#1)No matter who wins, they’ll have a hard time being effective after all that’s going on now.
#2)Pads his image as a ‘stand up dude’ who cares about the good of the country.
#3)No matter who wins, Hillary will try to rip them a new a$$hole in 2004 in her bid to become queen bitch of the world, and she would have a much easier time with Bush than Gore, at least immediately.
This way if Bush wanted to run in 2004, he’s got a good boost to his image, he avoids the lame duck-ness of a 2000 presidential term, which would undoubtedly be harder on him than on Gore, and he can let Hillary and Gore tear each other up in the primaries and then possibly pick up the pieces.
Let it be known that I really don’t want to see Gore in the White House (censorship=bad), but I guess that’s a GD.
and how do you figure this? I agree that no matter who lands in the White House come January, they can’t really claim any “clear mandate”. However, with the Republicans still controlling both houses of Congress (or at best 50/50 in the Senate), it’s clear that Gore would have an uphill battle advancing any agenda, but Bush???
Whoever wins will have a buttload of public opinion against them, feeling they ‘stole’ the election, no matter what. Having half the country against you does more harm than having half the country for you benefits you(hope that made sense). It will be harder on Bush for the simple fact that he has a reputation for being a goof and is easier to pick on.
absolutely, whoever is there will hear drums of “isn’t fair” for 4 years. Bush will get to hear over and over that he didn’t win the popular vote. But Gore would hear “crybaby” over and over, so that’s even.
And, either would get the late night comedians joke fest going. For every “goof” joke there was at least one “robot” one for Gore. so that’s even.
Now, as far as advancing any legislation, the President signs legislation or vetos. For the legislation to advance, a simple majority needs to vote for it. The Senate (at best) is 50/50 (or has a Republican majority), but tie breakers would go to the Veep. So, if Bush is in, then the Senate would be 51/50 Rep. In either case, the House has a clear Republican majority, so it can be argued that Gore would have a more difficult time advancing his agenda than Bush.
Remember, roughly half of the country voted for ** the “goof” (as you call him). look back on some of the debates here, the Bush supporters were quite verbal about claiming he ** wasn’t a goof.
So, again, where’s it harder for Bush? Anything that would be made difficult for Bush would be equally true with Gore, and the legislature would, it seems, be closer to Bush than Gore.
It seems we mostly agree. I didn’t say Bush is a goof, I just said that’s the reputation he has, and probably among many who voted for him. People like to pick on republicans, and Bush makes it easy(er), IMHO.
The problem is that Gore and Bush can concede all they want and it doesn’t change a damn thing.
If Bush concedes to Gore but the Florida goes to him (an actual revote seems unlikely so that will likely be the case) it doesn’t matter that he conceded. He then has to convince the very Republican electors that they should vote for Gore.
So, not only does Bush have to concede but he would have to actively campaign on Gore’s behalf. So if he concedes but fails to convince those electors to change their votes we have a president that actively worked to not be president.
At this point the only concession that could really do anything useful would be for Gore to concede and then try to head off any significant legal action contesting the count.
Gore can give it to Bush, but I don’t see any easy way for Bush to give it to Gore (assuming the current recount stands).
I voted for Bush but have been hoping that the recount would shift to Gore so that Bush could do what you suggested.
The greatest irony of all would be if Florida flipped to Gore but the popular vote flipped to Bush when the absentee ballots are all counted (there are still at least 1 million uncounted absentee ballots in California).
gore should concede the election to bush and democrats should make an effort to be mature about it for the next four years because if somehow gore ends up winning by a florida re-vote, there is absolutely no chance that republicans will be mature about it for the next four years, based on how they’ve acted during the last eight years.
Because he’s a Compassionate Conservative, so he has compassion on those who tried to vote for his opponent, but they wound up punching the wrong hole.
He remembers all the second chances in life he was lucky enough to receive, and figures they deserve a second chance for their votes to count properly.
Because he’s a man of character, and will bring honor and decency back to this Presidential election. If it becomes clear that thousands more people went to the polls in FL intending to vote for Gore than for him, he will show character and concede that a funky ballot shouldn’t swindle his opponent out of a victory in Florida. He will gracefully concede the state, and thereby the nation, to Gore.
And he will instantly become the front-runner for 2004 the minute Gore runs into any problems, or if the economy tanks.
I don’t see how Gore can lose, even if he does lose. He’s got a quarter of a million vote lead in the popular vote count; if Bush wins the Electoral College count with any doubt about how it was achieved, Gore’s supporters are going to be crying foul every day that Bush is in office.
Imagine you’re Gore. You’ve spent over a year of your life (and some say he’s been preparing for this a lot longer than that, which you can’t say of Bush) traveling, making speeches, raising money, shaking hands, doing everything you possibly can to win, and then this happens. If you lose, fine; you’ll make a gracious concession speech and go back to Washington and start packing. But you’ve got to know in your soul that you really did lose. Of course you’re going to fight for this. What kind of a president would you make if you didn’t? But why do the Republicans expect him to just be a patsy and roll over and concede?
I just hate the way the Bush people are trying to make us believe this thing is over and decided, proceeding with the transition, playing with our heads. Knock it off! You’re only going to make Bush look bad if he wins!
I’m not saying that Bush can be forced to be President. He can decline, but doing so does not give it to Gore should the Electoral College still vote for Bush.
Just like Mel Carnahan dying did not give it to Ashcroft.
Bush can concede and refuse to be president but if the Electoral College still says Bush that just means the House of Representatives is going to pick someone.
This sort of grotesque enlargement of the term “compassion” to encompass “doing whatever it takes to make XXX happy” gets tiresome after a while. “Personal responsibility” for one’s own actions is somewhere in the Republican ideology, too. Who didn’t read their ballot carefully enough?
Obfusciatrist is right, anyway. If Bush concedes, Gore doesn’t automatically win.
First of all according to CNN, as of 6:21 pm EST, Gore leads Bush 49,144,816 to 48,944,206 or a difference of 200,610 votes. This isn’t a “quarter of a million” votes, only about 80% of that or a fifth of a million. This margin is likely to shrink as more votes come in, because Bush is expected to have the edge in absentee ballots. It is even possible that Bush will take the lead of the popular vote.
Second, even if you put it in itallics, a “quarter of a million” is a tiny difference in the popular vote. Its not like Gore handily defeated Bush in the popular vote or anything. A quarter of a million sounds like a big number, but now when compared with the 100 million votes cast.
It seems to me like a lot of Gore supporters are trying to make it look like the American people have spoken clearly by going with Gore in the popular vote, but Bush is winning the election based on some technicality (the electoral college). This is simply not the case. Neither candidate can claim a decisive victory in the popular vote, as it is so close. Bush, assuming the Florida vote holds up, did however with the electoral vote, which is how we determine who wins the electon thanks to the US constitution.
[Edited by slythe on 11-10-2000 at 05:59 PM]
There’s already a thread titled “Should Bush Concede” over in Great Debates, so I’m going to lock this off and advise y’all to head over there if you wish to continue this.
-slythe