Gore is living on borrowed time
His hopes rest
on continued
public interest,
but our attention
span has expired
Nov. 27 — Al Gore is riding a bicycle. The bicycle
is his waning presidential prospects. He is still on
the bicycle, but on Sunday night the chain came
off.
GORE IS still peddling, but the wheels are slowing down.
The vice president will, on residual momentum, glide for a few
more days. But then, physics (not being subject to recount, hand
or otherwise) dictate his bicycle will stop. Gore will fall down and
go boom. Will there be any Democrats left to catch him?
Poor Al Gore. No longer a candidate as of Sunday night’s
certification but, now, simply a loser. That’s what elections do,
produce a winner and a loser.
Though you won’t hear any television anchor (i.e. Gore
cheerleader) utter the words, but George W. Bush is now
President-elect Bush. The establishment media is in denial.
Reporting on certification of Bush as the winner in Florida,
Monday’s New York Times’ front page story said the results
“were not decisive by any means…” Hello?
No longer a
candidate as of
Sunday night’s
certification, Gore
is now simply a
loser
Regardless, the Gore bicycle is slowing down now. One
Sunday night network poll showed that 60 percent of Americans
now believe Gore should concede and withdraw — and that
includes 25 percent of Gore voters!
POLITICS’ TITANIC
And that is why you have to wonder how long and how
many Democrats will stay aboard politics’ newest version of the
Titanic. When Gore looks next to him the only person standing
there is his big buddy, House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt.
The only problem is, Gephardt is reading from a different script.
Gephardt may prefer Gore for president, but what the
Congressional leader really, really wants is for Dick Gephardt to
be speaker of the House. That next election is his goal now, not
Gore’s White House dreams. So anything that makes the
Democrats look bad (like, say, a toxic sore loser presidential
candidate who whines, sues, won’t shut up and won’t go away)
makes Gephardt — and all Democrats — very nervous.
SEND IN THE CLOWNS
So what does Gore do? Short of a miracle that keeps his
bicycle upright, he must somehow sell the notion that this ain’t
over, that he can put the chain back on and win the race that is
already over.
Gore started with a refusal to concede to Bush (though just
days ago Gore pledged to honor the outcome of the Florida
court’s scheme), sending Joe Lieberman — who resembled a
sad, deflated circus clown — out to decry the certification and
vow a fight to the death.
Next, of course, Gore unleashed another flood of lawyers
and lawsuits. Then, on Monday evening, Al Gore takes to the
national airwaves to make his case to the people (again). He had
better be persuasive.
The fact is (as the polls, even now, indicate) many if not most
Americans will now be inclined to view (correctly) the election as
finished. So what is it this guy wants? Gore’s waning hopes now
rest not merely on favorable public opinion — a bad bet as it is
— but on continued public interest. But our attention span has
expired.
As of Sunday evening, the intensity of attention is diminishing
by the second. Sure, one team is protesting the outcome of the
game, but the game is over. That sound you hear is television sets
all America switching from this soap opera back to the regular
ones. Click.
And boom! There goes Al Gore. He’s fallen, and he can’t
get up.
Send The Clowns Home
-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 27, 2000
To the Editor:
Re "Bush Is Declared Winner in Florida, but Gore Vows to Contest
Results" (front page, Nov. 27):
I am disappointed that Florida's partisan secretary of state,
Katherine Harris, went ahead and certified Gov. George W. Bush the
winner despite the fact that all the votes in the disputed counties
were not manually recounted. This appears to be premature. There are
several court challenges pending, including the one at the Supreme
Court.
It is disconcerting that the Bush campaign impeded the manual
recounts from being properly conducted as allowed by the Florida
Supreme Court. Unless this matter is perceived to be settled fairly
by the courts, the American public will never know who the true
winner was in the Florida election.
The exit polls did show that Vice President Al Gore was the winner.
The question remains: Were all the votes counted, and was the will of
the people duly reflected in the outcome?
JOSH BASSON
Seattle, Nov. 27, 2000
•
Gore Must Concede
To the Editor:
Re "Bush Is Declared Winner in Florida, but Gore Vows to Contest
Results" (front page, Nov. 27):
I remain antipathetic to George W. Bush as a governor, and even more
so to him as president. But I fail to understand how Vice President
Al Gore feels he could govern effectively should he manage to
successfully contest the results in Florida.
The Republican-led Congress will never accept a Gore presidency as
legitimate and will work assiduously to block every bill Mr. Gore
tries to pass. Congress will be aided in this by a right-wing
establishment that will never relent in its attempts to delegitimize
a Gore presidency.
Though four years of a Bush presidency is a frightening prospect, Mr.
Gore no longer has any hope to be a successful leader and must
concede.
DAVID EZER
New York, Nov. 27, 2000
•
Mr. Bush, It's Not Over
To the Editor:
Re "Bush Claims Victory, Urging Gore to Bow Out" (front page, Nov.
27):
Gov. George W. Bush's speech after he was declared the victor in
Florida left me dumbfounded. How can he have the arrogance to ask
Vice President Al Gore to concede?
This election is far from over, with serious concerns in Seminole,
Miami-Dade, Nassau and Palm Beach Counties. If you ask me, Vice
President Gore is the only one acting presidential.
The Bush camp is certainly doing its best to cover up the votes. I
will have no respect for any man who tries to cover up democracy.
LISA FINK
St. Petersburg, Fla., Nov. 27, 2000
•
Disdain for Democracy
To the Editor:
In refusing to extend the deadline for Palm Beach County to submit
its recount (front page, Nov. 27), Florida's secretary of state,
Katherine Harris, displayed her disdain for democracy. By attacking
the decision of the Florida Supreme Court in her remarks after
certification, she demonstrated her lack of understanding of the
constitutional separation of powers and lack of respect for the rule
of law.
Her words and actions reveal that she has confused her role as
political advocate with her position as public official. Thus, her
certification cannot and should not be taken as a decisive moment in
this election.
She has made an election contest inevitable and necessary.
LESTER J. MAZOR
Amherst, Mass., Nov. 27, 2000
The writer is a professor of law at Hampshire College.
•
Counting for History
To the Editor:
Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election (front page,
Nov. 27), it is very important to preserve all the Florida ballots so
they may be counted in a thorough, careful and unhurried procedure
that can produce a clear and accurate record of what really happened
in the Florida election.
This seems vital both for the historical record, and as a guide in
revising a seriously flawed voting process.
DAVID CAULKINS
Los Altos, Calif., Nov. 27, 2000
•
No Legitimacy
To the Editor:
Re "Certified but Incomplete" (editorial, Nov. 27):
Unfortunately, conferring "legitimacy" to this presidential election
is no longer possible. It seems inevitable that Gov. George W. Bush
will become our next president. The tactics and arguments he has used
to achieve that goal are chilling.
Our best hope, as a nation, is to take some lessons from this
experience. First, every vote counts. Second, to count every vote, we
need an immediate technological upgrade of our vote-casting system.
Finally, we need to abolish the Electoral College. With these
changes, in future elections the aura of legitimacy can be more
clearly bestowed.
CHARLES CUTTER
Appomattox, Va., Nov. 27, 2000
•
In Their Hearts
To the Editor:
I have no doubt, as Bob Herbert says ("Gore's Numbers Crunch,"
column, Nov. 27), that Vice President Al Gore believes he won
Florida. But his supporters are not so sure, and the numbers say
otherwise.
By contrast, both Gov. George W. Bush and his supporters believe in
their hearts that Mr. Bush won Florida and that Mr. Gore is simply
trying to steal the election.
It is a battle that Mr. Gore cannot win.
DAVID E. PETERSON
Winter Park, Fla., Nov. 27, 2000
•
Republican Values
To the Editor:
Re Anthony Lewis's Nov. 25 column, "Playing With Fire":
The effort by Gov. George W. Bush and James A. Baker III to
delegitimize the Florida Supreme Court represents a serious threat to
our democratic system of government. This comes as no surprise.
Just two years ago the same Republican Party, led by Kenneth Starr
and Newt Gingrich, tried to delegitimize the election of the
president of the United States.
Why is it that the Republicans, so zealous in their advocacy of moral
values, are so driven by a lust for power and hatred of their
opponents that they try to achieve their ends by tearing down the
democratic institutions they are sworn to defend?
MORTON WACHSPRESS
Woodmere, N.Y., Nov. 25, 2000
•
Hold On to That Towel
To the Editor:
Bob Dole says it's time for Vice President Al Gore to throw in the
towel (Op-Ed, Nov. 27). But there's no consensus of urgency. We are
patiently waiting for a just resolution.
The opportunity for Mr. Gore and the American people to get an
accurate count in Florida is being hijacked. Americans want an
accurate count. We resent the obvious ineptness in Florida's vote
tabulation.
Mr. Dole, with his doom-and-gloom predictions of "confusion, anger
and ill will" being multiplied or fears of further litigation,
underestimates the common sense of the American people and their
sense of fairness.
If this election is left as it stands now, Gov. George W. Bush's
legacy will be one of doubt and possible illegitimacy, and his
victory will be viewed by half the electorate as having been achieved
by underhanded partisan chicanery.
BARBARA RASMUSSEN
Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 27, 2000
•
Dole's New Tune
To the Editor:
Bob Dole's call for Vice President Al Gore to concede to avoid
further division (Op-Ed, Nov. 27) stands in stark contrast to his
position eight years ago.
Right after the 1992 election, Mr. Dole, then the Senate minority
leader, sent a letter to G.O.P. loyalists in which he purported to
represent the 57 percent of Americans who voted against the Clinton-
Gore ticket. Republicans widely questioned the legitimacy of an
administration that would assume office with a mere plurality of the
vote.
Then as now, the issue of political legitimacy will not be
determined — or undermined — by partisans.
FAYE M. ANDERSON
Brooklyn, Nov. 27, 2000
The writer served on Bob Dole's civil rights advisory group from 1993
until 1996.
•
Taking Sides
To the Editor:
You express a common sentiment that this presidential election is "a
window onto a country split down the middle, a dysfunctional family
feud getting ever more devious, vicious and hateful" (Week in Review,
Nov. 26).
The malaise over the election is a manifestation of a seldom
acknowledged post-Vietnam War syndrome: our national discomfort with
conflict and our feverish insistence on a mythical consensus about
the values and history that shape who we are.
Instead of viewing conflicts as devious feuds, we should take sides
and demand that our leaders take sides in battles over legitimate
differences.
We should learn from Frederick Douglass, who said, "Those who profess
to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want
crops without plowing up the ground." CAROLYN HOWE
Worcester, Mass., Nov. 26, 2000
The writer is an associate professor of sociology, College of the
Holy Cross
-- What other people think (away@from.here), November 28, 2000.