Posted on 10/19/2001 6:26:14 AM PDT by PJ-Comix
A five-page chronological chart and a dramatis personae of 95 names appear at the start of Jeffrey Toobin's dissection of the Florida recount in last year's presidential election. That's an indication of how complicated this account becomes, in keeping with the wild seesawing of the political battle itself. "It is a testament to the surreal complexity of the litigation of the election," Mr. Toobin writes, "that even these lawyers had a hard time knowing if they'd won or lost."
So his book offers a step-by-step description of the process, from a keen observer who makes no bones about his bias. "The wrong man was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2001, and this is no small thing in our nation's history," Mr. Toobin ultimately writes. "The bell of this election can never be unrung, and the sound will haunt us for some time."
In practical terms, this means a demonstration of how, while Vice President Al Gore and his aides "were hunched over their calculators, the Republicans were breaking bar stools over their heads." To support that thesis Mr. Toobin recreates and examines each critical juncture of the white-knuckle, chad-counting combat and also provides damning trivia to reinforce his point of view. The latter is hardly decisive. But being told that Gov. George W. Bush was already in his pajamas just after 9 p.m., when the deciding Supreme Court ruling was delivered, or that Wayne Newton was brought in to thank Republican workers with a rendition of "Danke Schoen" does heighten the book's sense of injustice.
To be sure Mr. Toobin can be hard on the Gore team as well. It is his contention that their crucial failing was their reluctance to ask for a full 67-county recount instead of concentrating only on Broward, Miami- Dade, Palm Beach and Duval Counties after Florida's race proved so extraordinarily tight. And he ascribes that reluctance to the fact that "the Gore campaign was hobbled by its blind faith in elite opinion."
"Ironically but fittingly, Gore chose the limited recount to ingratiate himself with Washington — and crippled himself in the course of that futile attempt," he writes. Mr. Gore was sadly burdened with "an internal censor so strong that it wiped out not only the killer instinct but also the fighting spirit." Still, Mr. Toobin never deviates from a sense of bullying Republican swagger and decent Democrats who operated on a higher plane.
"Too Close to Call" looks so closely into the post-election struggle that the reader can learn how Mr. Gore nearly called on Erin Brockovich for help (because she had organized a large group of citizens to file a lawsuit). And it notes that James A. Baker III was called away from a prospective pheasant hunting trip in Europe with former President George Bush, Dick Cheney and the retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf when Mr. Baker's Machiavellian services were needed on the Florida front. The little details — when one of Mr. Gore's lawyers declared, "You know, I would take a bullet for that guy," his colleagues remained notably silent — are welcome in Mr. Toobin's otherwise somewhat remote examination of the fight.
In his earlier books about l'affaire Lewinsky ("A Vast Conspiracy") and especially the O. J. Simpson trial ("The Run of His Life") Mr. Toobin faced no difficulty in bringing events and personalities to life. They were all too lively on their own. Yet this book, while dealing with matters that were all-important to the nation less than a year ago, has more difficulty achieving that kind of vitality. The arcane particulars of the on-and-off recounts, along with the constantly shifting fortunes of the two groups of combatants, have the inevitable effect of making this story a knotty one.
So does the need for thumbnail sketches of those 95 people who played roles in the real-life drama. Yet not even the most memorable aspects of the confrontation, like the surreal television images of chad- counting teams hunched over ballots, emerge sharply from the book's dense legal minutiae. And the most important twists and turns of the post-election period remain too recent and well examined to be cast in a substantially new light. What does seem new and holds the most interest is Mr. Toobin's behind-the-scenes glimpses into the thinking processes of those involved.
The book describes pivotal tactics, as when it considers the Republican position of insisting that no more vote counting was necessary after an initial recount had taken place. "We need a P.R. strategy," he reports that Mr. Baker said, in response to the Democrats' simple insistence on making sure each vote be counted. "We're getting killed on `Count all the votes.' Who the hell could be against that?"
In principle, nobody could. Yet "Too Close to Call" shows how furiously and desperately even our most basic voting precepts could be subverted, from that first suggestion of Mr. Baker's all the way to the Supreme Court. "The justices," Mr. Toobin asserts bitterly about the political partisanship of their final ruling, "had apparently taken to voting in court just as they had in their voting booths on Election Day."
Hm....I wouldn't bet on it. But every vote is supposed to count, don't cha know.
They found some more votes in Florida.
You win!
When would you like to take over?
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
I would love to see the scene of Jeffey sitting at a book store with a pile of his books on the table in front of him. I bet most of Jeffy's time is spent just sitting there with nothing to do because nobody is bringing his book up to the table to be autographed since they just aren't purchasing it.
BTW, let's have a little fun here. In the weeks to come, please post all sightings of Jeffy's book and how much it is selling for. I already envision a HUGE discount in the very near future. Yes, Jeffey it won't be long until your book makes it's appearance on the Dollar Store shelves.
It's ironic about Toobin - one of the biggest rants from the Clinton spear-catchers during the impeachment wars was that "all these right-wing detractors" were "trying to get a book deal".
Jeffy certainly got a book deal, or two. He was a GOOD little Clinton spear-catcher. ;-)
In the weeks to come please post all price sightings of this book. You might even want to get permission from the book store owners to photograph Jeffy's book with the big discount price sticker with your digital cameras and post the pics on the FR. Also let's keep tabs on just how swiftly that 126 ranking falls.
Because it's FUN to see how the Left still can't get over the fact that Gore LOST. BTW, it was refreshing to see Gerald Posner admit to the TRUE motives of the liberals challenging the 2000 election. He let the cat out of the bag. Thank you, Mr. Posner, for exposing the TRUTH.
Honestly, don't we all have something better to do with our time than this? The best thing to do is just ignore Toobin and forget about his book.
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