And if some Senators had agreed to challenge the certification, they still would have lost the vote. (One irony of the whole election in 2000 is that if the Supreme Court had never intervened, Bush still would have been certified as President, since given disputed ballots in Florida, the House of Representatives would have voted on which to accept and who won.)
However, the Senate Dems did negotiate strong power-sharing agreements in exchange for dropping the certification fight. Whether it was the right strategy or not can be disputed, but it was a quite reasonable strategy that blunted Bush's power for a number of months until Jeffords defected and the GOP lost control of the chamber.
See:
December 5, 2000, DEMOCRATS WANT EQUAL POWER IN SENATE ; 50-50DEADLOCK LOOMS IN NEW SESSION JIM ABRAMS, The Associated Press
With an apparent 50-50 split, Senate Democrats want to be treated as equal partners when the next Congress convenes. But Republicans say that while they'll make 1 concessions in committee assignments, only one party can be in power and its going to be them.
Both sides agree that how they resolve some key issues, choosing committee chairmen, allotting committee seats and funds, and setting the legislative agenda, will be indicative of how well the Senate adapts to its new parity.
Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, D-N.J., described the proposed power-sharing as a"forced bipartisanship."
"People haven't had the good judgment to be bipartisan in the past,"he added.
If George W. Bush becomes the next president, sending Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman back to the Senate, the division in the Senate would be 50-50. (Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell's victory over GOP incumbent Slade Gorton, though not yet final, is not being challenged and awaits only formal certification.). Thought the Senate would be evenly divided, new Vice President Dick Cheney, as president of the Senate, would keep Republicans in nominal control with his tie-breaking vote.
But Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota says he'll press Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., for equal representation and funding on committees and a say in setting the agenda. He says the idea of committee co-chairs is also on the table.
Lott and Daschle are expected to begin talks this week on the division of power, with hopes of reaching a deal well before the new Congress convenes Jan. 3, when the Senate must vote on new committee assignments. If no deal is reached, Democrats could easily filibuster that vote, throwing the Senate into early disarray.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said that while power-sharing would be unique to the Senate, he has looked at some 35 examples in state legislatures and believes that either co-chairmanships or rotating chairmen should be considered.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., added that the Senate did successfully experiment with co-chairs when it created a special committee to monitor the Y2K computer issue last year and that the Senate ethics committee has always been equally divided between the parties.
Republicans, who held a 54-46 majority going into the last election, appeared resigned to making concessions that stop short of sharing 1 chairmanships.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Commerce Committee, has already talked to the ranking Democrat, Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, on evenly splitting the committee budget, said Commerce staff director Mark Buse.
But McCain still believes that the chairmen must remain Republicans, Buse said.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he had no objection to equal numbers as long as there was a mechanism by which the chairman could break ties."There has to be at least a vote for the majority,"he said.
"I think the chairman simply has to have a one-vote margin,"said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
Sen. Larry Craig, a member of the GOP Senate leadership, said co-chairs would make the Senate inoperable. He said that as Lott and Daschle prepare to sit down to work out the issue,"Democrats are out fishing very publicly, hoping someone will bite their hook" on the power-sharing issue.
Dorgan said it won't be easy for Lott to satisfy Democrats while keeping his GOP colleagues happy."He has the title of majority leader without the majority."
The Bulletin's Frontrunner January 16, 2001 January 16, 2001 HEADLINE: Daschle's Influence Unlikely To Wane Under Bush. BODY: The Sioux Falls Argus Leader (1/14, Kranz) reported the "access to federal funding South Dakota enjoyed under President Clinton probably won't vanish when he leaves office." It is "difficult not to see that the working relationship between Clinton and Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle has helped the state," and though Daschle's "ties aren't nearly as close to President-elect George W. Bush, his effectiveness is not likely to diminish." The state will "keep its coveted position because Daschle was able to win major concessions he insisted on in a power- sharing deal with Republicans in this 50-50 Senate." Under the deal, "it will be difficult for Bush to control the agenda because one concession allows Democrats to offer amendments, an ace to Daschle's already powerful hand."
Jackson Angry With Daschle For Not Supporting Challenge To Bush Certification. In his Chicago Sun-Times column (1/14), Robert Novak said Jesse Jackson "was furious with Senate Democratic leader Thomas Daschle for not supporting efforts by the Congressional Black Caucus to challenge the certification of George W. Bush as winner of the electoral vote." Daschle " did not attend the joint session but advised Democratic senators not to cooperate. They did not."