2000-12-13
Bush the winner - but is there a bright side?, posted at 06:33:12
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Well, it looks like Dubya has won it.I'm embarassed for our country.
But here's some good things about it:
1. No matter who got in after this 35-day legal battle, he would be forever tainted in the eyes of history, and almost certainly be a one-termer. There is so much diviseness right now in Congress that the President - no matter who he would be - would not be able to get anything done. He'll be ineffectual. The election has made nearly everyone get a bad taste in their mouth, and the "winner" will be a product of that bad taste. At least Bush will be that product and not Gore.
2. Let's face it - Gore should have won this election by 20 points. He could not capture the imagination or the hearts of the American people. With our economy, there is no reason this election should have been even close. I like Al Gore and wish he would have won the election, but he's not someone who inspires. He's not Jed Bartlett from "The West Wing". We need a new face on the Democratic party, and this gives us an opportunity to do that. The party disappoints me frequently, like Gore's stance on capitol punishment (it should be part of the party's platform that our government not be a legal killer of people, and eventually should become an amendment to the Constitution that it be barred) and it hedgy policies on things like gay rights and race relations. The swift move to the middle is disappointing. The names that could surface in the 2004 or 2008 election are exciting. Bill Bradley. Hillary Clinton. Barbara Boxer. We do need some new hope in the party, and a Gore presidency would have prevented that - he would have been a one-termer because of the sorry state of Washington right now, and is ultimately too conservative to accurately represent my views. Don't get me wrong, I like Gore. But I see the value of getting a new face in there.
3) Bush will be in office for only 4 years. How badly can he screw up? The country is not behind him. He didn't even get the freakin' popular vote! He'll get nothing done. We'll have to endure that horrible smirk for the next four years, but it could be worse.
4) If Gore would have won the legal battle, his presidency would arguably be more in question by the general public than Bush's is.
5) The election will hopefully correct a lot of the ills of past election, and everyone will realize the importance of your vote. This will probably help the left-leaning parties more than the right-leaning parties.
There's my take on it. I'm disappointed Gore didn't get in, but there are good points.