One of the most painful and frustrating sub-plots in
the fateful debacle of Fraudida 2000 was the
questionable behavior of several key "Democratic"
officials in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Fortunately,
for all of us, Al Gore has decided to help Fraudida
clean its house...More will be revealed as the
campaign advances..."Truth shall rise again!"
Beth Reinhard, Miami Herald: Former Vice President Al
Gore, who lost the 2000 presidential election by 537
votes in Florida, on Saturday called Miami-Dade County
Mayor Alex Penelas ``the single most treacherous and
dishonest person I dealt with during the campaign
anywhere in America.''
Gore, who rarely gives interviews, added in his
statement: ``As the campaign moves forward and when
appropriate, I will have more to say about this.''
Thwart the Theft of a Second Presidential Election,
Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8850672.htm
Posted on Sun, Jun. 06, 2004
Gore says Penelas betrayed Democrats: Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Goredelivered a harsh message to Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, three months before he faces a U.S. Senate primary.
BY BETH REINHARD
breinhard@herald.com
Former Vice President Al Gore, who lost the 2000
presidential election by 537 votes in Florida, on
Saturday called Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas
``the single most treacherous and dishonest person I
dealt with during the campaign anywhere in America.''
The statement was e-mailed by a Gore spokesman in
response to a Herald inquiry about Penelas's role in
the 2000 campaign. Gore supporters say the vice
president had counted on Penelas for a late boost in
the Hispanic community, and the mayor did not come
through.
The harsh remarks come just three months before
Penelas faces a Democratic primary election for the
U.S. Senate. Gore's reproach could seriously damage
the mayor's bid to succeed Sen. Bob Graham, since
party loyalists tend to dominate turnout in a primary.
In a telephone interview Saturday evening, Penelas
defended himself, saying he was ``by Gore's side from
the very beginning.''
''Al Gore has a right to be upset about the election,
but had he won his home state of Tennessee or West
Virginia, we wouldn't be here,'' Penelas said. ``He
also owes an explanation as to why he waited until the
middle of October to engage in Florida.''
He said Gore has declined to return his phone calls to
discuss the 2000 campaign.
The mayor has been defending his loyalty to Gore for a
full year in response to attacks from his Democratic
rival, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch. The congressman went
so far as to boycott last June's Florida Democratic
Party dinner in his hometown of Hollywood because
Penelas was receiving an award.
Then, and at recent forums, Penelas has described
himself as a strong Gore supporter. But the vice
president's statement says: ``Not all who claim to
have been supportive and loyal truly were.''
Gore, who rarely gives interviews, added in his
statement: ``As the campaign moves forward and when
appropriate, I will have more to say about this.''
He went out of his way to praise Deutsch, who has
served in Congress since 1992, saying in the
statement, ``Peter Deutsch is a good and dear friend
who has been a stand-up leader for our party in
difficult times such as the 2000 election recount in
Florida.''
Penelas did help raise hundreds of thousands of
dollars for Al Gore when he ran with Bill Clinton in
1996 and when he headed the ticket in 2000.
During one fundraising trip to Miami, Gore and Penelas
toasted to victory with Cuban cafecitos. At the
reception, Penelas gushed to the crowd, ``We're so
looking forward to calling you President Gore.''
The mayor also touted Gore on Spanish-language radio,
a main source of political news for Hispanic voters.
There were rumors that he might become a running mate.
ELIAN FALLOUT
But relations between the two men frayed after
5-year-old Elián González was rescued at sea on
Thanksgiving Day, 1999. Many from Penelas's political
base, the heavily Republican, Cuban-American
community, took to the streets in rage when federal
agents seized Elián at gunpoint from his relatives'
home and sent him back to his father in Cuba.
Though President Clinton and Attorney General Janet
Reno were the most visible players during the crisis,
many Cuban exiles lumped Gore with the federal
government that returned the boy to an oppressive
regime.
Penelas kept his distance, too. Instead of joining
Gore when he clinched the Democratic nomination in
March in Tallahassee, Penelas attended his own
fundraisers there. In August, he skipped the
Democratic National Convention to focus on his eight
re-election opponents.
NOTABLE ABSENCE
On Oct. 18, one day after his swearing in, Penelas was
a no-show at a Hispanic get-out-the-vote rally in
Hialeah. Later that day, he and his wife headed to
Spain on a trip that was part vacation, part trade
mission. He did not return until Oct. 30, one week
before the election.
Mitchell Berger, a leading Gore fundraiser, said he
and others helped raise out-of-state money for Penelas
so he could avoid a runoff and spend more time
rallying Hispanic voters for the vice president.
''Alex Penelas did not help Al Gore during the most
crucial time,'' said Berger, who is supporting
Deutsch.
Deutsch, in contrast, was a constant presence at the
Broward County recount. He called for a federal
investigation of rowdy protests at the Miami-Dade
recount before it shut down. He hosted fundraisers for
Gore and donated $250,000 from his congressional
account, one of the largest contributions of its kind
to a national campaign.
Both supporters and critics of Deutsch thought his
assaults on Penelas might backfire. Gore's statement
gives Deutsch more ammunition than he could hope for.
''I would like to thank the vice president for his
gracious show of support and for saying what needed to
be said,'' Deutsch said through spokesman Roy Teicher.
Former Florida Education Commissioner Betty Castor and
Hollywood businessman Bernard Klein will also be on
the primary ballot.
FIRST PARTY RACE
Although Penelas has been in politics for 17 years,
this is the first time he has run as a Democrat. All
of his past campaigns -- for Hialeah City Council, the
Miami-Dade County Commission and Miami-Dade mayor --
have been nonpartisan.
Still, he has been one of the party's best
fundraisers. He has also embraced core Democratic
values, crusading for gun control, standing up for gay
rights and spearheading a constitutional amendment to
require public pre-kindergarten.
''If some people want to measure my Democratic
credentials by the 2000 election, that's fine,''
Penelas said. ``I've been a loyal and dedicated
Democrat for a long time.''
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