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Politics : Electoral College 2000 - Ahead of the Curve -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (3501)	11/27/2000 10:17:30 AM
From: chomolungma	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6710

It’s time for Al Gore to concede - not because he doesn’t have some good arguments but because he can’t win. As I have been saying all along, this is a biased, extremely partisan event. From the lowest level up to the highest, the decisions are being made by people who have an interest in the outcome. The Democrats have had the advantage in the county canvassing boards; most of these are filled with members of their party. This lets them manipulate the recount and they have without question gained hundreds, if not thousands, of votes here. The Democrats also have the advantage in the legal system. Most judges in Florida are Democrats and the blatant manufacturing of law in the SC is the most egregious example of partisanship. But the Republicans have some partisan advantages of their own. Katherine Harris is the most visible and has single-handedly given Bush the advantage so far. Her job is probably done and any overturning of her certification will be taken up by the Florida Legislature. They will not allow the judicial branch to take away the authority of the executive. Again, this will be a partisan undertaking at its finest. If the Florida Legislature cannot hand the election to Bush, they will certainly prevent Gore from taking it and this will send it to the House where Bush will win on a partisan vote. All this talk about who is right and who is wrong is irrelevant, IMO. It may make for some fun, self-righteous debate on this thread but has little bearing on the outcome. This is a power struggle, pure and simple. It will be decided by whom has the last move and in this case it is the Republicans. The Hayes vs. Tilden contest in 1876 was very similar. It eventually went down to a panel of 15 to decide the election. This panel was made up of men from the House, Senate and Supreme Court. It was supposed to be bipartisan and was 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats. Every vote was decided by, guess what, an 8-7 margin – straight down party lines. The 2000 election will be decided the same way. Al Gore cannot win this war. If he persists, he will do nothing more than damage himself, the country and yes, George Bush. I know the Democrats think they can gain by weakening Bush. I believe that would be a tragic error. Much can be made by accepting defeat graciously; I know this isn’t in the Clinton/Gore playbook, but I hope that there is someone in their camp that has the sense to see the light. I would have thought that Joe Lieberman was up to the task but he seems to have adopted the sensibility of his leader. Pity.