Recount
In the years before I became an Objectivist, I thought I was liberal. I say “thought” because my position wasn’t so much of a stance *for* the liberalism as much as it was *against* conservatism. I had a basic belief that individuals should be free, and I saw conservatives — or more precisely, the religious right — as the biggest threat to our freedom. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in college, the year 2000, when I started to take ideas seriously. As I was making this move from liberalism through libertarianism (very briefly) to Objectivism, there was another interesting thing going on: The 2000 election between Bush and Gore. It was an interesting backdrop on which I made this transition, so naturally I was very interested when I heard HBO was making a movie about it. Its title is Recount, and I finally saw it a while ago. I thought it was an entertaining movie, but it reminded me of I can’t imagine what would make me vote for another Democrat.
Some background: I voted for Gore in 2000 (first vote in my life), and I was very worried when I saw that Bush had won. I’m not just saying that, either, I really thought that our country was in big trouble. So when I heard that there were some questions about vote counts in Florida and the outcome had not been set, I was delighted. I thought that recounting votes could only make the election more accurate, and possibly turn the final results, too. Also, I was really into statistics at the time (I have a minor in math), so I had a lot of fun following the online analysis of how the butterfly ballot had affected the election. I didn’t want Bush to be president, and it looked like there was a chance it wouldn’t happen.
However, as the recounting process continued I noticed problems in the way I was thinking. If some facts came out that I didn’t like, I’d quickly look some other facts that could “counter” them. Here are some quick examples: I’d say that it’s essential that we count every vote, especially in close elections. But there was a regular recount, just to make sure there wasn’t some drastic error… nah, throw that away. The Democrats only wanted to recount four counties… uhhh…. that’s ok, it’s up to the Republicans to set up recounts in the counties they want. Some basic recounts show that Bush still would have won… uh… they’re not counting the undervotes! And statistical analysis shows that the overvotes for Buchanan and Gore were really Gore votes! Oh, the four county votes still don’t have Gore winning… now it’s time to do a state-wide recount! Still alive!
The more I thought about it, the more uneasy and nervous I felt about my position. As good as I was arguing or rationalizing my position, I couldn’t get around the fact I wasn’t completely in-line with the facts. I thought that we should be be driven by the facts, and the picture I in my head is the cartoon detective from the Pink Panther cartoons, walking bent-over while he closely followed the Pink Panther’s trail with his magnifying glass. Instead of being that guy, following the evidence where ever it took me, I was looking everywhere except the trail because I knew it didn’t go where I wanted. And all while trying to claim that I was after the Pink Panther. Even pre-Objectivism, I could figure out that this was wrong. And not just wrong on this election, but in other areas, too. Once I got the ball rolling, it wasn’t long before I had my nose deep in an Ayn Rand book.
Watching Recount was like a flashback to those days. Most of what I saw in the movie is exactly how I remember, and it just reminded me of how dishonest that entire Gore election process really was. Yeah, Bush has a lot of problems, but it was the Gore-side that was really driving that mess. It really wasn’t about trying to get the most accurate vote possible; it was about one side versus the other. Here’s a great example of that I didn’t even remember: Gore’s team claimed to be all about wanting to count all the votes, including if that meant trying to derive “voter intent” from an incomplete voter ballot, but when they tried to throw out some military absenteee ballots because they weren’t dated properly or missing some other details. So, on one hand counting a vote is essential (even if the vote wasn’t completely exactly right), but on the other hand following the law to-the-letter is essential. It’s this kind of stuff that drives me crazy now.
It’s part of the reason why I can’t imagine what it would take for me to vote for another one. I see a lot of major problems with Republicans and Democrats, and I’m open to the idea that the Republicans pose the greater threat. However, the Democrat party seems to be the master of rationalism, and the Bush v. Gore battle is just one example of that.
Tags: [2000 election, bush, gore, hbo, recount]Comments
A picture is worth a thousand words
Here’s a picture that doesn’t need any comment. It speaks for itself.
Picture via LGF.
Tags: [bush, womens rights]