"On the morning of Nov. 13, Al Gore's media men decided that they had to take Katherine Harris down. After a long, hard-fought campaign in which they worked relentlessly to shape the media coverage of their candidate, Mark Fabiani, the deputy campaign manager, and Chris Lehane, the press secretary, had plunged into an entirely different kind of race. With George W. Bush leading by a few hundred votes, they were determined to discredit Florida's secretary of state, who had just set an impossibly tight deadline of 5 p.m. the next day for hand recounts of the disputed ballots.

Florida Supreme Court After responding so well to the Gore campaign's strategy of depicting Katherine Harris as a partisan Republican, Dan Rather and his CBS colleagues resisted portraying the Florida Supreme Court as being ideologically motivated, despite the fact that all of its seven members were Democrats. Below is the context of every mention Rather and his colleagues made of the Florida Supreme Court. Even though Republicans accused the state court of political favoritism, Rather decided only once to reveal the party affiliation of the Florida judges, a marked contrast to his regular labeling of the U.S. Supreme Court as Republican-dominated: "This is a CBS New Special report. Dan Rather at CBS News election headquarters in New York. Bulletin from Florida: The Florida state supreme court is reported to have rejected the state—secretary of state's request to have the court order a stop to the recount. The Florida state supreme court refuses to stop the recount of votes in certain Florida counties. We'll have more later, but this is an important bulletin." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 15, 2000. "Vote recounts by hand are now under way in disputed counties after the state supreme court cleared the way." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 15, 2000. "Dateline: Florida. Florida's state supreme court has ruled that there is no—I repeat, no legal reason why counties can't do hand recounts of their votes." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 16, 2000. "Full-court press in the Florida thriller. 'Round it goes in the courts. Where it stops, possibly the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's the latest. The Florida state supreme court rules disputed counties can go ahead with their hand counts and recounts of votes." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 16, 2000. "Tonight, Bush point man Jim Baker downplayed today's Florida Supreme Court decision allowing hand counts and recounts." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 16, 2000. "How swiftly things have moved today. Bush with a big win with the local Democratic judge who backed the Republican state secretary of state's determination to certify a vote tomorrow, and without any of the newly counted or recounted votes. [. . .] Then, as the day goes along, the state supreme court in Florida says, 'We're going to hear the'—on a sort of quick basis—I wouldn't say emergency basis, although that's what it amounted to—'We're going to hear the Gore campaign's appeal that we, the Supreme Court, should decide this matter.'" —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000. Note: Rather correctly pointed out the party affiliation of Harris and circuit judge Terry Lewis, but not that of the Florida Supreme Court justices. "It was a pivotal showdown day in Florida's highest state court, and a ruling expected as soon as tomorrow could determine whether George Bush or Al Gore wins Florida, and thus the presidency. Here's the latest. Lawyers for Bush and Gore were peppered with dozens of questions by the justices of the Florida state supreme court." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 20, 2000. "The Florida state supreme court has reversed the lower court order and the dictum, if you will, of the Florida state secretary of state. This court says the right of the people to cast their vote is paramount and, therefore, hand counts are to be tallied into the final official Florida count insofar as hand counts are complete by 5 p.m. November 26, which is Sunday." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 21, 2000. "For those of you who may just joining us, the Florida state supreme court, the highest court in the state of Florida, has spoken. It overrides the decision of the secretary of state and a lower court judge and says that hand recounting must be counted in the final tally, whatever hand recounting can be done by 5 p.m. November 26th, this coming Sunday." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 21, 2000. Bush and Gore attorneys pled their cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush's appeal of the Florida Supreme Court's first recount ruling: "At issue: Bush's contention that the Florida state supreme court violated the U.S. Constitution when it extended the deadline for Florida counties to report their presidential vote counts." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 1, 2000. "Professor [Jonathan Turley], there are people who will consider this question out of line, but since the question was raised in Florida about the secretary of state being not just a Republican, but an active backer of George Bush and not recusing herself, and there were those who raised questions about the state supreme court having mostly, if not entirely Democrats on the state supreme court. On this court, you have a majority of justices appointed by Republican presidents, including Governor Bush's father, who made appointments to the court, why, if we are not—if we are to believe—why would we believe that politics would not enter into these justices' decisions whatsoever?" —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 1, 2000. Note: This was the only time Dan Rather ever mentioned the Florida Supreme Court was dominated by Democratic justices. The Florida supreme court overturned circuit court judge N. Sanders Sauls's ruling denying Gore's contest of Florida's certified vote totals, saying that all counties must attempt to count ballots which did not previously register a vote for president: "Vice President Gore's hopes remain alive, at least for the time being. This decision, 4-to-3, by the Florida state supreme court breathes new life into Vice President Al Gore's chances. Doesn't mean he's gonna win the election. Does mean that his hopes remain alive." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "[T]his is a banner headline of the evening and will be tomorrow: Florida state supreme court reverses a lower Florida court and rules in favor of Al Gore. This opens up many possibilities and, very quickly now, Jonathan Turley, the Bush people will appeal this to the United States Supreme Court you think fairly quickly. The Florida state Legislature, which is already in session and has—it's dominated by Republicans, has said it's going to select its own state of electors to ensure the presidency for Bush." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "Now because—the Florida Supreme Court says because time is of the essence, the recount will commence immediately. That was according to the court, as passed along by the spokesman, Craig Waters. Now George Bush was officially certified the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes by the state's Republican secretary of state." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "The Florida state supreme court has ruled 4-to-3—couldn't be any closer decision—in favor of Vice President Al Gore's position as was argued by David Boies, his lead attorney, that the lower Florida court, in a decision by a Democratic judge who'd been appointed by a Republican and, by the way, a judge who'd had trouble previously with the Florida—with the Florida Supreme Court. —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "Now George Bush was officially certified the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes by the state's Republican secretary of state. Al Gore went into court, stopped protesting and started officially and legally contesting that. The—a lower court ruled for George Bush. Now the s—Florida state supreme court has reversed that and says the lower court was wrong and has ruled for Al Gore." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "The court also ordered several hundred votes added to Gore's tally—these are votes taken away earlier, by Gore's contention. This knocks Bush's Florida margin down now to 154. Bush will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a majority of Republican-appointed justices." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "Bush is asking the high court to overturn Friday's decision by the Florida state supreme court ordering a hand count of thousands of ballots, ballots Gore says have never been counted; Bush says they've been counted two, three, maybe four times." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 11, 2000. U.S. Supreme Court While Rather only once revealed the party affiliations of the judges on the Florida Supreme Court, he routinely chose to mention that Republicans appointed most justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: "Now the Supreme Court, which is made up of seven justices appointed by Republican presidents, including a couple appointed by Governor George Bush's father, George Bush, the elder, who was president, has ruled in favor of Bush. The vote on the Supreme Court was unanimous." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 4, 2000. Dan Rather discussed Bush's options after losing their contest case in the Florida supreme court: "[O]n the political option, he has—his brother is the governor of Florida. The Florida state Legislature is not just a majority. It dominated by Republicans. The U.S. Supreme Court has seven of nine justices appointed by Republican presidents. And the U.S. House of Representatives, while it's close, is controlled by the Republicans." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "Bush will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has a majority of Republican-appointed justices." —Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000. "Since the U.S. Supreme Court has seven of nine justices appointed by Republican presidents, why should one not believe that they're going to overturn this Florida state supreme court decision today and pretty quickly?" —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 8, 2000. "The Supreme Court, of course, is made up of nine justices. Seven of these justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Two appointed by President Reagan—that would be Justice O'Connor and Justice Kennedy—are considered possible swing votes, possible swing votes." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 11, 2000. "What about the justices themselves? There were headlines over the weekend and this morning indicating, well, depending on what they decide, they could taint the next president and—and also taint the court. Are justices affected by that kind of reaction to their sudden move on Saturday to shut the counting down?" —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 11, 2000. "Florida's heavily Republican state Legislature is now holding off final action on trying to ensure Florida's electors go for Bush, waiting to see if the high court, in effect, does so itself." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 11, 2000. "This comes 24 hours after a sharply split and, some say, politically and ideologically motivated U.S. Supreme Court ended Vice President Gore's contest of the Florida election and, in effect, handed the presidency to Bush." —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 13, 2000. The Florida Supreme Court declared today that lawmakers, not judges, should be responsible for setting standards for hand counting ballots in disputed elections. This came as a response to the United States Supreme Court, which cut off hand counting in Florida partly, it said, because the counters were given no clear ground rules. That ruling by the predominantly Republican US Supreme Court, in effect, made George Bush the president-elect, but it does not necessarily mean he got the most votes in Florida. —Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, December 22, 2000.

"'What do we know about her?' Gore asked.
"'She's very partisan,' Fabiani said.
"'Does the press know that?' the vice president wondered. [. . .]
"Lehane believed they could not wait four or five days for journalists to dig into her background as the co-chairman of Bush's Florida campaign. They started e-mailing negative material to the press."

In contrast, Rather accepted the Florida Supreme Court's rulings mentioning only once that it was unanimously Democratic. But when it appeared the U.S. Supreme Court would become involved in the matter, Rather wondered whether Republican-appointed justices could put aside their political views. After the court issued its final ruling, effectively ending Gore's hopes for another recount, Rather continued to point out what he perceived to be the court's ideological motivations. (For more on Rather's subjective use of labeling, see Rather's Selective Labeling.)

Before November 13th
Before the 13th, Katherine Harris was little known (Rather and his colleagues even thought she was a male Democrat at one point). Both Democrats and CBS News spoke of Harris as merely a public official doing her assigned duties.

"Now the secretary of state—keep in mind, I believe the secretary of state is a Democrat. The governor, Jeb Bush, is a Republican. The secretary of state's Web site now says that there are 1,210 votes that separate Bush and Gore in Florida. This is the figure that Don Evans, the head of the Bush campaign, apparently was referring to when he said, 'Well, we have about a 1,200 vote lead in Florida.'"
—Dan Rather during Election Night coverage November 8, 2000.

"Now according to the secretary of state, if you want to jot this down, up on his Web site, is Bush 2,904,198, Gore 2,902,988. And—and this is the whole—whole game."
—Dan Rather during Election Night coverage November 8, 2000.

"If you're saying, 'Well, that Florida secretary of State, is she Republican, Democrat or mugwump?' It turns out she's a Republican."
—Dan Rather during Election Night coverage November 8, 2000.

"There's supposed to be a meeting at 9:00—that'd be about four hours from now—Eastern time in Florida in which the secretary of state, the governor and the officials there will decide whether to go through a so-called, quote, "full recount.'"
—Dan Rather during Election Night coverage November 8, 2000.

"Late this afternoon, Florida's secretary of state spoke with reporters. Her work is far from over."
—Byron Pitts on the CBS Evening News, November 9, 2000.

"We're expecting to hear the recount results from Florida's secretary of state by the end of business today here in the East."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 9, 2000.

RATHER: Byron, tomorrow is a holiday in Florida, Veterans Day. Will they or will they not be counting ballots—recounting them tomorrow?
PITTS: Well, the secretary of state talked about that. She said because of the circumstances, the election workers will come in. They will work tomorrow. Believe it or not, they want to get this finished as quickly as possible. Dan.
—Dan Rather and Byron Pitts on 48 Hours, November 9, 2000.

"Bill, here at the Gore campaign, they are very surprised that there wasn't a more complete recount from the Florida secretary of state and have gone so far as to suggest that perhaps that's indicative of a problem with the process. But even if it were complete, it would change nothing here in Nashville. The Gore campaign is pinning its hopes for the presidency on that hand count of disputed ballots scheduled to begin this weekend. They believe that if the vice president can win back even a handful of those votes, Florida and the White House will be his."
—John Roberts on 48 Hours, November 9, 2000.

"[T]he whole presidential race is in a kind of historical limbo. We're expecting to hear the recount results from Florida's secretary of state by the end of business today here in the East.
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 9, 2000.

RATHER: The heart of the action in all this isn't Washington or Austin or even Palm Beach. It's Tallahassee, the Florida capital, where today there were dueling news conferences, anger in the streets and even state workers putting a holiday on hold. CBS's Byron Pitts is there. Byron.
BYRON PITTS: Dan, I spoke to a source close to Florida's secretary of state. He says the process has really gotten nasty because of all the partisan bickering. 'This job was never easy,' he says, 'now it's almost impossible.'
—Dan Rather and Byron Pitts on the CBS Evening News, November 10, 2000.

RATHER: If anyone out there really wants to see a US presidential election end up in court, they're smart enough not to actually say so, at least not publicly so far. But with lawyers and lawsuits popping up like toadstools after a thunderstorm, it's a propose—prospect that can't be ignored. CBS's Jim Axelrod is covering that part of the story in West Palm Beach. [. . .]
AXELROD: Well, there is at least one person in Florida who sees this all very clearly: the secretary of state who oversees elections here and who says the ballot conforms with the law in every respect. Of course, Dan, she's a Republican.
—Dan Rather and Jim Axelrod on the CBS Evening News, November 10, 2000.

November 13th
On the 13th, the Gore campaign mounted its media campaign against Katherine Harris. Dan Rather and his CBS colleagues responded immediately and began depicting Harris as partisan from then on. Rather also seemed to think Harris was acting on orders from George W. Bush's brother, Florida governor Jeb Bush.

"Now earlier in the day there were a number of other developments, not the least of which is that the Florida Republican secretary of state said that all of the recounting had to be finished and be certified by 5:00 tomorrow under penalty of a possible fine. The Democrats shot back right away that they saw this as evidence—and I quote them now—'that Jeb Bush is using his influence as Florida governor now to help his brother.' The Gore campaign were—was angry at the statement of the Florida secretary of state. Warren Christopher called it, quote, 'arbitrary and unreasonable.'"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"And there's also this: Florida's Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris, refused to extend tomorrow's flat-out 5 p.m. deadline for all of Florida's 67 counties to submit their voting results. Gore's aids call this decision, quote, "arbitrary and unreasonable" because the recounts by hand that the Gore campaign requested will not be completed by that deadline and Harris may not accept them."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.
Note: What did Harris or the Bush campaign say about Harris's decision?

"The Bush forces went into federal court trying to stop the hand count. And at the same time, the Republican secretary of state, working under the—Governor George Bush's brother, Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida, Republican secretary of state, trying to say anything past 5:00 tomorrow is illegal. That's her judgment."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"But certainly staffers of the Gore campaign wasted no adjectives in describing the secretary of state this morning, Dan."
—John Roberts during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"Bill Whitaker is with the Bush campaign in Austin. Bill, is this 5:00 deadline, which has been put in place by the Republican secretary of state—secretary of state in Florida—5:00 deadline, end of all the hand counting tomorrow, is that or is it not the Bushes last line of defense to keep the hand count from proceeding?"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"Let's go to Byron Pitts in Tallahassee, Florida. Byron, any indication that the hand count—the recount is actually going to cease and desist tomorrow at 5:00, as the secretary of state of Florida said today that she was commanding?"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"[A] state judge upheld the deadline set by Florida's Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

"[A]s of this Friday, the last of the overseas absentee votes come in and the Republican secretary of state of Florida said today that she is holding to a 5 p.m. this coming Saturday deadline for certification of a winner in Florida. So much has happened today."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 13, 2000.

RATHER: CBS News has a deep team of experienced correspondents deployed to keep you on top of this story wherever it's breaking. We begin with Byron Pitts in Tallahassee and what could be a decisive state court battle over the deadline for reporting and certifying votes. Byron.
PITTS: Well, Dan, a judge here in Tallahassee could make his ruling at any moment. It is now up to him if tomorrow's deadline still stands. In court, lawyers for the Bush and Gore campaigns argued long and hard over Tuesday's deadline. Meantime, in his harshest criticism to date, former secretary of state Warren Christopher, Gore's lead man in Florida, took dead aim at Florida's secretary of state, Katherine Harris.
WARREN CHRISTOPHER (Gore campaign adviser): Her plan, I'm afraid, has the look of an effort to produce a particular result in the election rather than to ensure that the voice of all the citizens of the state will be heard.
PITTS: Harris, a GOP loyalist, was a delegate for Bush at this year's Republican National Convention. In a written statement, she made it clear she will not accept or certify any statewide ballots after 5 p.m. tomorrow. 'There are no exceptions,' she said, 'provided in the law.' Under that scenario, the counties still recounting votes by hand may not finish in time. So in places like Palm Beach County, with more than 400,000 ballots to count, voters could lose their say in who will be the next president of the United States.
—Dan Rather and Byron Pitts on the CBS Evening News, November 13, 2000.

After November 13th

"It is 5 p.m. in the East, one of the deadline hours in Florida. This is the hour all vote results and recounts are due in the Florida secretary of state's office. Here's the latest. With George Bush maintaining a slim 400, possibly as low as 300 vote lead over Al Gore, a state judge upheld the deadline set by Florida's Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 14, 2000.

Katherine Harris had just announced the first certified vote totals for Florida and set a deadline for counties petitioning for extended time for hand recounts of 2 p.m. the next day:
"And underscoring, as has been the case before, but as a point of information, the secretary of state is a Republican and was an active worker for George Bush in the George Bush campaign. She did not recuse herself from her official position and, therefore, she has a lot to say and much control over this present situation.
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 14, 2000.

Bush Florida recount effort leader James Baker held a press conference calling on the Gore campaign to accept the second totals once they were certified :
"What Jim Baker proposes is—his deal is basically accept the Florida secretary of state's ruling—this is the Bush supporter, Republican secretary of state—who has said everything's got to be in by 5:00 Eastern time."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 14, 2000.

"As you know, the governor, Jeb Bush is a Republican and the brother of the candidate. Ms. Harris, the secretary of state, a close friend of—of the Bushes, somebody who campaigned for George Bush, and she's helping that strategy along. As—she's an elected official and was given the power yesterday by a state judge, who's a Democrat, for some of what she's doing, which is by 2 p.m. today she says, 'Listen, anybody who wants to continue hand recounts has to convince me that it's a worthy thing to do.'"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 15, 2000.

Gore spokesman Warren Christopher held a press conference criticizing Katherine Harris:
Warren Christopher—those of you who haven't been with us through all of this—saying again that he—'We remain disappointed in the Florida secretary of state.' It's their contention that she's operating in a prejudicial and biased way, biased toward George Bush. They say they suspect that the secretary of state's filing is an attempt to, quote, 'delay the will of the people.'"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 15, 2000.

"It's 2 p.m. in the East—the official deadline set by Florida's Republican secretary of state, Katherine Harris, for counties to convince her, if they can, that vote recounts by hand are necessary."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 15, 2000.

PITTS: Secretary of State Katherine Harris, now a GOP star in waiting. Today she received more flowers from across the country, praising her efforts to end the recount and proclaim George W. Bush the winner. A Bush delegate at the Republican National Convention, she was a child of privilege, born to one of the wealthiest families in Florida. Tonight the presidency of the United States may not just come down to one state or one county, but one woman and how she handles the ballot recount in Florida. Longtime Florida political reporter Bill Cotterell says in the end she must put her partisan politics aside.
BILL COTTERELL (Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper): I'm sure that a lot of Republicans want her to tilt the table their way out of loyalty to her party. She's acutely aware that any appearance of doing that would be fatal to not only her own reputation—and it wouldn't stand up in court very long if she...
PITTS: As for the county's plea for more time, secretary of state Harris could make her decision as early as tomorrow. Dan.
—Byron Pitts on the CBS Evening News, November 15, 2000.

"Here's the latest. Florida's Republican secretary of state Katherine Harris has requested the Florida state supreme court to stop counties from making any more hand counts—any more hand recounts of votes."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 15, 2000.

"The central fact of this story remains that by the secretary of state, working closely with the Republican governor, Jeb Bush, who is, in turn, the brother of Texas governor and presidential candidate George Bush—that, by they're count, George Bush leads by 300 votes."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"They [the Bush campaign] have been—they have been—their strategy all along has been to stop that hand count in Florida, at least not to get it certified. And Katherine Harris has been their ally in this all along. I mean, maybe not their—their witting ally, but she's been working with them in—and in tandem with this."
—Bill Whitaker during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"A Democratic judge in Florida has upheld the Republican secretary of state, working very closely with the governor, Jeb Bush, Governor George Bush's brother, to make it happen for George Bush, and the Democratic judge today gave them a big victory."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"[T]his Democratic judge in Florida has said the Republican secretary of state, working very closely with Governor George Bush's brother, the governor of—of Florida, he says, 'Look, she can do it.' If she chooses to ignore these ballots as she—the counts and recounts going on, as she has said she's determined to do, then, under the law, she can do it.
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"The Bush camp has won a major victory this morning in a Florida state court when a judge, a Democratic judge, ruled that Florida's Republican secretary of state can, as she has said she's determined to do, that she can under the law, ignore the results of any more ballot counts."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"[A]t a pivotal moment this morning, within the last hour, a Florida Democratic state judge, a local judge, ruled that the Republican secretary of state was well within her right, under the law and had the power to say that she wasn't going to accept any more counts or recounts of votes."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

How swiftly things have moved today. Bush with a big win with the local Democratic judge who backed the Republican state secretary of state's determination to certify a vote tomorrow, and without any of the newly counted or recounted votes. He backed that. Big victory for Bush. Bush team celebrates. Then, as the day goes along, the state supreme court in Florida says, 'We're going to hear the'—on a sort of quick basis—I wouldn't say emergency basis, although that's what it amounted to—'We're going to hear the Gore campaign's appeal that we, the Supreme Court, should decide this matter.'"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

After the machine recount, Katherine Harris certified the vote totals. During the certification ceremony, Rather questioned Harris's ability to do finalize vote totals. Rather did so again when Harris certified the results following the second recount:
"What's happening here is that the certification, as the Florida secretary of state sees it and de—decrees it, is being signed. This, obviously, is going to take a few minutes, at least a few moments. And after this, it will be, in at least the opinion of the secretary of state, that the results will be final."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

"[T]he Florida secretary of state has just said that in her opinion—and she thinks she has the legal right to do it and the leader—legal duty and obligation to do it—she has certified George Bush as the winner of Florida's Electoral College votes."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 17, 2000.

After the Florida Supreme Court moved the deadline for all votes to be certified to November 26, Katherine Harris and the Florida Elections Board decided to certify the election results after both recounts:
"She has said that she would be out in a very short time here now, and what's expected of her is that she will certify, as she sees it, who gets Florida's 25 electoral votes."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 26, 2000.

"Nineteen days after the presidential election, Florida's Republican secretary of state is about to announce the winner as she sees it and she decrees it of the state's potentially decisive 25 electoral votes."
—Dan Rather on 60 Minutes, November 26, 2000.

"The official certification was made a short time ago by the Florida secretary of state, Republican Katherine Harris."
—Dan Rather on 60 Minutes, November 26, 2000.

"Just a couple of hours ago, Florida's Republican secretary of state Katherine Harris officially—what she said—certified Bush as the winner of Florida's presidential vote, of its 25 electoral votes and, therefore, the presidency. Harris put what she called the final victory margin at 537 votes for Bush over Gore."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, November 26, 2000.

"Let me come to a point that I have heard some people express, by no means a majority of people I've talked to. Some say, 'Listen, Danny, is the'—quote, 'Is the fix in in Florida?' You've got a Republican governor, you've got a—not just a majority but a dominant Republican state Legislature and a Republican secretary of state, and under those circumstances, so the quote goes, 'there's no way Al Gore can win this.'"
—Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, November 28, 2000.

"Now George Bush was officially certified the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes by the state's Republican secretary of state."
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000.

"On the vote count, with this Florida state supreme court decision as of to—today, reinstating some votes that had been added to Al Gore's total, but were taken off when the Florida Republican secretary of state gave the official certification…"
—Dan Rather during a CBS News Special Report, December 8, 2000.

After the post-election controversy was over, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights began hearing from voters complaining of civil rights violations during the voting:
RATHER: A federal hearing on voting irregularities in the presidential election in Florida heard today from the woman who certified the state and in effect, sealed the election for her candidate, George Bush. CBS's Bobbi Harley was there as Katherine Harris took the stand.
HARLEY: The woman Democrats accused of delivering the presidency to George W. Bush testified in the first federal investigation of Florida's election fiasco.
MAN: What standards do you provide? And let's start with the standards to be used in the recount.
HARRIS: I'm going to let Mr. Roberts handle this legal question.
HARLEY: Secretary of State Katherine Harris appeared to be someone either removed from or ignorant of polling procedures, deferring again and again to her subordinate.
CRUZ REYNOSO (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights): Is that is that your testimony?
MR. ROBERTS: That is what the statute provides.
REYNOSO: Wow. This, this must be a unique state and a unique system of government, I'm unpersuaded by your testimony I must tell you, but, uh.
HARLEY: Harris faced an hour of intense questioning from the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
MARY BERRY (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights): I thought Katherine Harris's description of her role was laughable. Laughable. Laughable. Hah hah hah.
HARLEY: The panel is investigating hundreds of complaints most made by African-Americans of downright discrimination at polling places. Rev. Willie Whiting, Jr. says he was mistakenly identified as a convicted felon by election officials and dropped from the voter rolls.
WHITING: I was slingshotted [sic] into slavery. That is how I felt.
HARLEY: While he and the two others who testified eventually did get to vote anyway, they claim they are victims of an institutional bias, its roots in past and recent state politics.
(Footage of protesters shouting)
HARLEY: Last year Tallahassee saw its biggest protest ever after Gov. Jeb Bush eliminated affirmative action policies. African-Americans promised a payback at the polls: they delivered in record numbers. But on Election Day, thousands of their votes didn't count.
LANCE DEHAVEN-SMITH (Florida Institute of Government): All of this is a highly charged and to some extent linked together and linked around the issue of race and the legitimacy of the outcome of this election. I don't think this is going to go away.
HARLEY: The commission is also looking into possible voting irregularities in other states, but found nothing so far that even compares to what they've seen here in Florida. Dan.
RATHER: Bobbi Harley in Tallahassee.
—Dan Rather and Bobbi Harley on the CBS Evening News, January 12, 2001.
Note: The report featured five sources (aside from her complaint about votes not counting) denigrating Harris's job performance and zero from her supporters.

"On CBS, Dan Rather reported the Harris certification in a number of ways. To the predictable outrage of conservatives, he said that Harris called Florida 'as she sees it and decrees it,' and also used the phrase 'the believed certification.' None of this was lost on Brit Hume. A few nights later, in his wrap-up segment, Hume offered a spliced collection of Rather's phrasings. 'In her mind . . . sees it and decrees it.' At the end of the clip, Hume shook his head, sarcastically intoned 'Captain Dan, the newsman' and signed off, well amused.

"'The fact is, whether you thought Katherine Harris was a scoundrel or acting in a legitimate way,' Hume says, in a characteristically bland outburst, 'the certification was a ministerial act, not a decree. Bias leaked over to the point where the story wasn't true. You'd think that with such a prominent journalist, so utterly misrepresenting a story, some rebuke would be in order.'

"I presented Rather with Hume's remarks on a rainy Wednesday last month. He'd seen the Hume clip and, courtly man that he is, did what he always does. In a breezy discussion about Fox, he went out of his way to include Hume's name prominently in a list of people at FNC for whom his respect 'knows no bounds.'

"Still, the Hume accusation seemed to pain Rather. He found all of this unseemly. 'I respect Brit very much,' he repeated, 'but that's hogwash. Any reporter who didn't bring a strong sense of skepticism about the inherent fairness of players on both sides of the fierce dogfight in Florida was not doing his job.'"
--Marshall Sella writing in New York Times Magazine, June 24, 2001.

"A newspaper-sponsored study out today suggests that if Al Gore got the hand count of Miami, Florida votes he wanted, he still might have lost the election to George Bush. What are called independent accountants reviewed ballots in Miami and found a net gain for Gore of 49 votes. Even adding those votes to Gore gains in three other disputed counties, Gore, they say, would have lost Florida by about 140 votes."
--Dan Rather on the CBS Evening News, February 26, 2001. print_file('footer'); ?>