Countdown To The High Court
With their second historic showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court only a day away, George W. Bush and Al Gore's campaigns braced for what could be their definitive legal clash in the battle for the White House.
On CBS News' Face The Nation on Sunday, Bush adviser James Baker said a favorable ruling for the Texas governor against further hand recounts in Florida would not undermine a Bush presidency.
"I really don't think that the legitimacy question is one that we need to worry about. It may take a little longer than it normally does for the country to get together behind the new leader, but I think it's going to happen," the former U.S. Secretary of State said.
But "the one thing I worry about, frankly, having been through a number of transitions, is that the time for transition has been cut almost in half," Baker added.
Also on the program, David Boies - Gore's top lawyer in the Florida election saga - foreshadowed the vice president's legal arguments before the High Court on Monday.
"Our belief is that this is a matter of settled Florida election law, and that nobody ought to be stepping in to change that law in the middle of the game," Boies said.
"Florida's rules were in place and had been applied consistently for decades - and now what we're seeing is an attempt to change those rules after the election has taken place," he added. "We think that that is wrong as a matter of law - and we also think it's wrong as a matter of policy."
Given the tight political and legal timetable remaining for choosing the next president, Boies was asked whether he thought the justices would rule sooner rather than later.
"I do think they're going to act promptly, but how fast they act is something that I simply don't have any way of predicting," he said.
The U.S. Senate's top Republican and top Democrat also had their say on Sunday.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said the American people will be ready to handle whatever the U. S. Supreme Court decides, even if it's a narrow ruling split along ideological lines.
"A lot of key decisions in the history of this country and of that court has been five to four. If that's what the decision comes down to, then so be it. I think the American people will accept that," he told Face The Nation.
And Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said regardless of the High Court's decision, it's important to accept the rule of law and assure confidence in the judicial system.
"I'm not going to go about attacking the Supreme Court. I don't want to attack the Florida Supreme Court. I think we've got to live with the results and go on. I disagree with it; I accept the results," he told Face The Nation.
Daschle was asked whether Gore should concede the White House to Bush if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the vice president.
"What I have said all along is that, ost of us, in fact all of us, support his effort to try to get a full and fair count," Daschle said of his fellow Democrats. "That's all we're asking. I think it would be difficult to go beyond that, but I will leave that to him, and I'll support whatever decision he ultimately makes."
On another front, Lott also predicted that the Florida Legislature - which meets on Monday - would probably intervene and appoint a Bush slate of presidential electors, if it felt that was necessary.
"I'm sure that they would prefer not to have to step in, but they do have a role to play. And I think they're prepared to do that," he told Face The Nation.
But, Lott added, "I'm trying not to pre-judge any action by anybody, either the candidates, George W. Bush or Al Gore, or the courts, or the legislature, because in the end, it could still wind up with us (in Congress) having to make a final decision on it."