Great article.
Here it is again.
Where will it
Wednesday, November 29, 2000
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Comedy and cold reality can be so cruel. Al Gore's televised never-say-die address Monday night and his oh-by-the-way proposal Tuesday afternoon seemed more like something off the set of "Saturday Night Live." Indeed, with each passing day, Gore is getting better at imitating his SNL imitator Darrell Hammond.
There was the slow-motion, now-pay-attention-children delivery, the puffy self-serving sanctimony and, of course, the rhetorical hyperbole.
After Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified George W. Bush as the winner of her state Sunday night, Gore had several options. He could have summoned the grace to concede that Bush has won Florida and the presidency. OK, maybe that's expecting a bit much of the vice president -- even after a machine count, a machine recount, and a third recount (machine and manual) with not one but two deadlines prior to certification. He could have said Monday:
Good evening. Despite the Republican Secretary of State's certification last night, I have decided to contest the Florida count. I do so because I think I won more votes in Florida than Governor Bush. As such, I owe it to myself, Joe Lieberman and to all who voted for me in Florida and across the nation to make sure all my Florida votes are counted. Given the margin, I have no choice but to look for votes across Florida. It's that simple. If you think you're frustrated by the delay, imagine how I feel. I've been preparing for the White House since I was knee-high to a Senator-father. Thank you and God Bless America.
Short, simple and to the point.
Instead Gore treated Americans over the past two days to more self-serving tactical maneuvering tarted up as a Fourth-of-July civics lesson. "Ignoring votes means ignoring democracy itself. And if we ignore the votes of thousands in Florida . . . how can you or any American have confidence that your vote will not be ignored in a future election?" he sermonized Monday night. "That is all we have asked since Election Day, a complete count . . . not recount after recount as some have charged, but a single, full and accurate count."
Where do you start with this kind of political piffle? First, nobody favors ignoring votes -- or democracy. What this entire episode revolves around, as Gore surely knows, is what constitutes a vote and the rules of counting. Is a ballot, no matter how mangled or mysterious, a vote that cannot be ignored? Of course not. We've always ignored botched ballots and will do so as long as we have a democracy.
The vice president suggests that anyone who doesn't accept his definition of a vote is an enemy of democracy. How civil. How Al Gore.
Second, does anyone really believe Gore would be pursuing this vote crusade if Harris had certified him the winner Sunday? This isn't about Florida's votes. It's about Gore's votes. To suggest otherwise is to invite "Saturday Night Live" snickers.
If Gore had been really concerned about all votes, he could have sought a statewide recount from the start. He did not; he pursued recounts only in select Democratic strongholds. Gore sought a statewide manual recount only when Harris was on the cusp of certifying Bush a winner. His second request for one came only after Harris certified Bush the winner following a later court-imposed deadline.
If Gore had been really concerned about all votes, he would have sought uniform standards for counting the ballots or insisted that canvassing boards use pre-existing rules. He did not.
If Gore had been really concerned about all votes, he could have demanded all military ballots be counted, even ones without postmarks. He did not.
Even if Gore could stand before the nation as the real tribune of all voters -- he can't, but he might try standing before a "Saturday Night Live" audience -- it's hard to see what his ongoing mulishness will produce save more ugliness. When this will all end is not the issue. Where it will end is. If Gore persists and the Florida Supreme Court again reaches out and rules for him on chads or dimples or whatever, the Florida Legislature -- and perhaps ultimately the U.S. House of Representatives -- will almost certainly enter this already grotesque fray.
It's time for Al Gore at long last to concede and end this travesty.
It's time to stop the chadness. |
