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2000 election row a tired argument
San Antonio Express-News ^ | 09/27/2003 | J. Francis Gardner

Posted on 09/28/2003 5:29:33 PM PDT by ellery

Al Gore lost Florida's 25 electoral votes — and the presidency — nearly three years ago, but the carping and whining from Democrats hasn't stopped. Admittedly, it's tough on Gore supporters to see his slim popular-vote victory leave him short of the Oval Office. Constitutionally speaking, however, Gore lost where it matters: in the Electoral College.

But dyspeptic Democrats don't launch their tirades solely at the college. They continue to spew the twin lies that President Bush "stole" the Florida election or was anointed by a conservative Supreme Court. A review of the facts debunks both.

All Florida election statutes in force during the 2000 campaign were passed years earlier by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate and were signed into law by a Democrat governor.

The Gore team never alleged misconduct, fraud or corruption in the course of the recount effort.

The Gore team never requested a statewide recount of the so-called "undervote." They knew such a task could never be completed before the Dec. 12 federal deadline for states to resolve election disputes.

The four counties chosen by the Gore team for selective recounts (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Volusia) are liberal bastions. Precinct by precinct, the recount process was controlled by Democrats. Any shenanigans would have occurred on their watch.

At the trial court level, where statutory law is applied to case facts, the Gore team lost every decision. The most famous being Gore v. Harris, in which Judge N. Sanders Sauls (a Democrat) allowed certification of election results to proceed on schedule.

The Florida Supreme Court's failure to practice judicial restraint and to respect separation of powers was so egregious, it was publicly humiliated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board generated an appellate decision so muddled that the Supreme Court vacated the Florida court's decision and remanded it back for further review — along with a legalistic admonishment that the higher court couldn't understand what the Florida supremes were trying to say.

Bush v. Gore was not decided 5-4 by the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court. The vote was 7-2, with Justices David Souter and Stephen Breyer joining William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy.

This majority reversed the Florida Supreme Court's order for a statewide recount because the standards for determining voter intent would have varied from county to county, thus violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The 5-4 vote condemned by sulking Democrats involved remedy: what to do about it. Souter, Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens would have allowed the recount to continue. The majority court recognized that the Florida court "significantly departed from the statutory framework in place on election day" when it authorized open-ended vote recounts that could not be completed by Dec. 12.

A consortium of news organizations, including the New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post, published its report of the recount controversy after 12 months of analyzing the undervote.

"The United States Supreme Court did not award an election to Mr. Bush that otherwise would have been won by Mr. Gore. A close examination of the ballots found that Mr. Bush would have retained a slender margin over Mr. Gore if the Florida court's order to recount more than 43,000 ballots had not been reversed.

"Even under the strategy that Mr. Gore pursued at the beginning of the Florida standoff — filing suit to force hand recounts in four predominantly Democratic counties — Mr. Bush would have kept his lead."

Clip this column, laminate it and save it. Next time a Democrat rants about the 2000 election, whip it out. Tell him to vent at the person who really did keep Gore out of the White House: Ralph Nader.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2000; florida; gore; soreloserpeople
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1 posted on 09/28/2003 5:29:33 PM PDT by ellery
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To: ellery
The Democrats got their heads handed to them last year. If they still think Florida is a winner, they're invited to bring up the issue again in 2004.
2 posted on 09/28/2003 5:31:45 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: ellery
What? The 2000 Election stuff? When did this happen?


;0)
3 posted on 09/28/2003 5:49:57 PM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (I like my women like I like my coffee - Hot, and in a big cup)
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To: ellery

4 posted on 09/28/2003 5:59:10 PM PDT by 4mycountry (You say I'm a brat like it's a bad thing.)
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To: ellery
Great article
George Will had a couple columns that deserve to be laminated to the back of this one;

"Gore is back, breathing fire and revising history"
Nov. 21, 2002
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will112102.asp

"Gore, Hungry for Power"
Nov. 13, 2000
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/will111300.asp

On second thought - libs won't read the first one or understand, so Will's are just more to which they can close their little minds.
5 posted on 09/28/2003 6:03:41 PM PDT by FormerlyAnotherLurker
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

To: Chad Fairbanks
And who's the "Gore" person they keep talking about?
7 posted on 09/28/2003 6:15:56 PM PDT by ellery
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To: ellery
And the article didn't mention the networks "accidentally" called the election for Gore when it appeared he'd won Florida - EVEN THOUGH THE PANHANDLE IS IN A DIFFERENT TIMEZONE AND PEOPLE WERE STILL VOTING.

Depending on which survey you believe, between 1-3 million voters on the west coast decided not to vote when they heard Gore declared a winner.
8 posted on 09/28/2003 6:16:57 PM PDT by Peach (The Clintons have pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: ellery
Excellent find!!!

The article is exactly freeping right on all counts. This is a keeper.
9 posted on 09/28/2003 6:25:27 PM PDT by RandyRep
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To: ellery
Wasn't he a senator from Tennessee during the 60s?
10 posted on 09/28/2003 6:25:47 PM PDT by Chad Fairbanks (I like my women like I like my coffee - Hot, and in a big cup)
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To: ellery
And who's the "Gore" person they keep talking about?


11 posted on 09/28/2003 6:28:45 PM PDT by Timesink
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To: ellery
BUMP!
12 posted on 09/28/2003 6:29:50 PM PDT by jmstein7
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To: Timesink
Ah. . . Lesley Gore. . . It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.

Does remind one of the Democratic Party, but it sure ruins the memory of a song sung by a teenage girl with a lovely voice.
13 posted on 09/28/2003 6:32:40 PM PDT by fqued (They spend spend spend, then tax tax tax; and where are the jobs? gone gone gone)
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To: ellery
Journalism called states for Gore early, with low statistical reliability, and called states for Bush only grudgingly, when the result was far more certain. Even unto calling FL for Gore before all the polls in the state were closed, when Bush was the actual winner.

But let a cousin of GWB help call the FL election correctly, and long after all the polls in the country were closed, and journalism ranted about the possible establishment of an illegitmate "expectation" by that correct call--and essentially ignored the fact that it had called FL wrong. This is only to be understood as an admission that their fast calls for Gore were intended precisely for the purpose of favoring Gore the way they accused FNC of favoring Bush.

Journalism believes in the power of PR, and journalism took its best PR shot at giving Gore the election. From journalism's perspective it should not have been possible, but Bush won. So of all the constituencies of the Democratic Party, IMHO it is Journalism which is most aggrieved.

14 posted on 09/28/2003 6:38:07 PM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (The everyday blessings of God are great--they just don't make "good copy.")
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To: ellery
Tell him to vent at the person who really did keep Gore out of the White House: Ralph Nader.

And just like Cosmo Kramer with no underwear, Nader was "lovin' every minute of it!"
15 posted on 09/28/2003 6:39:29 PM PDT by visualops (Costs of fighting the War on Terror are significant, cost of not fighting are unimaginable-Gillespie)
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To: fqued
Gee...
I'm disappointed.

None of the moron responces "we are a democracy" showed up yet in this thread?

16 posted on 09/28/2003 6:39:43 PM PDT by Publius6961 (californians are as dumb as a sack of rocks.)
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To: Publius6961
None of the moron responces "we are a democracy" showed up yet in this thread?

One of truly fun lines in the Constitution is that the gummint is supposed to guarantee each state a REPUBLICAN form of government.
17 posted on 09/28/2003 6:42:29 PM PDT by fqued (They spend spend spend, then tax tax tax; and where are the jobs? gone gone gone)
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To: goldstategop
The Rat’s spin machine knows this, but I expect them to lie, because that’s what they do. What gets me is the way this “big lie” has filtered down to the rank, and file.

One of the members of my NTN trivia group is a Harvard lawyer who graduated with honors. I presume she has a finely tuned legal mind that even though she was indoctrinated in law school (she took a class taught by Archibald Cox, and was friends with Ruth Ginsberg’s daughter) has the ability to understand the decision, but won’t say so. I can’t wait to see her response when I show her this article. I just love Freerepublic.
18 posted on 09/28/2003 6:44:57 PM PDT by dix
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To: ellery
All of this would be moot if Al Gore had won his home state. Even in their landslide losses, Mondale and Dukakis carried their home states.

19 posted on 09/28/2003 7:19:15 PM PDT by mwfsu84
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To: mwfsu84
All of this would be moot if Al Gore had won his home state. Even in their landslide losses, Mondale and Dukakis carried their home states.

I'm pretty sure Gore carried Washington DC... ;)
20 posted on 09/28/2003 7:41:47 PM PDT by swilhelm73
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