For the Record

Florida certifies the victory of George W. Bush by 537 votes, out of nearly 6 million cast. … “I won the vote in Florida,” says Bush. “I believe that some are determined to keep counting in an effort to change the legitimate result.” . . . Vice President Gore, in Washington Post: “You may mock the dimpled ballots, but I call them votes.” … In Washington Post/ABC News poll, 60 percent believe Gore should stand down. . . . Sen. Robert Torricelli (D., N.J.): “My personal view is that it is increasingly likely the public is going to want this election brought to a close.” . . . “We have a winner tonight, and we have a loser tonight,” says Bob Crawford, Democratic member of Florida election board, on night of certification. “Both sides have enough legal talent to keep this tied up through Christmas. But the one thing the lawyers can’t do for us, and the one thing the courts can’t do for us: They can’t bring this country together again.” . . . James Baker: “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.”

As Republicans urge Gore to concede following Florida certification, vice president tells New York Times, “I have had Republicans advise me to [hang in], and I feel that I would betray their confidence in ways that would hurt them measurably if I identified them publicly.” . . . Gore promises, if elected, to appoint Republicans to Cabinet. . . . Rep. Connie Morelia (R., Md.) says she’d be “obligated” to vote for Gore if presidential election comes to House, because that’s how her district voted. . . . Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), on Gore, in Washington Post: “What’s driving him is his belief that if the votes are properly counted, he has won.” . . . Top Democratic donor Peter Buttenwieser, in Los Angeles Times: “My own feeling is that Gore had a really terrific chance to win, and I think he squandered that chance.” . . . San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who described Gore-Bush race as choice between “the insufferable and the incompetent,” tells San Francisco Chronicle: “George Bush is going to be the next president, and he’s going to regret he ever won. . . . Just as Al Gore would have regretted having won.” . . . Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen: “I voted for Gore because he was the better man for the job. I can’t help thinking that he no longer is.” . . . Chant of Republican protesters outside of vice president’s mansion: “Get out of Cheney’s house!”

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Florida certifies the victory of George W. Bush by 537 votes, out of nearly 6 million cast. … “I won the vote in Florida,” says Bush. “I believe that some are determined to keep counting in an effort to change the legitimate result.” . . . Vice President Gore, in Washington Post: “You may mock the dimpled ballots, but I call them votes.” … In Washington Post/ABC News poll, 60 percent believe Gore should stand down. . . . Sen. Robert Torricelli (D., N.J.): “My personal view is that it is increasingly likely the public is going to want this election brought to a close.” . . . “We have a winner tonight, and we have a loser tonight,” says Bob Crawford, Democratic member of Florida election board, on night of certification. “Both sides have enough legal talent to keep this tied up through Christmas. But the one thing the lawyers can’t do for us, and the one thing the courts can’t do for us: They can’t bring this country together again.” . . . James Baker: “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.”

As Republicans urge Gore to concede following Florida certification, vice president tells New York Times, “I have had Republicans advise me to [hang in], and I feel that I would betray their confidence in ways that would hurt them measurably if I identified them publicly.” . . . Gore promises, if elected, to appoint Republicans to Cabinet. . . . Rep. Connie Morelia (R., Md.) says she’d be “obligated” to vote for Gore if presidential election comes to House, because that’s how her district voted. . . . Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), on Gore, in Washington Post: “What’s driving him is his belief that if the votes are properly counted, he has won.” . . . Top Democratic donor Peter Buttenwieser, in Los Angeles Times: “My own feeling is that Gore had a really terrific chance to win, and I think he squandered that chance.” . . . San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, who described Gore-Bush race as choice between “the insufferable and the incompetent,” tells San Francisco Chronicle: “George Bush is going to be the next president, and he’s going to regret he ever won. . . . Just as Al Gore would have regretted having won.” . . . Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen: “I voted for Gore because he was the better man for the job. I can’t help thinking that he no longer is.” . . . Chant of Republican protesters outside of vice president’s mansion: “Get out of Cheney’s house!”