[Bush's statements were part of a new cycle of political and legal jostling that began moments after Florida's presidential vote was certified Sunday night by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris. Appearing almost immediately after the certification was announced, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman called it] an incomplete and inaccurate count, ... There must be closure. |
[Describing his reception by the French as] warm, ... We want to do what we can to reduce the oppressive debt burden on the Iraqi people so that they can enjoy freedom and prosperity, and we would like to do that in 2004 through the mechanism of the Paris Club. |
[The] legal effect, ... This is precisely what we argued before the Florida and United States Supreme Courts. |
A manual recount of the whole state of Florida is crazy, |
Although the United States could certainly succeed, we should try our best not to have to go it alone, and the president should reject the advice of those who counsel doing so, |
And now, once again, they have more votes, even after the application of a very loose standard for manual recounts of dimpled ballots, |
Anyone who thinks we can effect regime change in Iraq with anything less than this is simply not realistic, |
At some point, the law must prevail and the lawyers must go home. We have reached that point, |
At some point, there must be closure. At some point, the law must prevail and the lawyers must go home, ... We have reached that point. ... I can understand the pain and frustration of losing an election so very, very narrowly, but it is time to honor the will of the people. |
Because the proposed change raises both significant legal and practical issues, the administration at this time is not prepared to support it. |
Both sides should agree to accept the vote count of all the counties at the statutory deadline, |
Both sides should agree to accept the vote count of all the counties at the statutory deadline. |
Did we break the law or not ... it's real concerning to me and real concerning to the public. |
Every one of the recommendations in our report, whether they are recommendations to the Congress or recommendations to the states, are designed to improve confidence in our system of federal elections. |
From our standpoint at least, it was a win. |