2000 POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS #3 (November 15, 2000):
So Very Few Are Given The Chance To Make History!
To The ELECT HOBIE HOMEPAGE

"Can an election decided by half of the eligible voters -- and funded by less than 1% of the population be considered legitimate?" A. Huffington 11/13/00

Four Reasons To Eliminate the Electoral College:
    #1 "The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government."  Thomas Jefferson.  The Y2K Presidential Election could well end with one candidate winning more votes but losing in the Electoral College, and thus the election.
    #2  If no candidate receives a majority of Electoral College votes, the 435 House members, sitting in state delegations with one vote per state, selects the president; the Senate then elects the vice-president from the remaining top two candidates -- with the possibility that the president and vice-president could be from different political parties.
    #3   In most states the Electors are not required to vote for the candidate who received the most votes.
    #4  "If demographic projections hold true through the next census cycle, the Electoral College may well prove to be the ultimate ethnic or race card.  It is possible that by 2016 a young accomplished Latina on top of a third-party ticket could mount a geographically limited, ethnically based campaign.  Such a ticket could win handily by capturing only a 34% plurality victory in just a dozen of the most populous states.  Of course, one manifestation of "E Pluribus Unum" is the hope that all candidates will attempt to appeal to all Americans equally.  But an electoral system that exacerbates the effects of ethnic voting hardly facilitates that goal."  Victor Williams, Legal Times 10/2/00
Both Bush and Gore each received approximately 25% of the eligible votes.
Florida resident Dave Barry has suggested putting photographs of the candidates on the ballots to make them less confusing.  "Voters could indicate their preference by using their hole-punchers to poke the candidate of their choice in the eyeball."
"Do we live in in the Stone Age or or what?  If we can communicate to other countries at the touch of button, doesn't it make sense we should be able to record a vote without all this confusion?"  Florida resident quoted in NYT 11/15/00

Life unfolds in such marvelously unexpected ways... decent but unremarkable candidates running sometime indecent and forgettable campaigns have somehow fostered one of the most remarkable elections in our history -- in which handful of votes in several states are decisive.  Whether the people are so incredibly evenly divided, or are sending a message that neither side deserves to win, it is clear that this election is already in the history books.  And what GW Bush and Al Gore do in the next few days will be their legacy no matter what happens over the next 4 years.  These two have now have a rare opportunity to "bend history" that wasn't given to their fathers, or Bill Clinton, or indeed few others at least in peacetime.... It is a chance to to set a new tone... and set a new course...  It is a chance for simple truths, simply spoken... from the heart... for history.

Back to: Y2K POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS #1: What Bush And Gore Should Do Now
 Y2K POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS #2: The Most Remarkable Election in Our Lifetimes
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Page prepared 11/15/00;
Original material only copyright 2000; other material copyright by holders;
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