[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
At best (for Gore), we are talking about 2,600 votes. But if the Reform
Congressional candidate really did get 2,500 votes for office, then there
really is no solid case at all that misinformed voters in Palm Beach had
any measurable effect on this election.
The fallacy here is the assumption that the same voters who voted for the
reform candidate would have voted for Buchanan. Remeber the chaos of the
reform party and the heterogeneous nature of its constituency. Who was the
reform candidate in this election? Did he share Bachanan's shall we say
"controversial" views about Hitler.WWII and the jews?. There is probably a
way to make a real good judgement on this issue. Again it revolves around
statisitics. Check the other votes made by the 2500 hundred who voted for the
reform candidate for congress and compare them to the 3500 who voted for
Buchanan. If the profiles are similar than it is likely that the ballots were
correct but if these voters chose democrats for other posts it is very
unlikely that they meant to vote for Bush.
I am astounded that there has been no acknowledgement by anyone in this
public debate that statistical tecnhiques could help to cut through the crap
and answer these questions.
