Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510

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All hat and no cattle

By Mohamed Hakki

Even before Secretary of State for Florida Katherine Harris certified the final count in the 2000 Presidential election, the Democrats announced they would contest the result and thus prolong the trauma the United States had already suffered for19 days. It was most apt that the leading article of the New York Times supplement Week in Review's was entitled "Divided We Stand". The article referred to the elections as "a window onto a country split down the middle, a dysfunctional family feud getting ever more devious, vicious, and hateful".

Since the election Americans have been saying there was no "constitutional crisis", that sooner or later sane voices would prevail and the situation would be resolved. Like many of my colleagues, I was appalled at the degree of polarisation of national dialogue, disgusted by the verbal mud-slinging and dazed by the venomous invective that had become the order of the day. I was waiting for the elder statesmen to step forward and say: "Enough is enough", I thought the key to ending to the circus lay in Vice President Gore's hands. I thought that, of all the Democrats in America, he more than anyone else must know -- and must have known all along -- that this was his election to lose. That is why he would now gain much more in stature and respect if he read the results and accepted -- as hard as it must be for him -- defeat.

But judging by Gore's actions so far, analysts have said Gore knows his chances of being selected to run for the presidency a second time are slim, despite the precedent set by Richard Nixon, who lost to John Kennedy in 1960 but won in 1968. Al Gore, however, is not a statesman. As they say here in Texas, he is "all hat and no cattle". That is why he will continue to be driven to contest the results of the Florida vote. For the sake of his ego he will drag his party and his country through litigation in the courts, a process unprecedented in the history of America.

Up to now it can be said that American democracy has been sorely tested, but it is still functioning. The quirks and technologically experimental balloting systems in states such as Florida can be fixed later. Right now, all eyes will be on President-elect Bush, notwithstanding the battles that will continue to be waged by Gore and the Democrats in the courts. Those close to Gore say he is frustrated, even at times embarrassed, by the legal manoeuvering he has set in motion in his quest to prove he won the election in Florida. But the armies of lawyers he has already unleashed will continue to egg him on to continue litigating and contesting, despite the near-impossible task of overturning the election results. The burden of proof is now upon him, and it will be difficult to prove his point.

This is how the argument goes: the Democrats say state law provides broad grounds for contesting election results. They say that if the votes of Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties are recounted and tabulated, the results will be in Gore's favour. The Republicans say that the votes have already been counted and recounted twice. They say that even after Vice President Gore applied to change the rules, and the votes were recounted by hand, they (the Republicans) still won. They say that when Gore asked the Supreme Court of Florida to force a recount in Miami-Dade County, the Court turned him down. To go back to the same court to request the same thing again, Gore must have evidentiary proof that there was good reason for the courts to reconsider.

There is another very important element which will weigh heavily on Gore. That is that the people of America are waiting for the national healing process to begin immediately after a winner, any winner, is declared. As it is, Americans have always known that all the institutions that control the outcome of this election -- the legislature, the Florida Secretary of State, the Florida Supreme Court, the local election officials and Congress -- are subject to claims of partisan bias. However, with the exception of the Supreme Court, all these institutions are popularly elected. Six of the Supreme Court justices have been appointed by a Democratic governor. But the people accepted their decisions and are willing to respect the verdict. What they want now is closure. Al Gore will not give them this, at least not until 12 December. He insists on dragging the nation back into what has been described as the "twilight world of dimpled and pregnant chads", the enormous squabble over "voter intent" and the slippery slope mud slinging and accusations and counter-accusations that the public are very clearly tired of.

Since Sunday's anouncement a number of Democrats have been suggesting that Gore should reconsider. Many commentators are pointing out that, as the momentum continues, it will become harder for him to reverse the process. If he continues, Gore has very little time to prove his point. The deadline for the Florida electors is December 12. Polls indicate that 79 per cent of respondents believe it impossible for a Florida recount to be completely accurate, yet 8 out of 10 say they will accept either candidate as the "legitimate" winner of the election. An ABC-Washington Post survey found 7 out of 10 respondents saying that, no matter which man lost the recount, the loser should not challenge it, even if the loser thought the voting was not entirely fair.

Is there any chance Gore may still pull it off? Maybe, but it is a very long shot. Last year he told an aide: "I'm not like George Bush. If he wins or loses, life goes on. I'll do anything to win." It is sad for Al Gore to see himself defeated in the one race he has devoted his entire life to attain. But it would be sadder if he leaves the stage as a sore loser.

Related stories:
Bushestan defeats Gorestan
The Florida fiasco 23 - 29 November 2000
The Undecided States of America 23 - 29 November 2000
Democracy laid bare 16 - 22 November 2000
See US Election 2000

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