Fletcher Oklahoma

Marches and rallies are planned for the new year.Voter turn-out among blacks hit record levels in some parts of the country, particularly in Florida, as leaders sought to boost the numbers for Al Gore. About 40 per cent of African-Americans who went to the polls were voting for the first time. Allegedly, however, many were blocked from voting properly.The NAACP has urged the US Justice Department to open a formal investigation. It has a long list of complaints: voter machines in poor neighbourhoods that were defective, voter lists that were purged of black voters, police intimidation of voters and the throwing out of thousands of ballots in black-dominated precincts.

The Justice Department has sent a team to Florida to gather information about these claims.The Reverend Jesse Jackson vowed to hold big protest rallies in the run-up to the Bush inauguration on 20 January. He suggested yesterday that the Bush campaign, by claiming Florida and thereafter the White House, had perpetrated a "velvet legal coup."In Third World countries, when democratically cast votes are not counted, or the person who most likely lost wins in a highly questionable manner, we usually call it a 'coup d'état'," he said.Kweise Mfume, president of the NAACP, warned that suspicion and anger would deepen in the black community unless a full investigation of all the claims is undertaken.. President-elect George W Bush intends to name the members of his Cabinet as well as his inner circle of White House advisers before Christmas, aides said yesterday. President-elect George W Bush intends to name the members of his Cabinet as well as his inner circle of White House advisers before Christmas, aides said yesterday. Mr Bush is under conflicting pressures as he prepares to announce his choices. Time is bearing down on him because of the deadlock of the past five weeks, but he will be anxious to demonstrate tact by first consulting party leaders in Washington, including some Democrats.Much ground was prepared even before the Bush victory was made official this week. Thus, speculation yesterday about who will soon be at the desks of power in the capital was not entirely frivolous.The most confident predictions concerned foreign policy.

It is no secret that the retired General Colin Powell will serve as US Secretary of State, responsible for foreign affairs; he is popular and the Bush camp, anxious to quell worries about its candidate's inexperience in world affairs, long ago circulated the news that he was ready for that job.The position of National Security Adviser is said to have been promised to Condoleezza Rice, who was Mr Bush's tutor on international policy throughout the election campaign.The White House Chief of Staff, seen by many as the third most powerful position after the President and Vice-President, has been earmarked for Andy Card, a close aide during the election campaign.Guessing who else will take seats in the Cabinet is more hazardous, but it is thought probable that the post of Commerce Secretary will be awarded to Don Evans, 54, as a reward for being chairman of Mr Bush's campaign and his top fund-raiser. Formerly an oil and gas executive in Houston, Mr Evans would bring a touch of Texas to the capital.Speculation also surrounded the post of Secretary of the Treasury, America's Chancellor of the Exchequer; those mentioned included Walter Shipley, the former chairman of the Chase Manhattan bank, Donald Marron, the chairman of the PaineWebber group and John Hennesy, who is a former head of Credit Suisse First Boston.An intriguing rumour also has Mr Bush inviting the current Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, to stay on. Appointed by President Clinton last year, Mr Summers would expect to be looking elsewhere for a job, but Mr Bush will be trying to demonstrate his commitment to healing by bringing at least one Democrat into his Cabinet; holding on to Mr Summers - as a Clinton appointee - might help.The president-elect could also look to Democrats in Congress. Those he knows best include Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, who has been tipped as the next Energy Secretary.Who will go to the Pentagon and the desk of Secretary of Defence is also a hot point of speculation.

Some had expected Mr Bush to recruit the former Democrat Senator Sam Nunn to the post, but Mr Nunn, an Atlanta native, has indicated his unwillingness to take it, so eyes have turned to another former member of the Senate, Dan Coats of Indiana, who served as a Republican.Some state governors may have fetched suitcases from the attic in the hope of getting the Bush call. James Hunt of North Carolina was considered a possible for Education Secretary. Marc Racicot, who spoke up for Mr Bush in the post-election Florida wrangle, could emerge as US Attorney General or Interior Secretary.Just as important as the Cabinet, however, will be those Mr Bush puts in the offices closest to his own - the Oval Office in the White House. They will occupy the nexus of executive power beneath him, Vice-President Dick Cheney and the Chief of Staff.Journalists are especially keen to know who will speak for the new President. Karen Hughes served as Mr Bush's chief spokeswoman during the campaign but is expected to take more of a back-office, though senior, advisory role in the new White House.The job of Press Secretary is likely to fall instead upon Ari Fleischer, 40, a well-liked media strategist who was also a familiar face in the campaign.. Tony Blair moved quickly yesterday to forge strong links with President-elect George W Bush amid British fears that the new US administration could retreat into isolationism. Tony Blair moved quickly yesterday to forge strong links with President-elect George W Bush amid British fears that the new US administration could retreat into isolationism. The Prime Minister was the first foreign leader to telephone the former Texas Governor to offer his congratulations.