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Jerry Falwell Circulates
an Anti-Gore 'Petition to Concede'

Fears Florida County Lawsuit Providing a 4,500 Gore Lead

Calls Threat 'Nuclear Bomb' for George W. Bush Campaign

Compiled by GayToday

Lynchburg, Virginia�Appealing for funds from his followers, TV preacher Jerry Falwell is circulating a petition among them urging Vice-president Al Gore to concede the presidential election so that George W. Bush can be declared an outright winner.

"I am asking millions of Americans to join me in the next 48 hours in putting their names on a PETITION TO CONCEDE www.falwell.com/gore_petition.htm) to Vice-President Al Gore," says Falwell.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell says his anti-Gore petition is in the best interest of the country

He promises that the petition will be delivered "immediately and directly" to Gore at his official Washington, D.C. residence.

Using inflammatory phrases that have become stadard fare in Republican circles, Falwell says of his Religious Right cohorts : "We are not giving up our fight against Mr. Gore's army of lawyers in court to prevent him from stealing this election."

Ignoring America's long-held prohibition against the blurring of lines between church and state, Falwell says:

"Right now, our Liberty Counsel attorneys are in two major court challenges against the Gore campaign stemming from the Florida election corruption� I am also writing to ask for your financial help (ecomm.srt.net/jfm) in assisting me in fighting these costly legal battles."

Specifically, the Rev. Falwell fears a forthcoming Florida court case that could result in Gore's win. He writes:

"In Seminole County, Florida, a local Democratic party operative has filed a court case, with the Gore campaign's blessing, that could result in throwing out 15,000 absentee ballots.

"It is estimated that as many as 10,000 of these ballots are votes for George W. Bush, while 5,000 are votes for Al Gore.

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"If this lawsuit is successful, Al Gore would automatically have a 4,500 vote lead over Bush in Florida and win the presidency.

"A well-know liberal columnist said last night on television that the Seminole County case was a potential "nuclear bomb" to the Bush presidency."

The Seminole County trial is set for December 6, and is expected to be broadcast on both C-Span and CNN.

Not surprisingly, Falwell is asking for money that will go, in part, to his son, Jerry Falwell, Jr.

Liberty Counsel Mat Staver's co-counsel is Jerry Falwell, Jr. Both men, according to Falwell, are " in the thick of the fight." Staver, he says, "has appeared before the Seminole County Court and will be in Tallahassee for the court hearing."

At the same time, Liberty Counsel is also arguing for a Bush victory in the Federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

"As I said before," warns the money-conscious Southern Baptist clergyman, "we are waging an extremely costly legal battle against an array of highly-paid Democratic lawyers.

"But we can win," he assures his fundamentalist friends, "if we have the financial resources to carry on this costly legal fight."

Among other out-of-state GOP lawyers is Roger J. Magnuson, who argues that Florida's Republican-dominated legislature should convene and unilaterally declare candidate Bush Florida's winner. Magnuson, a Minneapolis lawyer, has, according to the New York Times, "written extensively against gay rights."