Florida Senate race: Democrats sending an army of lawyers, Republicans accuse them of trying 2 steal

[Judi Lynn]

34. Seems we've heard that before, somehow. Hmmmmmmm.

Who Needs Pepper Spray?
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BY CHARLES P. PIERCE
SEP 28, 2011

Remember these cats 'n kittens?

Remember the fun they had?

Remember the interstate conspiracy to riot and to disrupt a legitimate recount in a presidential election?

Remember how all the smart people laughedand laughed?

People got pushed. People got jostled. A duly authorized elections commission was intimidated out of fulfilling its legal obligations.

And nobody got pepper-sprayed.

Just sayin'.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a11053/pepper-spray-riot-squad-092811/

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JOHN LANTIGUA
NOVEMBER 28, 2000 5:49PM (UTC)

On the surface, it looked like the good people of Miami at their worst again. Last week's melee at the county offices here -- followed by the local canvassing board's abrupt cancellation of a hand recount -- had all the trademarks of Miami's notorious tantrum politics. Screaming, shoving, fist-waving, intimidation, ties to Elian Gonzalez and even hints of good ol' Cuban-American political corruption.

But the fact is that the fracas at Miami's recount headquarters was engineered and carried out by Republican Party operatives imported from the heartland, far from South Florida. They might have reminded viewers of Elian's Army -- and might even have taken lessons from the Cubans -- but, by all accounts, the city's strident conservative exile community was very much in the minority. As one observer put it: "There were no guayaberas. This crowd looked tweedy. They were from out of town."

Indeed, all on-the-scene reports coming out now indicate that the Miami protest was carried out by rent-a-rioters flown in by the Republican Party. GOP spokespeople have said that at least 750 Republican activists have been sent into South Florida from around the country to oppose the recount, with the party picking up the tab for a number of them. And last Wednesday, when a gaggle of protesters sprang into action in Miami, those efforts seem to have paid off.

The halt of the Miami-Dade County hand count, where 10,750 ballots remain uncounted -- more than enough to flip the outcome of the Florida election or further buttress George W. Bush's lead in the state -- dealt a devastating blow to Al Gore's presidential campaign. The vice president's attorneys are arguing that intimidation influenced the canvassing board's decision to stop the hand recount and that it should be resumed.

. . .

https://www.salon.com/2000/11/28/miami_8/