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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: alan w who wrote (9374)	1/17/2001 12:58:43 PM
From: mst2000	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

When Clinton beat Dole and when he beat Bush, Sr., the portion of the vote he and his GOP opponent didn't have went to Perot. Not that it matters, but pollsters said at the time that slightly more than 1/2 of Perot's supporters would have voted for Clinton had Perot not been in the race in 1992. This year, by contrast, Nader was not a 50/50 third party candidate - the vast majority of Nader's supporters would have either voted for Gore, or not voted at all, and Gore would have won easily, with about 52% of the vote. But the bottom line is this: In both 1992 and 1996, Clinton indisuputably won the election. He had a decisive plurality of the popular vote, and a decisive electoral college victory. From that, you can claim a mandate. By contrast, Gore had a plurality of the popular vote (by over 500,000 votes) and in the opinion of many (save the GOP partisans who, like a mantra, claimed throughout that Gore was trying to steal the election -- when the exact opposite was true -- and the 5 USSC justices who gave us the abomination known as Bush v. Gore -- and with it appointed Dubya to the Presidency), Gore also won Florida and with it the electoral college. Bush LOST this election. That above all is why he has no right to claim a mandate. According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll completed yesterday, more than 50% of the public thinks that Bush should compromise with Democrats on his main campaign initiatives (especially his tax cut) and fewer than 45% think he has a mandate from the election (and that includes republicans, at least those who are honest about it). Your turn.