Election 2000 Essay, Research Paper

Opinion of Election 2000

It is finally over , probably the most common statement you would hear if you asked any U.S. citizen their thoughts on the presidential election of 2000. This election was definitely the closest of any presidential election recorded in history and believe me when I tell you it will not be forgotten. There are mixed opinions on the outcome of the election, Democrats say that all the votes should have been recounted and that if they were, Vice-President Gore would have won after all. The Republicans are saying that Vice-President Gore knew he had lost from the moment that Florida s votes were counted and that he just could not except the fact of losing. But in my opinion like most political events, the 2000 presidential election has produced a number of false premises and has inflicted damage upon our constitutional system for the foreseeable future.

The largest problem I feel with this election was that it was ultimately settled by the Supreme Court of the United States, a body that should never been called upon to end this election. If you read most of the opinions posted in the media, critics have put most of the blame on George W. Bush. They say he was the one who appealed the decision to the Florida Supreme Court in Washington and determined the final verdict. But I think that in all “fairness” – a word that was thrown around so arbitrarily by the Democratic Party, that it was the Florida court that forced the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved. Neither of the candidates can be held responsible for that decision.

Another issue I would like to address that I feel has caused hysteria in the decision of this election was the recount of Florida s votes and their deadlines. I think that if Florida s votes were to be recounted, as they were, all counties had to participate, not just the targeted ones. I also think that the mandatory deadline that was put in place was properly instated. I believe this was the only fair way to get a proper judgment in a restricted amount of time. But again many critics see that the deadlines that were established by federal law and enforced in Florida, along with the decision of the five justices of the Supreme Court, allowed the Bush victory. They state that this resulted from the high court’s sabotage of the constitution and that their issuance stopped the recount and allowed the clock to run out which ultimately determined the outcome. Again, I see this was not the case. Even if the court had allowed the recount to proceed while they considered the case, seven justices interpreted the laws and decided that the process was constitutionally impermissible and there still would not have been adequate time to recount all the votes.

In closing, I think now is not the time to point fingers. The decision has been made and really nothing will change that. I feel it is the time to repair and reform our nation s system. This is not a time for conflict. People may ask, Was this election stolen ? Who knows? All in all I see, as do most, that this election has put an unwanted burden on the respect of our nation. It was dragged on for to long and has questioned time in and time out, what our standards really mean. It has put into question our presidency, and what this means to our nation. Further and foremost, this election has changed the views of the United States in many other nation s eyes.