The Political Chase

Recount on HBO

A very late reminder. Recount is premiering tonight on HBO at 9:00 PM ET. It is an HBO original about the 2000 presidential election of King George II and the drama surrounding the Florida counting of votes.

Most cable companies have channels for East and West coast broadcasts of HBO, so if you missed the first one, you can probably catch the second one. And if you’ve got Tivo, it won’t really matter at all, will it?

It’s supposed to be quite good, although I’ve heard that Al Gore wasn’t pleased with certain aspects of the production. Here’s part of the synopsis from HBO. The main page of Recount is here.

From the trailers I’ve seen, Laura Dern does an outstanding job in her role as Katherine Harris.

Starring Kevin Spacey, Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Laura Dern, John Hurt, Denis Leary, Bruce McGill, and Tom Wilkinson, Recount brings viewers behind the scenes at the controversial Florida recount. This illuminating, hugely entertaining film pulls back the veil on the headlines to explore the human drama surrounding the most controversial presidential election in U.S. history.

Mixing news footage and verbatim dialogue into fictionalized re-creations, Recount examines the torturous process that culminated in the Supreme Court decision in Bush vs. Gore. The Republicans, led by charismatic Texan James Baker, seize the initiative as the case is tried in the judicial system and the court of public opinion. The Democrats play catch-up until Ron Klain, Gore’s former chief of staff, takes over and starts matching Baker’s political hardball with tough moves of his own. Mutual respect forms between the two as the fate of the presidency plays out among a colorful cast ranging from the impressive (appellate lawyer David Boies) to the maligned (Florida’s Secretary of State Katherine Harris).

Recount recreates many of the movers and shakers in the Florida fight. Among the Democrats are Ron Klain (Spacey), soldiering on despite being demoted as Gore’s Chief of Staff; Michael Whouley (Leary), Gore’s Chief Field Operative; Warren Christopher (Hurt), the onetime Secretary of State whose passivity eventually yields to Klain’s more forceful tactics; and David Boies (Begley), an appellate lawyer recruited to articulate the Democrats’ message. Republicans include James Baker (Wilkinson), another former Secretary of State with a will to win to match Klain’s; Ben Ginsberg (Balaban), the campaign’s Lead Counsel; Katherine Harris (Dern), Florida’s Secretary of State, remembered as much for her makeup as for her role in determining the winner; and Mac Stipanovich (McGill), a lobbyist with the moniker "Mac the Knife."

Lighter Side of the Day

Karl Rove and Scooter Libby think they have it bad…Fitzgerald may be a cream puff.

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Top Story of the Day

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes expecting.

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Frist Unloads Family Company Stock

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist dumped all of his stock in his family’s coporation two weeks before disappointing earnings caused the stock to drop 15%.  The corporation, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), was started by Frist’s father; his brother is a director and the largest shareholder. 

Ya think Senator Frist had any prior knowledge of the financials before they were announced? Certainly not! 

Given Frist’s role of Senate Majority Leader,  Frist’s assets were held in a blind trust, but blind is somewhat misleading.

Blind trusts are used to avoid conflicts of interest. Assets are turned over to a trustee who manages them without divulging any purchases or sales and reports only the total value and income earned to the owner.

To keep the trust blind, Frist was not allowed to know how much HCA stock he owned,  [Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Frist] said, but he was allowed to ask for all of it to be sold.

Frist, a surgeon first elected to the Senate in 1994, had been criticized for maintaining the holdings while dealing with legislation affecting the medical industry and managed care. Call said the Senate Select Committee on Ethics has found nothing wrong with Frist’s holdings in the company in a blind trust.

"To avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, Senator Frist went beyond what ethics requires and sold the stock," Call said. Asked why he had not done so before, she said, "I don’t know that he’s been worried about it in the past."

Frist’s family is reported to be worth $1.1 billion.  Frist’s share of the HCA stock is believed to be somewhere between $7 million and $35 million.

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