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."
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