-Caveat Lector-
War of nerves takes its toll on prickly Bush
Andrew Sullivan
IN THIS surreal post-campaign campaign, we keep learning. The two men
who tried so hard to win the presidency have tried even harder not to lose
it. And they have been almost laughably unable to disguise who they are.
There's George W on his ranch, playing with his imaginatively named dog,
Spot, conferring with his father's old friends, and sending Dick Cheney,
days after a heart attack, to do most of the public relations heavy-lifting. He
seems at times almost like a pathological delegator.
The few moments when he has appeared in the public eye have not been
particularly impressive. As he spoke on the night of his certification as
Florida's legal winner, he seemed to blink into the teleprompter like a
hedgehog gazing up at the headlights of a Land Rover.
Is this brilliant strategy or just cowardice? There can be no doubt about the
strain. You don't get a flaming boil on the side of your face without some
sort of stress; and it can't be easy preparing to be leader while worrying
about whether ballots have dimples or not.
Nevertheless, it's also clear that we have a man here who knows, in the
language of Alcoholics Anonymous, not to try to change the things he
cannot change. Compared to the rest of us hyper-ventilating in Washington
and Tallahassee, he seems a picture of calm.
Gore, on the other hand, looks more and more like a cross between the
Terminator and a car alarm that won't switch off. Every setback merely
brings him roaring back for more. Last week he was on television at every
conceivable opportunity, repeating his ludicrous mantra that we must "count
every vote", as if we hadn't already counted every vote at least twice.
His speech the night after Bush's was classic Gore: elegant, crisp and ever
so slightly unhinged. Some lines sounded as if they had been written by a
member of the Tory shadow cabinet after a joint of cannabis. "The
American people have spoken with a voice made mighty by the whole of its
integrity." Huh? It's pretty clear now that Gore has little concern for the
damage he might be doing to the country by pursuing a closure that can
never come.
Think of how many things have gone his way: he gained 1,000 votes on the
second machine recount. He got manual recounts only in his own hand-
picked counties. He got the Florida supreme court to throw election
deadlines out of the window, rebuke Florida's secretary of state and give
him an extra week's grace to recount all the votes. And he still didn't win.
He wanted more time to get more votes in Palm Beach county and Miami-
Dade - and now, of course, he wants more time to contest the election he
lost. He will never give up, unless they put him in irons and drop him in the
Potomac.
Like all maniacs, he has persuaded himself that this is all for the sake of a
principle - that every dimple shall be counted. Never mind the fact that one
of his few chances left to snatch victory is to throw out thousands of
legitimate votes for Bush in Seminole county because of irregularities in
ballot applications. So much for "count every vote".
So the fox and the hedgehog endure. The hedgehog's spiky ball is as
impregnable and as unimpressive as ever. The fox is drenched in sweat,
blood dripping from his fangs, with even more tricks in store.
As both eye the looming deadline, they react accordingly. Bush retreats
and curls up. Gore gets more manic.
There will be no metaphysical final resolution - mere mathematics will tell
you that the margin in Florida for either is far smaller than the margin of
error in an imperfect election system. So it has come down to a war of
nerves and tactics. And my bet still has to be on the small, brown, prickly
ball.
Copyright 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on
Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a
licence to reproduce material from The Sunday Times, visit the
Syndication website.
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