makes it difficult to govern.

WALLACE: Difficult, but not impossible, political experts say. Take the case of President Clinton, elected with just 43 percent of the vote in 1992, he watched his party lose control of Congress in 1994 and face the embarrassment of impeachment four years later.

DALLEK: Clinton's service as president demonstrates that you can survive an awful lot of problems.

WALLACE: Some Republicans, though, say the only lesson to be gleaned from Mr. Clinton is that some of his major accomplishments, such as trade deals and welfare reform, would not have happened without Republican support.

VIN WEBER, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: The next president ought to learn from President Clinton that he needs to govern in, as much as possible, a bipartisan way to accomplish things.

WALLACE: That's even more essential now, with Congress sharply divided and neither party likely to hold a working majority. But each man could restore some goodwill by appointing members of the opposing party to his cabinet. One democratic pollster says the longer this goes on, the less public trust the next president will have on day one. GEOFF GARIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: There is a growing view that these guys are only playing politics here and not trying to come up with a result that's best for the country.

WALLACE (on camera): Add to that growing distrust of one side for the other, and you have what will be the biggest test of either Gore or Bush's political life. However, the next president also faces a slew of unfinished business and any legislative victories could turn a weak president into a man who gets things done.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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