State: Ongoing counts hobble McBride

He had hoped to stand beside his vanquished opponent at unity rallies across Florida and attack the record of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Then he would meet with fundraisers who can help kick his campaign into high gear. The national media spotlight would settle on the political giant killer who came from nowhere to beat Janet Reno.

Instead, McBride spent Saturday fending off questions about whether he would step aside if Reno finds enough uncounted votes in South Florida and whether another Florida election fiasco is dividing his party.

The momentum McBride had long expected to ride into the Nov. 5 general election has sputtered. McBride has a tenuous grasp on the Democratic nomination for governor, and his supporters are increasingly anxious.

"We've got to get going. We've already lost a whole week," said Florida Education Association President Maureen Dinnen, suggesting Reno should have conceded.

McBride acknowledged his own concern in a speech before the teachers union in Orlando Saturday. He called on the teachers to mobilize for November, even as he stressed the importance of an accurate vote count.

"We've waited a hard couple of days, because what I wanted to do is to make sure that we didn't get out ahead of ourselves. . . ," McBride said. "But we've got to start now. We've got to start today. We can't lose any more time."

While the election mess made it awkward for McBride to campaign at full speed or air new TV ads, supporters doubt the lull will cause lasting damage.

Chris Korge, a Democratic fundraiser from Miami, said major donors from across the country are ready with big checks for the state party. But they want the primary settled first.

"People really believe this guy is going to beat Jeb Bush," Korge said. "People are saying, "Absolutely I'm going to give him money, but I'm going to wait until the final result on Tuesday because I'm not going to give money if Reno is the nominee.' "

The stalemate should end on Tuesday when Miami-Dade and Broward counties submit final vote tabulations to the state. The state Canvassing Board certifies the result on Wednesday. The total conceivably could include thousands of missing votes from South Florida.

Reno hopes election workers examining voting machines in Miami-Dade and Broward turn up enough uncounted votes to overtake McBride's 8,196-vote lead.

"I just want the votes to be counted," Reno said on NBC's Today show. "I'm happy to concede when the votes are there."

Reno didn't fault McBride for campaigning against Bush, who has run TV ads attacking McBride's management record at Florida's largest law firm, Holland & Knight, and his use of union-funded TV ads.

"If I were Bill, I'd be campaigning now," she said. "I'm not stopping anybody."

Reno's spokeswoman said her offer to campaign alongside McBride was rejected.

State officials on Friday rejected Reno's request for a manual recount and ruled out a machine recount even if Tuesday's final tally shows a near tie. Either side could challenge the results in court, but Reno has said she won't and an adviser to McBride doubted McBride would either.

"It will be done Tuesday, whatever happens, whether Bill wins or loses or she wins or loses," said Dexter Douglass, a Tallahassee lawyer advising McBride.

Bush wasn't waiting for the Democratic picture to clear, accepting the endorsement of a group of retired police officers. He also defended the state's decision to reject Reno's recount request.

"We will follow the law. We can't have a manual statewide recount, as Ms. Reno has suggested," said the governor, who stepped off the Canvassing Board to avoid any potential conflict. "She, as a former attorney general and former state attorney ought to know what the law is before she goes off and asks for these things."

In a dimly lit warehouse in Miami-Dade, about 25 workers searched through hundreds of stacked machines -- they look like hard-sided suitcases -- hunting for equipment from precincts where Reno questioned the accuracy of the totals.

In some cases, the machines were mislabeled, further slowing the process. Workers had grabbed about 25 machines by Saturday afternoon to download voting information.

"We are relabeling as we go, so when I get the next list, it may be easier to find them," said Emil Phillips Jr., the county's assistant election director in charge of systems.

Miami-Dade officials will not release details about the review until Tuesday, the state deadline.

In Broward County, workers were examining more than a dozen machines Saturday. Officials would not say how many they wanted to check.

McBride spent most of Saturday huddled with advisers, organizing the general election campaign structure and considering lieutenant governor prospects. He plans more of the same for today.

Under state law he has until 5 p.m. Thursday to choose a running mate. He said Saturday that he has not made up his mind. In recent days several frequently mentioned prospects, including Attorney General Bob Butterworth, former U.S. ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson, former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, and state Sen. Daryl Jones, said they had little interest. Former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Carol Browner did not return calls.

Duties also may be shifting within the McBride campaign.

Veteran campaign manager Robin Rorapaugh ran the primary campaign that defied most early predictions and wound up winning 58 out of 67 counties. Over the past six weeks or so, Rorapaugh's profile lowered and the campaign's state chairwoman, Fran Davin, handled much of the day-to-day operations. Davin, a former Hillsborough County commissioner and Tampa City Council member, has never run a statewide campaign before but is a longtime friend of McBride's.

Eager to reach out for broad support, the campaign also is organizing a "Republicans for McBride" organization, hoping to capitalize on Republican disenchantment with Bush.

First, though, McBride has to ensure Democrats are united behind him. If he moves too fast campaigning like the nominee, he risks alienating Reno supporters angry about voting problems in South Florida.

"You can't declare victory and say, "Count every vote' at the same time," said Todd Harris, spokesman for the Bush campaign.

McBride insisted Saturday that he supported the vote review under way in South Florida, but said voters need to concentrate on beating Bush.

"I wouldn't want anybody to say I got something that I didn't deserve," McBride said. "We can't get diverted now. What's really important is for us to stay together and start focusing on the general election. . . . The Republicans would love us to get distracted."

Victor Curry, a radio host in Miami, doubts McBride will feel much fallout over the problems.

"People around here are mad and upset, but not at McBride," Curry said. "The anger goes straight at the mayor, at (elections supervisor David) Leahy, and ultimately the governor."

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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Lucy Morgan

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