The problem is, I don't think this is a one-sided proposition. What we have is an evenly-divided, highly partisan electorate and an election that will be won litigiously. Whichever man wins, and now it seems most likely to be Bush, will start out with tarnished legitimacy in the eyes of half the population and half the congress.
The scenario you describe could just as easily happen regardless of which way it comes out. I'm no great fan of either Bush or Gore, and I think either one of them has plenty of skeletons that could be dug up. Either one of them will have trouble getting extremist judges or cabinet secretaries confirmed...which is a good thing. Either one of them will have trouble getting legislative programs of any great moment passed, which is a bad thing.
Whichever way it turns out, the odds going into 2001 favor a one-term presidency combined with an anti-incumbent backlash in the 2002 elections. This is what this country deserves when we lock ourselves into this phony "lesser of two evils" myth, and put up two mediocrities (even if one is in some sense more mediocre than the other) neither of whom exhibits the slightest trace of vision, courage, wit or leadership. Of course, a surprise is always possible. Sow's ears have morphed into silk purses in the White House before in U.S. history (though not as often as the opposite).
What I *don't* worry about is that the American system will collapse. The principal genius of the American system is precisely that it's designed to minimize damage when low-grade people are given power, as in this case. All the wailing about lawyers getting involved is bogus. When an election is in doubt, I would rather see lawyers driving up to the courthouse in a Mercedes than soldiers driving up to the courthouse in a tank, which is what we would see in most other countries in the world given this situation. You can't keep a country under the rule of law without getting lawyers involved once in a while.
The right outcome is to put one of these turkeys in already, try to learn some lessons from this fiasco, and be confident that the U.S. will continue to thrive.
--QS |
