Legal Strategy with Dan Gutenkauf

Contact Dan Gutenkauf at: dGutenkauf@msn.com|

                       Transcript of Pat Buchanan's Press Conference on 10-30-00

                                     at  Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix

                                                 by Dan Gutenkauf      

     Pat was scheduled to give his press conference at the Phoenix Hyatt Regency at 10:00 a.m. He arrived at the hotel lobby about 15 minutes late to a double line of about 60-70 enthusiastic supporters who were holding Buchanan-Foster campaign signs and cheering. Pat and Shelley were obviously surprised and pleased by the warm reception. They made their way through the lobby, shaking hands, and listening to comments as they proceeded. I was near the end of the line, and after shaking hands with Pat, I gave him a copy of Relevance magazine's November1996 article "Pandora's Black Box" and the New Yorker magazine's November 7, 1988 article on computer voting. I also handed him a copy of my letter to the  Governor and Secretary of State of Arizona, demanding a manual count of the ballots under section B of Arizona Revised Statutes 16-621. I briefly explained the documents, and Pat handed them to one of his aides for later review.

     Pat then took the escalator up to the second floor to a mid-size conference room. I left the lobby to re-park my van in a garage before the meter expired. I was back at the conference room within 5-8 minutes. Pat was in the middle of answering a question from the press. 

      " ....and I think this is why Americans are not coming out to the polls in the numbers that they used to.  They don't think it makes a real difference, and they also believe that politicians tend to tell them one thing, and get elected and then go and do another. But I do think they believe that I'm someone who means what he says and says what he means."

     Pat then had one of his assistants load a video tape and he asked " How many of you think this one is too mean spirited?"

      The first commercial simulated an auction. "What will you give for Al Gore? Do I hear ten million dollars? Or forty-five? Ten(?) million dollars from Hollywood can stop George Bush. Bush and Gore for sale to the highest bidder. They'll work for special interest groups, but for           you, they'll do nothing."  Pat speaking :  " The two beltway parties are bought and paid for. We are not! This election day, help us build a third party that puts Americans first."  This commercial received  enthusiastic applause and whistles.

     After Pat answered some questions about illegal immigrants invading our borders and other issues, Arizona finance chairman Russ Wittenberg told Pat that Dan Gutenkauf  had a statement to make.

Dan:      "Yeah, Pat, I wanted to let you know that 4 years ago my brother Dennis and I went to monitor the vote count at the polls. We had a copy of the law and the attorney general's opinion that said we had a right to be there. We were threatened with arrest. And we filed a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Judges ignored our case law and our evidence. They dismissed the case. However, today we are going over to the Governor's office to present to her documentation, both from Relevance Magazine and from The New Yorker Magazine about how the computers can be manipulated seven different ways with the vote count and it's undetectable. And as legal researchers, we've studied the law.  I spoke at Citizens For a Fair Vote Count (conference) this August in Cincinnati. And the research that we've uncovered since coming back says that, by Arizona law, that if you can show that it's "impracticable", which means if it's "unwise or imprudent", to use the tabulating equipment to count the votes, that the officer in charge of elections shall direct that the count....that the ballots be counted manually, the same way as they do paper ballots. We are going, after this conference, to submit this notice and demand to the Governor, Secretary of State, County Director of Elections, County Board of Supervisors. And the people need to know that this is the law. And the law provides criminal and statutory penalties .....uh, criminal and civil penalties if they do not follow that law in section B." 

      Pat responded " More power to you! More power to you!" I passed forward a copy to Pat of the 10-15-00 Tribune newspaper article on the lawsuit that my brother Dennis and I filed for deprivation of our constitutional rights at the polls. Our lawsuit forced Maricopa County Elections to amend  their election worker training manual and cease the County policy of intimidating electors. I also gave Pat a 3-inch lime green button to wear that said "I Want an Honest Vote Count!" 

     Reform party member and activist Winston Palmer chimed in "It's a known fact here that Buchanan was way ahead here in Arizona in the '96 Primary. The computers went down and they came back up, Forbes has the lead. Did you know that?"

      Pat replied "I heard that they were holding the machines up for a while...was about one or two o'clock or something like that, when they brought 'em back, and they worked better after they brought 'em back!"  The audience responded with laughter.

       Pat continued "Exactly! I heard all about that and I know my friend Jim Condit out there in Cincinnati has done a great job on this! And I've been telling folks, the only thing I regret is we simply don't have the resources at headquarters or in our campaign. We're very slim and we travel with just the three of us, Shelley, me and two aides. And that's all we've got traveling around. And  the headquarters are overwhelmed right now, trying to run us and trying to run the ads and to try to keep people informed out in the provinces where we are. So we don't have the resources. So folks have got to do that, as you do it,  right here at the local level."

      The final comment and question came from a lady who complained about the media blackout on Pat, and she asked him if he knew where he actually stands in the polls.

Pat said " I've seen the national polls....that doesn't look good, but I don't know exactly how to believe those or what. We're just going to have to wait for the big poll on election day and hope we get an honest count."

 Several people in the audience shouted "We love you in Arizona, Pat."

 Pat responded "Thank you very much"  He exited the conference to catch a plane for another press stop with multiple interviews in Salt Lake City and then in Denver.

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