----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2000 5:24 AM
Subject: Re: Second Thoughts (Long)
> In a message dated 11/10/00 2:03:12 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> << All that being said, don't like the idea of a re-vote. With the
> perspective
> the re-voters now have it would be quite unfair. But I don't know what
should
> be done. >>
>
>
> Before I say anything else, let me state for the record that I'm a
lifelong
> Democrat and a strong supporter of Al Gore. I think George Bush is a
> disgraceful moron and will be a disastrous embarrassment as President.
>
> That said, however, I think there have to be limits to how far one can
> challenge this election - both as to results and to how it was conducted -
> without so poisoning the atmosphere that the race becomes one not worth
> winning. Al Gore can, if he wants, continue the challenge in court and
maybe
> even get some or all of the result in Florida overturned. He CAN - but
SHOULD
> he?
>
> I'm not so sure, and I'm someone who desperately wants him to win. But
> challenging the result in Florida would open up similar challenges in
every
> single state where the result was close (even though it wasn't this close
in
> any other state). I'm not sure that's in the long-term best interest of
the
> country.
>
> I realize I'm not Al Gore and I did not spend the past two years striving
> might and main to become President. It's almost impossible for him to give
up
> on his dream when he's so close. None of us can imagine what he's feeling
> right now. Still, I think at some point he has to be a statesman and
accept
> that he has lost.
>
> That point is not now. He has every right to demand a hand count of every
> vote. He has every right to insist that they wait for the absentee ballots
to
> be counted. But if and when both those things occur, and if at that point
he
> has still not won Florida, he needs to concede that Bush won.
>
> At that point, what I personally think Gore should do is lead a nationwide
> commission to make sure that this kind of nonsense NEVER OCCURS AGAIN.
> Florida is not the only state with ambiguous ballots, missing ballot
boxes,
> spoiled ballots, poorly trained election workers, etc. We are the richest,
> most technically sophisticated nation that ever existed - and we can't
> conduct a transparently fair election? I think we need minimum national
> standards (say THAT, Dubya!) at least on presidential elections. That we
are
> still using paper ballots in many places in this day and age is absurd. I
> think Gore should lead an effort to come up with a better way to stage
> elections. He could couple that with an effort to pass some serious
campaign
> finance reform, and to increase registration and voter turnout. That would
be
> performing a true service to the nation. It would also give him something
to
> do.
>
> As for George W....he has two alternatives. He can realize how thin his
> margin of victory was and truly try to govern as a bi-partisan President.
Or,
> he can decide that half the country is going to disapprove of him no
matter
> what he does and try to govern as if he'd won with 60%. Just go ahead and
do
> what he really wants to do. If it works, he'll be reelected in 2004. If
not,
> well, at least he went down trying.
>
> Problem with that is, it's what Bill Clinton tried to do in 1993-94, and
look
> what happened to him in the '94 mid-term elections. So he's probably
better
> off, at least in the short term, in trying as hard as he can to satisfy
the
> entire country.
>
> I'm not Gore or Bush (nor have I ever played either one on TV), but that's
> what I would do if I were these two men.
>
> I stress that this is what I think should happen AFTER the ENTIRE process
in
> Florida is absolutely over. Which won't be until next Tuesday at the
earliest.
>
> Let me also stress that this is my advice to the two campaigns. What
citizens
> in Florida, particularly in Palm Beach County, do is up to them. I'd hope
the
> campaigns would stay out of it, but I do know that's extremely unlikely to
> happen.
>
> Finally, the Bush campaign is being disingenuous when it accuses the Gore
> campaign of politicizing the situation in Florida. Choosing a president is
an
> inherently political process. It has been politicized all along - and it
> should be. If the situation were reversed, the Bush people would be doing
> exactly what the Gore people are doing. It's easy for Bush to say NOW that
he
> would concede. But there's no way he'd just give up until he'd explored
every
> imaginable option.
>
> Let's be patient, everyone. We still don't know how this is going to end.
>
Good words Tom!
What bothers me the most about this mess, is after years of claiming the
moral and ethical high ground, that the Republican party might be willing to
take advantage of an unfair and disputed result. Speaking for myself, I dont
want a president elected on a technicality or a legality. I want the
president elected by the massed will of the people through the tool of the
electoral college.
xponent
rob
