CNN.Schneider: We are in the realm of the unknown and the unprecedented. It is
rash to make predictions. Anybody who knows what's going to happen in
January is grossly misinformed.
I'm not going to make any predictions. It could up being divisive, partisan,
gridlock. It could end up being that grown-ups come forward and say, "Look,
we've got to end this in a mature, responsible way." That's what the voters
clearly want. Who would that be, I don't know.
It could be that given the way the vote counts have been going that in the next
five days, Gore won't be able to make it, and he doesn't get enough recounted
ballots to overtake Bush's lead. In that case, it's over, according to the court.
That is not a partisan Bush statement, it's just a way of saying that's a possibility
for an outcome. If Gore can't get enough recounted votes to overtake Bush's
lead by Monday morning at 9 a.m., it is over.
Bush also mentioned in his remarks that this was an effort by the judicial branch
in Florida to change the law, to rewrite the election law. Most Americans, I
believe, respect the judiciary as serious and independent and a neutral arbiter.
Hardcore partisan Republicans don't. Number one, they know this court is
appointed by Democrats. Number two, they resent all judicial activism as
illegitimate. They have ever since abortion rights and school prayer decisions
were handed down by the courts.
Anger at judicial activism is an ancient and deeply embedded conservative
sentiment. Bush appealed to that in his statement, when he said that courts are
rewriting the laws. That instantly touches a nerve among conservatives, just like
the word "civil rights" touches a nerve among Democrats. Democrats talk about
a person's civil rights being violated, you get an instantaneous response.
Republicans talk about the courts rewriting the law, you get an instant emotional
response.
What I'm suggesting is that Republicans, including Governor Bush are pushing
those buttons... buttons that are calculated to create outrage among Republicans.
We saw something today I have never seen in my life: a {disturbance} among
Republicans in Miami. You don't see Republicans do that very much that we
should fail to notice. That's because buttons are being pushed to create outrage.
I'm not saying it's all cynical. I think they are angry. But I'm saying that those
feelings are deep and they are intense. |
