Patrick B. McGuigan
'Honest Politics' and Clinton-Gore
11/29/2000
EVEN in the midst of saturation television coverage since the
presidential election, the talking heads have failed to pick up
on some notable stories that run dramatically contrary to "spin"
delivered repeatedly on TV by allies (and former employees) of
Bill Clinton and Al Gore such as Paul Begala and George
Stephanoupoulos.
Here's just one example out of many that could be digested. In
recent columns I've reported on the work of the Committee for
Honest Politics, a Washington-based organization which has
documented voter drop-off in the Florida panhandle in the wake of
the inaccurate early projection of the state for the vice
president. The group believes between 10,000 and 20,000 voters
were "effectively restrained ... from casting their votes" by the
early projections.
In the mainstream media, it is now conventional wisdom that the
impact of the false projection was modest. (There is careful
avoidance of any discussion of the apparently devastating impact
of the false projection on Bush voters in the Mountain and
Pacific time zones.) But even without the early call, even
modestly higher Bush voter turnout could have swung the state
solidly into the Republican's camp.
On-air journalists have claimed the "call" didn't come until less
than half an hour before the panhandle's polls closed. At least
one network says that the early call was issued just 10 minutes
before polls closed in the Central time zone. But sworn
affidavits from residents of the panhandle say they heard the
projection on radio stations between 6:05 and 6:20 p.m. Central
time. (An Oklahoman who was in the Florida panhandle on election
night told me he heard the inaccurate projection of the state for
Gore at 6:15 p.m.)
Lawyers for Gore, Democrats and organizations like the American
Civil Liberties Union have labored to reverse president-elect
George W. Bush's narrow victory in the state, and his anticipated
win in the Electoral College. In doing so, they have deployed
elaborate, labyrinthine and admittedly creative arguments,
seeking to win in court what they cannot win in any count of
properly cast ballots. Unfortunately, such arguments sometimes
win in court, so it seems that Bush's supporters can't rest easy
for some time to come.
At least some activists on the political right have responded
with their own creativity -- including the Committee for Honest
Politics. In recent court filings, the group is asking "That all
voters who were restrained by the media's incorrect early call of
the election in the Florida panhandle have their right to vote
restored through absentee ballots. ... That those involved in the
effort to throw out the absentee military ballots be sanctioned
as if they had disenfranchised these voters, and that all
'franked' (delivered via military mail) ballots without a
postmark be counted. ... That clear standards, preferably the
standards in place before the Democrat Canvassing Board changed
them in order to boost the Gore vote total, be deemed the
standards to be used in determining the number of votes in
Broward and Palm Beach counties. ... That hand recounts be
allowed to proceed in all other Florida counties."
Some of these objectives can be rationally opposed. But in my
translation the group's point is that if pre-election rules don't
apply to Democrats, why should they apply to Republicans? If
improperly cast ballots are counted, why not count those who
would have voted if they had not been misinformed about exit poll
data?
As for a statewide recount, it would delay yet again final
resolution of this election -- but the committee's contention is
that a county-by-county, statewide recount would gain votes for
Bush, offsetting the suppression of overseas military votes,
post-election creation of Gore votes and other shenanigans by
that team of 500 high-powered trial lawyers (several of whom were
recently enriched by the tobacco litigation).
At some point this episode will end and Bush will assume the
presidency. But it will take years, perhaps decades, to cast off
the ill will characterizing the Clinton-Gore era's end game.
oklahoman.com
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