Presidential Election 2000 and the continuing crisis in Florida have highlighted the major shortfall we have in politics today – a lack of real leadership.
Since the election was so close in Florida, what should have happened? I think the American public would have been reassured to see the two principles go into a room by themselves and decide upon a mutually agreed upon course of action to decide the outcome in Florida. Instead our next president sought the counsel of countless lawyers and public opinion wizards to shape their direction. Neither candidate has really spoken to the American public but rather said what they thought needed to be said to support their case.
Gov. George W. Bush’s direction has been to oppose any kind of manual recount. Vice President Al Gore has sought to do manual recounts in three of 67 counties. Does anyone besides me think that neither of these approaches is fair? How can you recount only three of 67 counties? If the vote is in question, why not hand recount all the counties in Florida provided that each county is given the same standard to evaluate ballots to determine the “will of the voter.” My concern is that neither side will ever agree that they lost and the final outcome will be based on who has the better lawyers. If the two candidates cannot agree on how to decide this issue, then the losers are the American people. We have failed to elect a leader!
Snohomish
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