News Digest
Gore hopeful; Democrats'loyalty wanes
■ If the vice president doesn't
win with the high court, some
say he should concede.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A1 Gore suggested lliesday
that even a rejection of his
Florida Supreme Court appeal
might not drive him from the
presidential race, though many
Democrats said that would be
die limit of their loyalty. George
W. Bush confidently declared
himself ready to "seize the
moment” as the nation's 43rd
president
"I don’t feel anything other
than optimistic,” the vice presi
dent told reporters, his tone a
stark contrast from die sense of
foreboding expressed by
Democrats across the country.
Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, a
finalist in Gore’s summertime
search for a running mate, was
among those warning that Gore
had one last chance.
"The Florida Supreme Court
is going to rule in two or three
days, and if he’s unsuccessful on
that, then I think that is the end
ofit,”hesaid.
Four weeks into America’s
election limbo, the courts still
held the keys to the White
House: The Florida Supreme
Court agreed to hear an appeal
of Gore’s historic election chal
lenge to Bush’s certified Florida
victory; briefs were filed in reac
tion to the U.S. Supreme Court
decision; and oral arguments
were heard at a federal appeals
court in Atlanta.
The flurry of activity came
one day after Circuit Judge N.
Sanders Sauls rejected Gore’s
request to order hand recounts
of disputed ballots and overturn
Florida’s official election results.
Gore appealed, and oral argu
ments will be heard by the
Florida high court Thursday.
The could-be presidents
responded in different ways,
Gore by rallying Democratic
troops for his last stand and
Bush by acting as if his piesiden
cy was only a matter of time.
“We’ve got a lot of work to
do,” the Texas governor told
reporters outside the state
Capitol in Austin, Texas, promis
ing an efficient transition to
power. “I think it’s going to be
important to show ... the
American people that this
administration will be ready to
seize the moment”
An NBC News poll suggested
that 60 percent of Americans
think Gore should concede, but
the vice president showed no
sign of surrender.
He dispatched running mate
Joseph Lieberman to Capitol
Hill, where Democrats pledged
their support - at least until the
Florida high court rules on
Gore’s appeal.
“A1 Gore and Joe Lieberman
enjoy strong support with our
caucus for what they’re doing to
try to get every vote counted in
Florida,” said House Minority
Leader Richard Gephardt
Lieberman said Sauls was
"wrong on the law” and noted
“The Florida Supreme Court is going to rule in
two or three days, and if he’s unsuccessful on
that, then I think that is the end of it.”
Evan Bayh
Indiana senator
that the Democratic ticket nar
rowly won the national popular
vote. Neither candidate can top
the required 270 electoral votes
without winning Florida’s 25,
which Bush’s certified 537-vote
victory would give him.
Gore advisers said privately
they made the Florida high
court their final destination to
calm Democrats who were
clamoring for an end to the race.
Many Democrats said they
understood the appeal of Sauls’
decision to be Gore's last-ditch
bid for the presidency.
But the vice president
seemed to be rolling back from
that end game scenario, telling
reporters that he was concerned
about allegations of favoritism
toward Bush in the handling of
absentee ballot applications in
two Florida counties.
"That doesn’t seem fair to
me,” Gore said outside the White
House.
Democrats filed lawsuits in
Seminole and Martin counties
over the ballot applications. A
trial in the Seminole case is
scheduled for Wednesday, and
Gore’s advisers said there might
be a ruling by the end of the
week - perhaps before the
Supreme Court rules on the
Sauls appeal.
"I do think it’s likely that all
of the current controversies will
end up being resolved, one way
or another, in the Florida
Supreme Court,” Gore said.
Posts aim
to boost
ratings
■The Japanese Prime
Minister's Cabinet appointments
»e an attempt to gain support
re ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO—Hoping to give his
government a renewed sense of
egitimacy, Japanese Prime
Minister Yoshiro Mori put two for
ner leaders of the nation in his
tew Cabinet and cut the number
>f posts.
But with his popularity plum
neting - under 20 percent in
ecent opinion polls - and deep
livisions in his Liberal
Democratic Party, doubts
emained over Mori's ability to
ead the nation. Itoo weeks ago,
te barely survived a rebellion
within his own party to beat a no
»nfidence motion.
“I don’t have any hopes that j
lie new Cabinet will bring any
dianges,” said Masala Nagase, a
15-year-old office worker, outside
i Tokyo coffee shop. “What we
need is to remove that prime min
ister:" j*
In an unprecedented move,
Mori assigned key posts to two
former prime ministers - Kiichi
Miyazawa and Ryutaro
Hashimoto, who both have
legions of loyal followers in
Parliament
Mori said the former premiers
will deal with die key issues for his
jovemment - economic recovery
md government reform.
Miyazawa, the finance minister,
will tackle the economy;
Hashimoto will be minister over
seeing administrative reform.
Weather
TODAY
Mostly cloudy
high 30, low 24
TOMORROW
Partly cloudy
high 45, low 30
Sen.-elect Clinton to be'a workhorse'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Sen.-elect Hillary
Rodham Clinton made the short trip Tuesday
from the White House to Capitol Hill for “Senate
School” and promised to be a consensus
builder in a chamber where she once was
derided. One Republican said she deserves a
fresh start
The first lady joined 10 other freshman sen
ators for a whirlwind day of seminars, tours and
class photos, capped with a formal dinner at
the Supreme Court building.
But that’s where the similarities ended She
was the only newcomer with a Secret Service
detail and a media entourage and her dinner
date was none other than the president
The Senate’s most famous new face kept a
decidedly low profile most of the day, seeming
ly intent on ensuring she wouldn't overshadow
other freshmen. Capitol Police kept reporters
away as she moved between meetings.
“I’m absolutely hoping to build relation
ships and create consensus with every sena
tor;” Clinton said
The first lady will serve side by side with
lawmakers who voted to remove her husband
from office, scuttled her ambitious health care
plan and held highly partisan hearings on her
ill-fated Whitewater land deal
One GOP senator said Clinton won’t be
judged by her past run-ins with Republicans,
some of whom still harbor suspicions she’s
using the Senate as a steppingstone for the
presidency.
“I think she certainly comes with more
awareness and notoriety than most incoming
freshmen senators, but I think she will be
accepted for what she decides to be, and I don't
think any of her past differences will be an
issue,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas,
said
“I think she will go forward with a blank
slate, and she will make her career.”
Clinton made a point of deferring ques
tions to New Jersey Sen.-elect Jon Corzine dur
ing a late-day news conference.
“She hopes to be a workhorse, not a
showhorse," said Corzine, a Democrat who
spent a record $65 million to win his seat
Sen.-elect Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said
Clinton was already off to a good start
“She has been really sensitive to the fact
that a lot of focus comes with her being here,
and I think she’s really working hard to be a
member of the team and not to be the center of
attention,” said Stabenow, who is now a mem
ber of the House.
Still, reminders of past battles remain.
The bookshelves still contain copies of the
Senate Whitewater report that concluded the
first lady and president “established a pattern of
concealing their involvement” in a failed
Arkansas savings and loan.
And die Congressional Record is filled with
statements from Republicans like Sen. Phil
Gramm oflfexaswho helped defeat her univer
sal health care plan in 1994 by deriding it as
“socialized medicine.”
Gone, however, are two of her bigger neme
ses, ex-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, who conducted
Mark Wilson/Newsmakers
Ui. Sen.-elect and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to reporters at the Ui. Capitol during an orientation
day for new senators Tuesday in Washington, D.C
the Whitewater hearings, and ex-Sen. Lauch
Faircloth, R-N.C., who during the Monica
Lewinsky scandal called her “an angry, frustrat
ed, distraught lady.”
Clinton is among a record four women in
this year's 11-member freshman class. The
class includes nine Democrats, two
Republicans, three millionaires, three gover
nors and a widow.
Clinton is likely to get one of the least desir
able offices in the Senate because of the strict
seniority guidelines that regulate the distribu
tion of space.
The governors and House members in her
freshman class will all get to choose office space
ahead of Clinton, Senate officials said. Tenure
as first lady doesn't count, but the population of
a senator’s state does. New York is die most pop
ulous state to elect a new senator this year, and
in that category she will do welL
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Texas executions beat record
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A man con
victed in the rape and murder of a 7-year
old girl was executed by lethal injection
Ihesday in Texas’ 38th execution of the
year - the most by any state in U.S. histo
ry*
Two more killers have execution dates
this week, so the record could reach 40.
They are the last executions scheduled in
Texas this year. Texas carried out 37 execu
tions in 1997, the previous U.S. record.
Garry Dean Miller, 33, was con
demned to die for the 1988 slaying of April
Marie Wilson, who was raped, choked and
beaten to death. Her body was dragged
through clumps of cactus, then left in a
cluster of brush outside Abilene. A blanket
and a Raggedy Ann doll were found near
by.
“I’ve got no mercy for this guy,” Jones
County District Attorney Gary Brown
said. “Too bad they can’t draw and quarter
him. Too bad they can’t put him up here
on the sand and skin him for a couple of
days and let him be tortured like she was.”
Miller, a former bartender and laborer,
confessed and then ordered his lawyers to
not pursue appeals after the U.S. Supreme
Court refused to review his case. He
repeatedly refused reporters’ requests for
interviews.
According to Michael Radelet, chair
man of sociology at the University of
Florida and the keeper of a database on
U.S. executions, Texas’ total would be the
highest number of executions carried out
by a state in American history.
No request for clemency was made to
Gov. George W. Bush, who had authority
to grant a one-time 30-day reprieve. Since
the state resumed carrying out capital
punishment in 1982, 236 condemned
murderers preceded Miller to the death
house, 147 of them during Bush’s tenure.
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■ Washington, D.C
President accompanies wife
to senate dinner
WASHINGTON - President
Clinton officially entered the
realm of political spouses
Tuesday, accompanying his sena
tor-elect wife to a dinner for
incoming members of the U.S.
Senate.
Clinton joined First Lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton for din
ner at the Supreme Court for sen
ators who will serve in the 107th
Congress, which convenes in
January. They were among 250
guests invited to the dinner,
which is a Senate tradition.
White House spokesman Jake
Siewert said Tuesday's dinner was
Clinton’s first official event as the
husband of the junior senator
elect from New York. The presi
dent was attending in his capacity
as a spouse and did not plan to
speak or, for that matter, to be
overtly presidential, Siewert said.
■Florida
Motorist daims OJ. Simpson
scratched him in dispute
MIAMI — A motorist told
police 0. J. Simpson reached into
his car and grabbed his glasses,
scratching his face, after they
pulled over during a traffic dis
pute. No charges have been filed
Jeffrey Pattinson, 55, said he
"flicked his lights” at a black
Lincoln Navigator after he saw the
SUV drive past a stop sign about 7
p.m. Monday in suburban
KendalL
The Navigator stopped, and
Simpson got out and walked
toward Pattinson’s car and the two
men argued briefly, Pattinson told
police.
Simpson then reached inside
the car and pulled the glasses off
Pattinson’s face, causing a small
scratch, police said.
Pattinson told police he heard
a young girl shouting, "No Daddy,
no Daddy, no!”
Simpson denied wrongdoing.
He called WSVN-TV Tuesday
morning, saying he told
Pattinson: “You got your bright
lights on me, sitting on my heels.
I’ve got two kids in this car, guy.
What are you doing?”
■Cuba
Footage with Castro, Elian
aired in Cuba
HAVANA — Fidel Castro
played benevolent grandfather to
a timid 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez
as state television on Tuesday
broadcast for the first time images
of the leader with the little cast
away whose fate divided Cubans
on both sides of the Florida
Straits.
The surprise airing of the
images recorded in July, just
weeks after Elian was repatriated
following a seven-month custody
battle, came on the eve of the
child’s 7th birthday - expected to
include a celebration attended by
Castro himself.
It was unclear why the gov
ernment decided to broadcast the
images after months of making a
conscious effort to keep the boy
out of the public eye. Castro had
promised that Cuba would avoid
a media circus upon Elian’s return
to Cuba and was conspicuously
absent at the boy’s airport home
coming on June 28.
Castro's detractors had pre
dicted that after Elian returned,
the Cuban leader would parade
the child around like a poster boy
for his political ideology.
■ Washington, D.C
Stamps to see one-tent
increase
WASHINGTON - It's official: It
will cost a penny more to mail a
letter starting Jan. 7.
The increase to 34 cents was
accepted by the Postal Service’s
board of governors Hiesday. It will
be accompanied by changes in
many other rates, including inter
national mail.
But the wide-ranging set of
rates approved last month by the
independent Postal Rate
Commission fell well short of
what the post office wanted,
prompting protest
“We will implement the rec
ommended decision, but are
returning it to the commission for
further consideration,” said
Board Chairman Einar V.
Dyhrkopp.