One question that occurs to me to ask is, "Will it ever happen again?"
I think so for a couple of reasons.
First, despite the posturing that "we need election reform!", I think
anybody who actually proposes changes to the electoral system over the next
year or so is going to be merely agravating a fresh wound. Most politicians
will shut up and get on with seemingly more important matters.
Secondly, the plurality system inherently leads to close calls. No sane
politician will run on an issue that has less than 50% of the populace
behind it. Running for election on an issue with less than 50% of the vote
is foolish - you'll lose. Running for election with more than 50% of the
vote is also foolish - your opponents would be foolish to oppose you; if you
agree on the issue, it's not an issue. Therefore you'll find that the only
issues which are discussed are those that polarize voters 50-50. The better
the politicians and campaigning, the closer to a tie you'll get.
Yuck. A more efficient system might be to have random telephone polling for
approving legislation; anything closer than 55/45 gets decided by a coin
flip.
Joshua
