Hi Scumbria; Re: "Republican Party officials seem to have these flashes of inspiration..."
Both parties will do whatever it takes to obtain and retain power. As far as the overall civil level of morality, I don't think it's changed as much as a lot of people think. Cheating on votes dates as far back as anything. For that matter, most of the crime statistics are a consequence of the availability and legality of illegal substances and more effective (read expensive) weapons.
But at this point, I think it is clear that Gore won Florida. Though a staunch Republican supporter, I think Bush should avoid trying to stop the recount process. If Bush does win, he will be the legal President, but he will have "stolen" the election.
The above statement is under the assumption that the heavily Republican precincts in Florida tended to have more modern voting methods, while the heavily Democratic areas had punch cards. In that case, it is obvious why the Republicans didn't ask for a recount in their precincts, no need for one. Having used punch card voting systems, I know why it is that so many ballots have chad on them. Zeev quotes 3% ballot error, but I believe that figure is for the ballot as a whole, not for any individual race on it. If there is an error on the house seat, they don't throw out the vote on the Presidential race, for instance (I am quite sure). The chad figure for a single race is more likely around 0.5% or so, and that is about where they do recounts. Gore ought to pick up around 0.05% by recounting the punch card precincts, and that should be enough to put him over the top.
-- Carl
P.S. I reserve the right to change my mind as more data comes out, but it sure looks to me like Gore won it "fair and square." |
