The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, November 09, 2000, Page 5, Image 5
Nelson to work with both parties I Stenberg loses in eastern counties NELSON from page 1 Mayor Don Wesely presented Nelson with a key to the city. “I’m giving you the key to the city because I think Lincoln was the key to your victory,” Wesely said. Earlier Wednesday, shortly after he received Stenberg’s con cession call, Nelson held a press conference in Omaha at Millard Airport. It was the first of four events on Wednesday for Nelson, who also flew to South Sioux City and Grand Island. Nelson, who won despite run ning in a state with 145,000 more registered Republican voters than Democrats,, said he would strive to work across party lines in Washington and not be “bull headed.” “I think you can be a bulldog, but you’ve got to be able to work with other people,” he said. “I hope to be able to demonstrate that those who think partisanship is the only way to get anything done in Washington are just false prophets." Depending on the outcome of an undecided Senate race in Washington, the Senate could be composed of 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats beginning in January. Nelson said he would be more effective in such a divided body because he would be willing to work with senators from across die aisle He said he was “cut from the same cloth” as senators like Evan Bayh, D-IncL, John Breaux, D-La. and Olympia Snow, R-Maine, who have been willing to seek biparti san solutions without sacrificing principle. “Whoever is president will have to reach out to the Senate in order to bring about bipartisan solutions,” he said. “I think it will be good for the country. We will have to move from partisanship to partnership.” In 1996, while he was a sitting governor, Nelson lost the Senate race to Chuck Hagel, and the two men have not been on good terms since then. This year, Hagel cam paigned aggressively for Stenberg. On Wednesday afternoon, Nelson said he had not yet called Hagel because he had been busy. But he predicted he would be able to work with him. “1 think I’ll explain to him that having an independent mind about things is not the same as canceling out his vote,” Nelson said. "I intend to work very closely and carefully with the entire Nebraska delegation for what’s best for Nebraska.” Nelson said he had received telephone calls from Senate Minority Leader Tbm Daschle, D S.D., Sen. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Bayh and Snowe. Nelson said rebuilding the agricultural economy would be his top priority He said he would seek a seat on the Agriculture Committee, and he hopes his pro posal for farm income protection will be a cornerstone of the 2002 farmbilL He wants to use federal budg et surpluses to support Social Security, fund prescription-drug coverage, pay down the national debt and begin cutting taxes. “I am for less government and lower taxes, but I also want to pay our bills and take care of our responsibilities,” he said. Nelson said he also would seek a seat on the Armed Services Committee, where he would urge the government to modernize the military and prepare it for post Cold War challenges. "What we can do is make sure we’re ready to deal with the most likely threat, which is terrorism,” he said. He said he also was interested in seats on the Commerce Committee or the Appropriations Committee. Nelson said he agonized all TUesday evening as the election returns showed a surprisingly close race. The most recent Omaha World-Herald poll showed Nelson with a 12-per centage point lead, but Nelson’s actual victory was much smaller. Nelson didn’t claim victory before his gathered supporters until 2 a.m. Wednesday. But he said the wait was not nearly as agonizing as Election Day in 1996, Focus is on Florida with vote recount FLORIDA from page 1 told reporters in die capital city. Both Bush and Gore cam paigned hard in the state and regarded it as crucial. Some counties completed the count Wednesday and forwarded results to Thllahassee for certifica tion by Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Roberts, a Republican appointee Jeb Bush said he recused himself. John Cavanaugh, an Omaha Democrat who served in the House of Representatives with Gore in the 1970s, remains his close friend. Although he has not spoken with Gore since the elec tion, he has spoken with Gore campaign officials. “Everyone is hoping some thing good is going to happen in the recount," he said. Although he said it was diffi cult to know what the result might be, he said the gap-Bushleads by about 1,700 votes - was small in a state where nearly 6 million votes were cast “So literally anything can hap pen,” he said “Tuesday was a strange evening,” he said. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new happens.” Although both candidates typically pick up votes in a recount, veterans of the process said it is unusual for one side to pick up enough votes to make a difference in the outcome. In each county, a county judge, the chairman of the county commission and the local elec tions supervisor recounted the votes by feeding punch cards through tabulation machines three times. The makeup of the canvassing board is supposed to insulate the process from politics, state elections director Clay Roberts said. TVvo former secretaries of state -Warren Christopher for Gore and James A. Baker III for Bush - were heading monitoring teams sent to Florida on Wednesday. In Florida and elsewhere, Democrats grumbled about long lines at the polls, reports that bal lots were late in arriving at polling places and other possible irregu larities. “We’ve received literally thou sands of telephone calls and inquiries and reports of irregulari ties like ballots appearing and dis appearing, voter intimidation and the totals of this election sort of mysteriously disappearing and growing overnight,” state Democratic Party chairman Bob Poe said. Jesse Jackson said he got calls on Election Day complaining that blacks had difficulty voting in Florida and other Southern states. Jackson said some voters were told there were no more ballots, or that polls were closed. "What we need is not just a recount by hand, but also a thor ough investigation," Jackson said. NAACP President Kweisi Mfume said he has asked the Justice Department to investigate what he called numerous com plaints of election irregularities affecting minority voting. He also wants the federal gov ernment to oversee the recount “We are not suggesting foul play, but we are very much con cerned that foul play can hap pen,” he said in a statement Separately, Democratic offi cials and hundreds of voters com plained about the way ballots in Palm Beach County were arranged. Voters punched holes in the middle of the ballot, while candidates were alternately listed to the left and then the right “It was virtually impossible to know who you voted for,” said Mark Hirsch, a 30-year-old busi ness executive who voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Some Gore supporters said they feared they mistakenly voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. Gone carried the coun ty by more than 110,000 votes, but the3,407 votes for Buchanan were by far the most of any Florida county, and almost 20 percent of his total vote in the state. Republicans said the ballot was approved by Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, a Democrat “The ballot was laid out within accordance with the statute,” Roberts said. “That’s a voting sys tem that’s been in use for many years in many counties.” Jeb Bush said he has seen nothing that indicates baud and pledged a fair recount “Voter fraud in our state is a felony, and guilty parties will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. Daily Nebraskan reporter Brian Carlson contributed to this report Nelson’s nail-biter when Hagel stomped him by 14 points. When some Omaha television stations reported Stenberg had pulled ahead of Nelson, the Democrat said he told supporters, “This isn’t a lot of fun, but I’ve been in a situation that was even less fun.” \ “You can go through almost anything when you win,” Nelson said on Wednesday, still weary after a sleepless night But Nelson said he didn't view his win this year as redemption for 19%. “Any victory is sweet after a loss,” he said. “But it realty wasn’t about that. It has been about making sure this seat becomes the people’s seat” ‘ Nelson said he had no specific plans yet to seek a major national role, but he said had “a tendency to look for things that can expand my role.” At this point, he said, his major objective is to work in a bipartisan fashion, a skill he said he learned as governor. “I’ll be the same person, in a different role, that I was as gover nor,” he said. “I think (Nebraskans) expect me to repre sent the interests of the people and go to Washington to work with other people to get things done.” After Wednesday, Nelson planned to get some sleep. Today, he said, he plans to go hunting. “I’m going to be on the right side of the barrel.” Stay tuned for more Presidential coverage of the election Daz/j Nebraskan Melanie Fk/DN STENBERG from page 1 heck of a campaign. Maybe if someone had given us an extra million (dollars), we could have won," Sigerson said, speaking of the disadvantage Stenberg faced after winning the highly-contest ed Republican primary. Nelson emerged from the Democratic primary relatively unscathed with money to spend. The two men were vying for retiring Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey’s open seat. Kerrey will become president of New School University in New York in January. late returns from Sarpy and Douglas counties added to the suspense Tuesday. Stenberg said it was difficult to determine who would prevail because he did not know which county’s votes had been counted. “My campaign manager pointed out to me at 4 a.m. this morning that if we had stayed even in Douglas County, we would have won,” Stenberg said. Unofficial Douglas County election results showed that Nelson garnered 87,850 votes over Stenberg’s 70,694. Lancaster County was also key to Nelson’s victory. The for mer governor earned 60,212 votes to Stenberg’s 39,178. At a rally in Lincoln on Monday, Stenberg had told sup porters that if he could just stay even in eastern Nebraska, he could win. The mostly Republican vot ers of Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District did come through for Stenberg. Ultimately, it was not enough. With two years left in his third term as attorney general, Stenberg said that he would not run for re-election, but he said it was too early to speculate if he would run for any other office. Throughout his campaign, Stenberg stressed a team approach to governing and aligned himself with Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and presiden tial nominee George W. Bush. Several nationally prominent Republicans, including Sen. John McCain and former senate majority leader Bob Dole, visited the state to support Stenberg's bid. In contrast, Nelson promoted himself as an independent voice that would represent Nebraska interests in the Senate. Sigerson, the Republican chairman, said one of the men was lying. “I think we’re going to see that Ben Nelson is going to be a good team player on the Democratic team in Washington D.C.," Sigerson said. “Any congressman or senator will tell you that you have to have a team to get any thing done in D.C." *FREE Weekend Calling For Life! ^ FREE Nokia 252] * FOUR State Local Calling Area * RATE Plans Starting as low as $29.99 . * FREE Nokia 252 J * FREE Case & Cigarette Lighter Adapter^ * -j®j H^t($bions'jB>cA99^fV0mi * * some restriction apply Specials at these locations ONLY Nebraska Bookstore 13* and Q Streets Super Saver Super Saver 27* and Pine Lake Rd 48* and O Street Super Saver Russ’s Market 27* and Comhusker Hwy 70* and Van Dorn Russ’s Market 33* and Hwy 2 SPECIAL NEW RATE PLAN 1,000 minutes for just $39.99. Includes no long iistance charges to anywhere in the United States! Ends Sunday! Bring in this ad and we will pay your first month of service! 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