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By PAUL DE LA GARZA
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 30, 2000
WASHINGTON -- As promised earlier in the week, the Bush campaign announced Wednesday that it had opened an office in neighboring McLean, Va., to help speed up the transition for Gov. George W. Bush of Texas.
Although the outcome of the presidential election remains mired in the courts, the opening of a transition office is part of a Bush strategy to drive yet another nail into Al Gore's coffin.
The idea is simple: Act like a winner and America will begin to believe.
According to the polls, the governor is on to something: The nation appears to be tiring of the legal wrangling in Florida, and it is beginning to see Bush as the president-elect.
Today, the Bush campaign hoped to provide America with yet another powerful image: Bush, running mate Dick Cheney and retired Army Gen. Colin Powell chatting at Bush's ranch in Texas. Powell, one of the most admired public figures in America, has been mentioned as a potential secretary of state in a Bush administration.
But Gore isn't conceding just yet.
On Wednesday, he met in the White House with longtime adviser Katie McGinty, who could run the Environmental Protection Agency under Gore, and Labor Secretary Alexis Herman, another potential Gore Cabinet member. Roy Neel, Gore's transition chief, was also at the meeting.
On Tuesday, in a made-for-television moment, Gore invited Lawrence H. Summers, the secretary of the treasury, over to his house for lunch.
He also happened to let in reporters.
Gore said Summers, who probably would be named to a Gore Cabinet, was there to discuss the economy. But he wanted to convey another message as well, that he, too, is moving forward with a transition of his own.
"We cannot jeopardize an orderly transition of power to the next administration," Gore said, "nor need we do so."
The Bush team, however, is making a lot more noise about the transition in its quest for the White House.
Although the Florida secretary of state certified Bush as the winner of the state's 25 electoral votes on Sunday, giving him the presidency, the Bush campaign has run up against the Clinton administration in getting official transition help.
Saying the outcome of the presidential election is still in doubt, the administration has refused to give either Bush or Gore access to an official transition office in Washington.
The administration also has kept both sides from receiving $5.3-million in federal funds to help with the transition.
The White House, however, has offered to work with both Bush and Gore to prepare for a smooth transition. A transition coordinating council created by Clinton met for the first time on Wednesday.
Jake Siewert, the White House spokesman, said the administration was working with Bush aides to begin providing the governor with national security briefings, probably next week. Asked if Bush was welcome at the White House for the briefings, Siewert said, "I can't see any reason he would want to come to the White House to do those."
At a news conference Wednesday, Cheney said the campaign had acquired office space in McLean -- 20,000 square feet -- and that it would be up and running in a couple of days.
Until today, Cheney, who is in charge of the transition, said he had been working out of his kitchen with a mobile telephone in hand. He said that he has only two telephone lines in his house in McLean, one of the nation's wealthiest suburbs.
Cheney said the campaign had established a foundation in Texas that would receive contributions of up to $5,000 from private donors.
Wednesday's briefing by Cheney marked the second one this week.
His high profile since the election, while the governor zigzags between Austin and his ranch in Crawford, Texas, has raised questions about whether Cheney is stealing Bush's thunder.
Asked if he was overshadowing his boss, Cheney said no.
"I don't worry at all about" that, he said.
Of the governor's seemingly hands-off approach, Cheney said, "Well, first of all, I think it's perfectly appropriate for him to spend time on his ranch and to continue to spend time in Texas."
He added, "He's still the governor of Texas. He has very important responsibilities to carry out there. That's why he spent a lot of time in Austin and time out on the ranch."
Cheney also took issue with critics who charge that despite Bush's apparent aversion for Washington during the campaign, he seems to be turning to Washington insiders to build his Cabinet, as well as to his father's cronies.
"This notion that somehow we're too reliant on the past -- I just don't think holds water," he said. "The fact of the matter is, when you put together an administration, one of the things you look for are people with experience."