mad anthony

Rants, politics, and thoughts on politics, technology, life,
and stuff from a generally politically conservative Baltimoron.

Friday, June 18, 2004

Some people just can't let go...

Driving around Baltimore, I noticed a lawn sign for ReDefeat Bush on a lawn of a local house. I don't really get the point.

First of all, the ReDefeat idea seems to cling to the old yarn that Bush lost, stole, or otherwise illegitimately assumed the presidency. This is despite the fact that even the media recount showed Bush would have won. The only way Gore could have won was if ballots where only the chad was dimpled were counted as votes, or otherwise non-votes were counted as votes. There is the notorious Palm Beach ballot, but would it really have been fair to count votes that didn't specify a candidate a certain way just because some people felt that the people who voted MIGHT have intended to vote a different way than they actually did. Then there is the whole popular vote vs. Electoral college thing. I agree it may be reasonable to eventually abolish the electoral college, but you can't abolish it after the fact. Gore got into the race knowing that it was under the electoral college system.

Even if you feel that the Supreme Court decision was wrong, 1)a recount probably would have produced the same result and 2)at worst, the election was a draw - with more small things leaning towards Bush than Gore.

Anyway, my point is that it seems reasonable that only a small number of people feel that Bush "stole" the election. And those people certainly aren't going to vote for him this time. The people in the middle, the swing voters, the people who will decide the election, probably don't feel this way. And chances are they are a bit suspicious of those on the far ends of either party - which means if you are trying to get them to vote for your candidate, then showing how extreme your views are probably isn't going to help your case.

Granted, redefeatbush.com is a PAC aimed at recruiting swing voters, but to do this they need money from the people at the far left. But putting up lawn signs that everyone sees might not be the best way to attract swing voters.

Then again, the sign was in Baltimore, which isn't exactly a bastion of Republicanism. I'm convinced I may be the only registered Republican in Resevoir Hill. But I'm guessing these signs are nationwide, being seen by undecideds who can't help but wonder if they want to vote for a party that seems more concerned about stewing over wrongs they were convinced occurred four years ago than issues facing people and the country today, especially terrorism.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home