Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective Message Board

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: epicure who wrote (5692)	11/12/2000 2:54:19 PM
From: Slugger	Read Replies (2) of 10042

As a nation waits, honor its interests November 12, 2000 The fight in Florida has become far too ugly. Both George W. Bush and Al Gore have roles to play to prevent this close election from escalating into an out-of-control constitutional crisis that damages the presidency and our democratic system. The Florida vote is too close to call. A fair recount has been concluded, and no further recounting is warranted. Now we wait for the Friday deadline for the overseas ballots. Until they are tabulated, Bush and Gore and their camps should back off and not do anything that makes it impossible for whoever is elected to rule effectively. Given the close vote and the nearly equal division of power in Congress, governing will be tough enough. But someone must govern. Bush has been right not to escalate the battle by demanding recounts in other states. And he should continue to keep his transition work low key. With the final Florida vote in question--even though overseas ballots in the past have favored Republicans--a high- profile transition operation would appear to Democratic voters to be presumptive. Assembling a new administration is an important task, but Bush would not want it to hinder his ability to unite the country. Gore should declare that he will abide by the Florida results. Demands for multiple recounts of the same votes harm Gore's credibility. In last week's recount, supervisors in the majority of Florida counties were Democrats. No charge--not even a credible suggestion--has been made alleging fraud in the vote or recount. Spoiled and mistaken ballots are part of any election and are no basis for litigation. This election has put a spotlight on problems with our voting tools. The butterfly ballot can be confusing, as Cook County residents know from the judicial retention ballot. Voting technology in most places predates the VCR. All these can be fixed, but the newest technology will not guarantee a perfect election. More calls for recounts and threats of lawsuits will only push the Bush camp into similar responses in states Gore won by slim margins. The Gore campaign's demand to "let the legal system run its course" sounds like a formula for lawyers to try to hijack the election. Republicans might respond by questioning how it came to be that last week's recount found large numbers of new Gore votes in Democratic-run counties. Tit for tat--and the country loses. This bitter episode has the potential to be a venomous precedent--much like the vicious fight over the failed Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork poisoned the Senate's working environment. Gore must realize that to try to win this election through lawsuits would be a terrible breach of faith with the American people. And it would be a sinister injustice to the rest of the nation's voters to have a new election in only one county. We sympathize with Gore's desire for clarity, to have the process play out. Gore ran an impressive campaign and articulated issues of great importance to many Americans. His supporters argue that Gore won the popular vote. The truth is that he's leading in the popular vote. Thousands of absentee ballots--maybe a million in California alone--have not been counted. We won't know who won the popular vote until these ballots are tallied. Even so, in the end the winner is determined by the Electoral College. It is enshrined in the Constitution, the controlling legal and moral authority for our nation. If the Electoral College is no longer valid for a majority of Americans, there are ways to change it. But it cannot be overturned by a judge. suntimes.com

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next