Sara Taylor's History Profiled in WaPo: Sent to FL - "You create a system to check every ballot..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/11/AR2007071102371.html?hpid=topnews

A Bush Aide's Long Road From The White House

By Sridhar Pappu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 12, 2007; Page C01

Over the course of an hour Rove quizzed her on the politics of her home state. Her dad, before she was born, had done a stint in the Iowa legislature, and two years earlier she'd taken a year off from her studies at Drake University to work on the presidential campaign of Texas senator Phil Gramm. They spoke about the coalitions needed to win -- social conservatives and the agriculture constituency -- and about the need to meet people personally. Suddenly, Bush himself walked in, plopped down beside her and Rove and drilled her about what he needed to know to win Iowa. In a matter of months, Taylor moved back to Iowa, helping to set up Bush's 2000 win. She was 24.

That was the beginning of Taylor's relationship with the two men. The end is proving more difficult to resolve.

- snip -

Taylor's been in tough fights before. Following her service for Bush in Iowa, she moved on to South Carolina, Washington state and Michigan. After the cliffhanger election, she was dispatched to Florida to help with recount efforts. Often pulling volunteers from Texas off the floor for not paying attention to their tasks, she eventually developed a pinpoint tracking system that literally traced each recounted ballot.

"It's methodical," Taylor said one evening last week over dinner on Capitol Hill. "You create a system to check every ballot and then you have a spreadsheet in place to tell you where you are. We always knew if we lost one vote or picked one up."

- snip -

Taylor's reward? A spot as the White House political director after the departure of Matthew Schlapp. From a mid-level staffer, Taylor came back to the White House to advise the senior staff and the president on domestic political issues and played an important role in anything involved with Bush's domestic agenda. Her new role meant constant contact with Rove, whose relationship with Taylor evolved from first "a teacher and leader to almost more of a partner," said Wallace.

how many votes are needed in each precinct and targeting specific precincts. This would not be different in knowing the status of each ballot.

Just the vision of these old guys, Rove and Bush and Phil Freaking Gramm, sitting down and recruiting a 24 year old woman oughtta freak out the 'Family Values' crowd.

Florida? She just looks so familiar............. of course I certainly could be wrong.

:eyes: