Election 2000 will be remembered as a historical event for a number of reasons. Most notably, the Florida election provides great drama for the public. There were over 100 million voters across the country who participated in the election. This reverses what had been a trend of growing voter apathy. Yet, the contested nature of this election will likely have negative consequences. There appears to be a growing hostility toward candidates in the opposition parties.
Illustration A (at right) captures Bush/Cheney supporters continuing the chants that Gore and Lieberman are "sore losers." The sign partially visible in the left corner calls Gore voters stupid (in reference to claims voters had difficulty marking butterfly ballots).
This is dangerous as both camps can claim unofficial victory. The confusion was precipitated by the false victory announcements made by the media on election night. Around 9pm EST, CNN and other TV affiliates showed Gore the winner in Florida; they remanded their decision and placed Florida in a "too close to call status" about two hours later. As we know, the media announced Bush the winner in Florida about 3am EST.
Until the Florida Supreme Court allows Secreatary of State Harris to announce her official certification, the contest remains deadlocked. The Court ordered Secretary Harris not to make an official announcement on Friday, Nov. 17th.
In a CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll, researchers asked supporters from each party whether they would accept the other party's candidate as the legitimate president. Illustrations B and C highlight the results. About a quarter of Gore supporters claim they would not respect the legitimacy of a Bush presidency; nearly twice as many Republicans feel this way about Gore.
Much of this hostility is fueled by the representatives for the candidates. In the Sunday edition of the Albuquerque Journal, the writers stated that, "The Losers Will Never Give Up." Karen Hughes, Bush spokeperson, continues her argument that, "Florida's votes have been counted and recounted, and in some counties recounted three or four times." She echoes the common sentiment from Republicans that Democrats are trying to "make up votes."
Election officials defend the multiple recounts as machine counts resulted in suspect totals. Machine counting of punch card ballots does miss votes, and canvassing officials moved to recount by hand.
Illustration A: Bush Supporters Call Gore Sore Losersource: CNN - November 20, 2000
Illustration B: Hostility within Gore Ranks
source: CNN - November 20, 2000
Illustration C: Hostility in Bush Rankssource: CNN - November 20, 2000
Newsweek magazine asked Americans about this (11/19/00). They questioned whether it was more important to get "matters resolved as soon as possible so we know who our next president is" or to make "certain to remove all reasonable doubt that the vote count had been fair and accurate." Nearly two-thirds of Americans, 61%, said it is more important to be fair and accurate.
Voters should support their respective candidates, but they must realize we remain Americans first. While many argue there are major and significant differences between Vice President Gore and Governor Bush, the loser is not tossed from the political process. Those who claim they will not respect the legitimacy of the eventual president, on either side, are the sore losers in this election -- sadly, this appears to be about 70% of the electorate.
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