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It’s
November 15. Do you know who your president is?
I
admit to having once been something of a history geek. Even now I manage to
read a little here and there and maintain my subscription to “Civil War Times
Illustrated.” That may seem an odd topic for a present-day magazine but there
is no cause for alarm; the war is still over, the outcome certain.
Which
is more than can be said for the 2000 presidential election. I hope my
great-grandchildren won’t be perusing copies of “Election 2000 Illustrated”
though it is likely to be debated that long. There are certainly a million
angles, most of which will have bent into pretzels by the time this prints.
Still, I can’t resist a few observations.
The
nation’s media have been asked, begged, and pleaded with not to release early
projections before all polls are closed. There have even been attempts at legal
bans, all knocked down on First Amendment grounds.
I
appreciate the First Amendment as much as anyone, without which I probably
couldn’t get away with this odd little hobby. If you were expecting the next
word to be “But,” there are no buts about it. We are just going to have to
depend on the basic decency and good citizenship of the media to end the kind of
national embarrassment we are experiencing in Florida.
Which is to say it
will never happen. Besides, if we’re going to suspend the press’ Constitutional
rights, let’s be a bit more creative than barring exit polls. We could start by
requiring executives of any network releasing early projections to become the
cast of the next version of “Survivor,” say somewhere near the South Pole.
Or take a cue from
our Pilgrim forbears and install stocks and dunk tanks on National Mall in
Washington DC, the country’s public square. Line up Dan Rather, Peter Jennings,
and Tom Brokaw and give ‘em a good soaking. Rather looked like he could have
used a nice cold dip for coherency’s sake in any event.
I’d like to
believe the itch in network trigger fingers is caused by nothing nastier than
lust for ratings points and the advertising bucks that come with them, but don’t
think for a minute they don’t know projections influence results. Florida was
first called while polls were still open in the conservative-trending panhandle,
which is in a different time zone than the more liberal eastern region. How
many voters there thought it was over and stayed home? And who believes that
not a single network knows about time zones?
I originally
planned to propose that errant media types be beaten, but then I thought “No,
that’s way too harsh. Beatings are for lawyers.” There has never been a
national election in which someone or another didn’t allege irregularities of
some sort, but the notion of the presidency of the United States being decided
in court gives me hives.
I can hear Johnny
Cochran now: “If the arrow’s not straight, the votes don’t rate.” I almost
prefer a proposal by the government of Cuba, which has graciously offered to
send observers to ensure a fair recount.
Then there is the
demand for a new vote in some counties. Folks, there are no Mulligans in
national elections. I have seen pictures of the Palm Beach ballot, with arrows
directly from the candidates’ names to the correct punch holes, and find the
suggestion that elderly and minority voters were confused to be absurd and
insulting. The same form is used elsewhere without fuss.
The 19,000
“discarded” ballots in Palm Beach are now said not to be uncounted rejects at
all, but ballots exchanged for new ones by folks who made errors. This is about
the same rate as in 1996.
There should be
one recount, with no last minute rule changes or attempts to “interpret”
improperly completed ballots. When Florida’s final certified tally is announced
Friday, may Governor Bush and Vice President Gore muster at least the dignity
Richard Nixon displayed in 1960 by accepting the results without legal
challenge, public relations battles, or repeated recount demands.
© 1997 – 2002 Brent
Morrison
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