Barbara Boxer: “I actually asked then-President-elect Bush to reconsider his choice because I believed him when he said he wanted to…”

“I actually asked then-President-elect Bush to reconsider his choice because I believed him when he said he wanted to unite the Nation rather than divide the Nation. I felt this nomination would be very divisive, would raise the very same issues that were raised during one of the most difficult campaigns that I certainly ever remember for President. I think what I said was borne out. This Presidential election was a mandate. Many people think if all the votes had been counted, it might have come out a different way. That is not the point. The point is, because it was so divisive, whoever won, whether it was Al Gore or George W. Bush, whoever actually took the office--in this case the Supreme Court decided to stop the count, and George W. Bush became President--whoever was President had to know that this was a very divided Nation and that we needed to put up moderate people--moderate people--for important offices such as Attorney General, Interior Secretary, and the like.”