Dan Frisa
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2000 11 p.m. EST

In a mixed decision, the high court ruled by a vote of 7 to 2 that constitutional equal protection rights were violated by the lack of uniform, objective standards as applied in manual counts of ballots.

With a split of 5 to 4 on the remedy, the ruling overturning the Florida court’s ruling mirrors the majority that granted a stay on Saturday at the request of the Bush campaign to put an immediate halt to the controversial hand counts then under way in Florida.

Further cementing the fate of Al Gore was a statement from the chairman of the Democrat National Committee, Ed Rendell, calling on the vice president to concede.

Plans were uncertain as to when President-elect Bush would finally give his victory speech, long on hold since Election Day, Nov. 7, when Al Gore first telephoned his concession to the Texas governor only to ‘withdraw’ it a short time later.

Gore then proceeded to drag the nation through an endless series of convoluted protests and lawsuits, and the first-ever legal contest of a presidential election in history.

As the five-week ordeal progressed, public support for Bush increased as poll numbers for Gore plummeted.

Most observers expect Gore to give his concession speech soon, though no timetable has been announced.

Others wonder if more sinister plans are afoot to convince several Bush electors to switch to Gore at the 11th hour. In fact, several Web sites have recently cropped up on the Internet for just such an effort to muscle GOP electors.

Having lost five weeks in precious transition time during the Gore attempted power-grab, the Bush team will now move quickly, thanks to their decision some weeks ago to move quietly and steadily forward with plans to establish a new administration.

Bill Clinton himself had directly ordered the General Services Administration to withhold $5.3 million in transition funds allocated by Congress. Transition offices, fully outfitted with computers, phones and supplies, have remained vacant as well.

When these stumbling blocks were first thrown at the Bush campaign, a wise decision was made at that time to raise private funds for the transition.

A Bush transition office was opened and staffed in suburban Virginia and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney has been spearheading ongoing transition activities, including working closely with the president-elect in reviewing potential high-level appointees.

Time, however, is still of the essence.

FBI background checks need to be completed for upper-echelon designees of a new administration and can take weeks to process.

Cabinet-level appointees and certain other top designees must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which requires additional time for preparation and scheduling.

Now, perhaps, a full five weeks after Election Day, the people of the United States of America, under the leadership of President-elect George W. Bush, can begin the hard work of rebuilding our society, re-establishing the rule of law, and rededicating ourselves to those ideals that have been abandoned during the past eight years.

E-mail Dan: danfrisa@newsmax.com.

Visit the NewsMax.com National Resource Page for the Free and Fair Elections Act.

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.

See more columns by Dan Frisa.

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