Sour Grapes

The way things have gone on in what has become the national free-for-all the past week only shows how desperate Al Gore is to hold on to power. The nation had spoken, and the Vice President was continuing to reinvent his personality – only this time, it was not a daily habit like it was during the campaign, it was hourly after the election was called in favor of George W. Bush. If you will remember, he came out saying that the Electoral College is the way established by the Constitution to effect the peaceful transfer of power. The next thing you know, he is challenging the very process he had previously defended less than 24 hours earlier.

On Election Night, when the networks declared Bush the President-elect, Gore made a concession call to President-elect George W. Bush. An hour later, he retracted his concession and Bush is no longer the President-elect as the media whores that are backing Gore put Florida back into the undecided column for the second time that night. First, they gave it to Gore and then it went undecided, then to Bush and then back to undecided.

If you recall, they (the media) gave the state to Gore shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m., which was an hour before the polls closed in the western part of the state. Remember folks; there are two time zones in Florida – Central and Eastern. This action in all likelihood kept predominantly Republican voters in the western part of the state at home as they were discouraged by the way-too-premature call made by the likes of Peter Jennings and his competitors at the other networks. The next thing you know, he is challenging the vote in Florida, which after closer review, was his right. Pursuant to Florida law, if the margin of victory is less than 0.5 percent, and it was for Bush (0.03 percent), a recount is mandatory. The recount was held and Bush was declared the winner of the recount.

Now the Democrats, most notably led by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Gore campaign chairman William Daley of the Chicago Daley Machine (pictured left and right) are in Florida, along with former Secretary of State James Baker III and other lawyers representing the Bush team. Do not get me wrong – I understand the legitimate need for lawyers to be present for the recount from both sides of the aisle. This helps to ensure a fair and accurate count and recount. But I draw the line at a hand recount, as that is an opportunity for misinterpretation of the results, as balloting machine counters are neither Republican nor Democrat.

Then there is the issue of voter fraud. There are reports that in Palm Beach County and other heavily Democratic areas, that many ballots were pre-punched for Gore, so that when a voter went into the booth and voted for Gore, they were pushing their punch through an existing hole – but if they voted for Bush, that created a second hole in the ballot, thus invalidating the ballot in its entirety. One cannot help but wonder that if this is true, that Bush may have won by a substantial margin. A new vote in Florida is not permitted under state law, and the possibility that this election may be decided without the Florida vote is also a possibility.

There will be a court hearing later today in Florida as Republicans have filed a court challenge to the hand recount. In addition, the Secretary of State for Florida has said that the deadline of 5 p.m. today for the counting of ballots will not be extended under any circumstances. The argument that the Palm Beach County “butterfly” ballot was confusing is specious at best. That ballot was used in 1996 and there were no complaints from Democrats – in fact, the ballot was designed by a Democrat and approved by Democrats and Republicans before it was allowed to be to put into use. What’s more, I have used the butterfly ballot with punch cards myself, and found them to be simple and very easy to operate. One would have to be what we described in my Guard unit as “a rock with lips” to be unable to follow the simple instructions that go with using the ballot. The machine is designed in such a manner that the card cannot be put in wrong, and any claims to the contrary are way off base.

Lest one think that voter fraud is unique to Florida, guess again. The Atlanta Journal and Constitution said that the dead would be turning out in record numbers this year to vote, and the GOP is filing a criminal complaint with the Milwaukee County (Wisconsin) District Attorney’s Office that the balloting process was compromised and corrupted due to lack of proper controls and accountability of ballots used in the election there last week.

The bottom line of Gore losing - and he did lose - what is his last shot at the presidency is simply this: He lost his home state of Tennessee to Governor Bush, and had he won, those 11 electoral votes would have put him over the top, and this would all be academic. However, he is a petulant brat who, like Clinton, wants it either his way or no way at all. He does not however, have anything close to Clinton’s charisma. Clinton can charm the spots off a leopard, whereas Gore is like Mondale, another prominent Democrat who went on to become a has-been and never-will-be-again – both have the personality of a doorknob.

To prevent another recurrence of this sour grapes scenario of a challenger trying to steal the presidency of the United States from the legitimate winner, Congress needs to IMMEDIATELY address this issue when it convenes in January. The following legislation should be passed.

1. Uniform closing time for polls – in much the same manner as a live event is broadcast, such as 10 Eastern, 9 Central, 8 Mountain, 7 Pacific, 6 Alaska and 5 Hawaii time etc. I had mentioned this in my last column, and it is an idea whose time has come.

2. Voter Registration Cards sent out to voters that must be brought to the polling place in addition to photo ID and proof of citizenship. This will stop “pre-approved” voter registration cards like the ones in California that were sent to non-citizen immigrants. These cards would be retained at the polling station in order to prevent duplicate voting. The number of retained cards would be compared to the number of ballots cast in order to ensure one person, one vote.

3. If a voter does note register at their new address within 30 days of the election, they would not be eligible to vote at their new location, but would have to vote absentee in their old location, thus ensuring them their right to vote, while not allowing them the chance to vote twice. Also, the voters should be required to provide their full name and date of birth for voter registration purposes in order that those who own two homes in different locations do not get the chance to vote twice. Most computers should be able to catch duplicates this way without requiring Social Security numbers in the process.

4. Impose heavy fines of $50,000 minimum and three years in federal prison on those poll workers who coax or otherwise attempt to either influence or intimidate citizens who are exercising their legal right to vote

Safeguards such as these will help assist in preserving the integrity of the political process, and ensure the importance of one person, one vote. It will also help the Al Gores of the world from subverting the Constitution and attempting another coup-d-etat in the United States.

• Photo of Warren Christopher (left) and William Daley (right) courtesy of the Associated Press

You can e-mail your comments to Timothy at trollins@idirect.com.

Copyright © 2000 by Timothy Rollins.
All Rights Reserved.

-Published with permission