Taft to give response to Clinton radio talk
12/2/2000COLUMBUS - For the second time in four months, Governor Taft will hit the nation's airwaves to rebut President Clinton.
In his weekly radio address today, the President will talk about the ongoing controversy over the presidential race. Mr. Taft will deliver the Republican response, at the invitation of Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore.
“He's a high-profile governor talking about a historic issue,” said Kirsten Fedewa, spokesman for the Republican Governors' Association.
Mr. Taft, a former Ohio secretary of state, will discuss his role in a 1994 recount in Ohio that involved the question of how to count “bulging” or “indented” chads - an issue in the Florida outcome.
In 1994 - when the boards of elections in Huron and Lorain counties did a manual recount in a state House of Representatives race - Mr. Taft ruled that a chad can be counted only if it has one or two corners attached to the paper.
“A chad attached by three or all four corners does not demonstrate the voters' intent to vote. `Bulging' or `indented' chads fall into the latter category since the chad is still attached by all four corners,” Mr. Taft said.
In a friend of the court brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, backers of George W. Bush cited Mr. Taft's decision to buttress their arguments.
Mr. Taft last delivered the GOP response to President's weekly radio address on Sept. 2.
Mr. Taft's speech will air at 11:06 a.m. on the ABC, CBS, and Associated Press networks; National Public Radio, and C-SPAN. Mr. Clinton's weekly talk airs at 10:06 a.m.