Focus on Federal Judge in Florida

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington, NOV. 13.

All eyes are on the Federal Judge in Florida as America is yet to pick a winner in the Presidential election held on November 7. With Oregon now being given to the U.S. Vice-President, Mr. Al Gore, he now has a total of 19 States and the District of Columbia for 262 electoral college votes. The Texas Governor, Mr. George W. Bush, carried 29 States for 246 electoral college votes. A minimum of 270 votes is required by a candidate to win the election.

In Florida and elsewhere it is being felt that a manual recount in four predominantly Democratic counties is an advantage for Mr. Al Gore. The Democrats are hopeful that votes could be picked up, and the Bush campaign is worried about this. The argument that the Republicans could counter this in Florida by asking for a manual recount in counties where they are stronger may not be all that easy - the deadline for such a request may have expired.

The Republicans and Democrats have sent scores of lawyers, political operatives and aides to Florida to keep track of things. Besides, the two major parties are said to be involved in internal polling to see the fallout of their strategies.

Published opinion polls show nearly 75 per cent of the Americans as saying that a clear count is necessary in Florida and that expediency should not be the main factor.

But polls also change over a period of time given the response to developing situations.

The sudden change in Florida's environment and the threat of similar measures elsewhere by the Republicans has meant another challenge that the two parties and campaigns have had to contend with. Bringing in the legal and political operatives means money, which both the Republicans and Democrats are a little short of, at the end of what was perceived to be the final run for the White House. One estimate is that the Democrats are hoping to raise some $ 3 millions to tide over immediate expenses and the Republicans are already asking donors for $ 5,000 for the same purpose.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday a lame duck session of Congress gets underway with the main purpose of coming to terms with the Federal Budget which is long over-due. But when lawmakers return, there is an uncertainty over Capitol Hill - some of them have lost the election and many results are still awaited. The Republicans still control of the House of Representatives, but by a smaller margin, but in the Senate it is a different story. It could be a 50-50 tie depending on how the race in Washington turns out; or the GOP could have a 51-49 edge.

The Budget details were supposed to have been thrashed out by October 1 and the real question is if this would now be completed by November 14 when the temporary funding measure to keep operations going runs out. It is being pointed out that the White House negotiators will be on hand to work with lawmakers, but the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, will be away for a week starting from today to Vietnam and Brunei for the meeting of the Asia Pacific leaders under the aegis of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Events in Florida has a strong bearing on what will happen on Capitol Hill during the lame duck session. On the surface, several key lawmakers have been talking of crossing over to the other side to get things done from now on for the next four years.

If Mr. George W. Bush comes out on top that will harden the Grand Old Party which will then toughen its stance on spending issues. On the other hand, Democrats will be in a better bargaining position if Mr. Al Gore wins.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : Hurriyat leaders seek support for solving Kashmir
           issue early