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M: Well, the Republicans were always complaining about something, but their
 complaints tended to go to the decision of the board on an individual ballot. It
 was, to me, a case of intellectual dishonesty because of the kind of thing that I
 described earlier happened again and again and again. We would say, we're
 interpreting this as a vote for Gore, [and] they would object. Then when we'd
 have another ballot that was mis-marked in essentially the same way and we
 would say, we're interpreting this as a vote for Bush, they would not object.

P: So, it was purely delaying tactics.

M: Yes, they were stonewalling. They were trying to stretch things out so that we
 would not meet the deadline, and of course my response to that was, we'll just
 work eighteen hour days, that's what. So, we were all exhausted. I was
 exhausted, the rest of the canvassing board members were exhausted, the
 attorneys for both political parties were exhausted. I didn't say this, but I realized
 very quickly what was going on. There were many times when I had to say, this
 discussion is over, here's what we're going to do, and here's how we're going to
 do it, now get on it.

P: I should point out that Bob Butterworth had great praise for you for getting this
 job done. He said that you went ahead with it, worked the amount of time
 necessary to get it finished on time, and managed it efficiently so that it did get
 done. You moved the ballots to where you had more room, you got enough
 people to work. In Broward County they couldn't find enough county employees
 to get all the votes counted, and that was a problem that they had, so it looked
 like you resolved some of the issues that really bedeviled some of the other
 canvassing boards.
M: I think that I really have been given too much credit for [our] success. And every
 opportunity I've had in talking with the news media afterwards I've pointed out
 that the county manager's office deserves a lot of credit. They furnished us with
 a large room so that we could work efficiently, they furnished us with county
 employees who are being paid by the taxpayer but who were, rather than
 working in tag office or the environmental office or zoning office, or lord knows
 where those people came from, they were being paid to count ballots. We could
 not have done this without the cooperation of the county manager's office and
 without the cooperation of Deanie Lowe and her advice. So yes, I think I deserve
 part of the credit because I'm the one who kept cracking the whip and cutting off
 what I considered to be unnecessary discussion and saying, we've made a
 decision, let's move on.

P: So, you said then, and I presume you feel the same way, that you were proud of
 the board's performance and felt it was very satisfying to have done it and done it
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