# Did many military men fear that Clinton would suspend elections? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 12, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204 "2003-04-12T04:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/21 "2003-04-13T05:29:56Z")
I think the second paragraph of **Hermann’s** post answers the question pretty succinctly (albeit anecdotally): ``` ***Possibly yes.*** ``` As for any **factual** basis to said fears: _show me and I’ll believe it_. Oh, and **Hermann** : didn’t George Bush and the Republicans try to disenfranchise the votes of poor and/or black people during the 2000 elections? Yes or no. I distinctly remember the Republicans trying to block the poor/black vote during the Florida fiasco. And speaking as a non-veteran, I do not hate George Bush, and have no fears that he plans to cancel the 2004 election. If there are nutcases claiming the contrary, please show proof. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hermann Cheruscan \* > \*\*Didn’t Al Gore and the Democrats try to disenfranchise the vote of veterans overseas during the 2000 elections? Yes or no. I distinctly remember the Democrats trying to block the overseas servicemember vote during the Florida fiasco. > > Oh, by the way, being a veteran myself, and still working daily around Marines, I can tell you that they had nothing but hatred for Clinton. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermann_Cheruscan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/22 "2003-04-13T06:10:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I distinctly remember the Republicans trying to block the poor/black vote during the Florida fiasco. Really? Please tell us more! The Florida fiasco was about the liberal Florida Supreme Court rewriting Florida law in order to allow for ballots which had been illegally/ incorrectly marked. Are you trying to insinuate that the poor/ black population of Florida is too stupid to fill out a ballet correctly? I certainly hope not. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/23 "2003-04-13T12:23:15Z")
Well, it’s clear from Hermann’s post that when it comes to rabid Clinton-hating, any excuse will do, even the incredibly dopey notion of Clinton suspending the 2000 election. Makes ya proud to be an American. Oh, wait, I’m Canadian. Whew. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/24 "2003-04-13T12:40:59Z")
For starters, **Hermann** , there’s [this](http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Election_Reform/Never_Again.html). My point (in relation to the OP) is that legitimate tactics employed by either party will always be considered unfair by the opposing party. And both parties were doing everything they could get away with to win the election – that’s what parties do. FTR, my own opinion is that the 2000 election was won fairly by Bush (who I voted for, incidentally) – it basically came out a tie, at which point the appropriate procedures kicked in. Try to imagine how _you’d_ feel, though, if the election had ended differently, as a result of a 5-4 SCOTUS vote. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/25 "2003-04-13T12:52:07Z")
Clinton? No. Bush and Ashcroft? Absolutely. Not only that, but if Bush did suspend elections, the GOP would fully support him in turning America into a one-party state. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/26 "2003-04-13T12:58:03Z")
**gobear** : Bush and Ashcroft? No. Secret Location Cheney, plus Ashcroft and Rumsfeld. Bush is the disposable front-man. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/27 "2003-04-13T14:39:37Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Hermann Cheruscan_ > Are you trying to insinuate that the poor/ black population of Florida is too stupid to fill out a ballet correctly? I certainly hope not. Them blacks, they just ain’t too good at choreographing dance routines. > [@](#): > > Really? Please tell us more! [about the Republicans trying to block the poor/black vote during the Florida fiasco] from [here](http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch9.html) > [@](#): > > This disenfranchisement of Florida voters fell most harshly on the shoulders of African Americans. Statewide, based on county-level statistical estimates, African American voters were nearly 10 times more likely than white voters to have their ballots rejected in the November 2000 election. > > Poorer counties, particularly those with large minority populations, were more likely to use voting systems with higher spoilage rates than more affluent counties with significant white populations… [e]ven in counties where the same voting technology was used, blacks were far more likely to have their votes rejected than whites. > > […] > > African Americans had a significantly greater chance of being listed on Florida’s mandated purge list. The probability of names of African Americans appearing on the list in error was significantly greater than the likelihood of the names of whites being erroneously included on the purge list. > > The state of Florida’s use of this purge list, combined with the state law that places the burden on voters to remove themselves from the list, resulted in denying countless African Americans the right to vote. More first hand accounts here: [http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch2.htm](http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/vote2000/report/ch2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/28 "2003-04-13T14:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m no Clinton fan, but that’s one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard on this Board. No way. Ditto ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/29 "2003-04-13T17:11:15Z")
**Hermann** , so what if they hated Bubba. The question is if there was a widespread concern that he’d somehow attempt an auto-coup. I have a hard time imagining even the most anti-Clinton military career man thinking Willie had it in him. And God Bless the Founding Fathers, for making sure the CinC is the guy selected by the Electors and the generals/admirals have jack-squat to say about it but “Yes, Sir!” PFC JRDelirious ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/30 "2003-04-13T17:41:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Clinton? No. > > Bush and Ashcroft? Absolutely. Not only that, but if Bush did suspend elections, the GOP would fully support him in turning America into a one-party state. \*\* My, oh my, but liberals are starting to truly distinguish themselves by their stupidity. To further prove this, I bet that the liberals who read my post think that I’m a conservative. I’m not. I’m an antistupidarian. This means that I am usually opposed to all conservatives and all liberals. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/31 "2003-04-13T21:07:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*My, oh my, but liberals are starting to truly distinguish themselves by their stupidity. > To further prove this, I bet that the liberals who read my post think that I’m a conservative. I’m not. I’m an antistupidarian. This means that I am usually opposed to all conservatives and all liberals. \*\* Ahem, I am no liberal, but a Libertarian who fears for the future of civil liberties in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/32 "2003-04-14T15:30:29Z")
Clinton suspend an election? Not a chance in the world. Nothing else in life made Slick Willy feel validated. His was a career based on single-minded adherence to one core principle - campaigning to get re-elected. That’s all he did, or wanted to do. Clinton would no more suspend an election than a crackhead delay his next pipe. He was a horribly bad President, but not horribly bad in that particular way. The idiosyncracies of his personality would not allow him to be. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/33 "2003-04-14T19:06:21Z")
The only person I ever heard suggest such a thing was Mancow. 'Nuff said. Oh, and I’m a liberal and I also think that the idea of Bush doing anything like that is nonsense. He might do a lot of other things, but not that. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/34 "2003-04-14T19:37:46Z")
I seriously doubt Bush would try to suspend the election. He’d have his ass handed to him, politically. No, mailed to him, in individual pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204/35 "2003-04-14T19:49:18Z")
My friend in the U.S. Foreign Service was in Bulgaria in 1992. After the November elections, she was asked, over and over, by people there, “What would happen if Bush refuses to step down?” She tried to explain: "He lost the election. He will leave office. That’s how it is in America. If Clinton…or Bush…or whoever follows them…tries to seize control (“Seven Days in May”) the rioting here will make the rioting in Baghdad look like an English High Tea. Trinopus [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-many-military-men-fear-that-clinton-would-suspend-elections/168204.md?page=1)