From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Sun Mar 16 2003 - 09:38:28 PST
Both sides fought hard and dirty over the election results. Anybody who
thinks it was just those "nasty liberals" have a thick set of blinders
on. The only thing that IS for sure is that Gore clearly (although
slimly) won the popular vote. Bush, at best, won the arcane electoral
vote by a statistically insignificant margin. And there still is room
for debate on that point that he even won that.
I also thought it was rather telling that although Bush touted State's
rights all the way through his election, the first thing he did was turn
to the Feds when he didn't like the initial state court's results. But
nearly all politicians are lying hypocrites, so this did not surprise me.
The fact is that the Supreme Court had no business getting involved.
Don't debate me if you disagree... debate practically every single
Constitutional scholar who weighed in on the issue. What SHOULD have
happened IMHO was to have the entire election (in one, possibly two FL
counties) nullified and revoted. It was too close and such a mess that
neither side could prove squat. But this was not in the best interests
of either candidate or even the country, so they went to the courts,
which defacto decided who we got for a President.
Let's face it... this was a VERY close election. Bush supporters can
claim victory if they want, but it is clear that Bush did not have a
majority of the citizen's support. This means, at best, Bush was only
voted for by 1 in 2 people. Hardly a mandiate to disregard the other
half's viewpoint, as he has clearly been doing. Like the State's Rights
and "less government interference in citizen's lives" BS, he also said he
would be a "uniter". I think nearly all political watchers, amateur or
professional, would say he has been one of the most devisive Presidents
in recent history.
Gore, on the other hand, had the oportunity to beat Bush by a much wider
margin if he had campaigned better and/or been a candidate with more
support from conservatives. The fact is that even many liberals and
moderates didn't like him and instead voted for Nader, which probably
lost him the election right there.
Bottom line is that Bush is our President. But to think he (or Gore if
he won) has enough popular backing to radically change the way our
government runs is folly. And the polls now a days show it.
Steve
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