Gore lawyers are prepared to challenge the Legislature's slate of electors if necessary, arguing they can't try to control the outcome of the Nov. 7 election with a special session afterward. But with the state presidential election still unsettled in the courts a month after voters cast ballots, GOP lawmakers said the session was the only way to ensure that Florida's 25 electoral votes would be included in the Dec. 18 meeting of the Electoral College. On the eve of the special session, House Speaker Tom Feeney, the most forceful advocate for the gathering, acknowledged he has been speaking with Bush's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, State Republican Chairman Al Cardenas and former state GOP executive director Randy Enwright. Cardenas and Enwright are in touch with the Bush campaign, but Feeney said he hasn't talked to any top official of the campaign in Austin, Texas. George W. Bush was certified the winner of Florida's electoral votes two weeks ago by GOP Secretary of State Katherine Harris, but the state Supreme Court and its seven Democratic-selected justices are weighing Gore's request to overturn that victory.
Democrats also have several other legal actions pending.
Feeney and Jeb Bush attended a conservative think tank dinner Tuesday night. But I thought we had an absolute obligation to make certain Florida participated in the electoral college. The governor has been very respectful. Other Republicans, particularly in the more traditionally more cautious Senate, worried about injecting themselves into an election on behalf of a candidate who was opposed by half of the state's voters. Mexico President Vicente Fox wants President Bush to work out a bilateral migration agreement before the end of the year.