Period 1
3/25/18
America's craziest election year
The year of 2000 not only held a milestone of being a new century, or threatening the world with an internet failure, but shocked the world with one of if not the closest election in American history. The Republican nominee, George W Bush, against the Democratic nominee Al Gore competed in an extremely close election. After racing from state to state the votes were so tightly packed that the next president was to be decided based on one state, Florida. After each nominee gave their speeches trying to persuade the American public why they should be president, the final vote of a 6 million population in Florida came down to a mere 600 people in favor of Bush. However, this number was too tight for the liking of Al Gore so he ordered a recount of the polling machines. This 600 number was reduced to 327 votes, proving that Bush was indeed the winner of Florida. However, Al Gore and his supporters were still not convinced that Bush was to be the elected president and claimed that the ballots were tampered with or rigged. This caused Al Gore to call for yet another recount, which then reduced Bush's votes down to a slim number of 157. Begining to make the Bush campaign fearful of losing Florida when Al Gore called on the Supreme Court to take action because the ballots were unable to get a proper count, Bush asked for a delay of the vote until December 12 which allowed the Bush campaign to win the presidency. 
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ReplyDeleteGavin -- This was an interesting blog post about elections because it shows the ferocity of American politics and how heated political climates can be. The fact that Gore felt the need to investigate Bush and to legitimize his case shows internal corruption and competition in the American political system. If we look at past political elections like the recent Trump v/ Hillary, they now use personal attacks to overshadow and persuade voters that their opponent does not represent the values of America. In fact, Trump still calls Clinton "Crooked Hillary" and a main attacking point at Trump was an investigation of his taxes to prove in some way that he was not actually for the working man. Tactics like these seem malicious but for the sake of getting to the top, candidates will do anything to succeed that presses the legal realms of America.
ReplyDeleteNice post Gavin, it's really interesting how close the 2000 Presidential Election was. Bush won the presidency without winning the popular vote, which is the same thing that happened in 2016 with Donald Trump's electoral victory. Although there wasn't a dispute as to the validity of the election in 2016, in the aftermaths of both elections, the issues surrounding the effectiveness and practicality of the electoral college were raised. Some advocate getting rid of the electoral college and basing the presidential election on solely the popular vote, while others support retaining the electoral college, arguing that every state deserves fair representation.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things about this election was that ultimately, it was decided by the Supreme Court rather than the people. Because the issue of a recount was brought to the Supreme Court, it was basically up to the federal government to decide who would be the next president. This was a great expansion of government power, which seems strange considering the majority-conservative Supreme Court at the time. Usually, conservatives attempt to limit the government's power, but in this situation, they expanded it, ultimately winning Bush the presidency. This truly is evidence of the emerging pattern of things being decided in the government based on party lines rather than politcal opinions or even historic patterns. As we know today, this pattern has continued and continues to dominate modern politics. Great post!
ReplyDeleteCool post Gavin! I agree with you that the 2000 election was one of the more interesting ones in recent history. The uncertainty associated with this election is a clear example of why voting mechanisms have become more electronically-based over the last 15 years. The fact that the Supreme Court had to get involved was crazy. However, the fact that it ordered Florida to halt the recount was a testament to the precedence that the US government takes over the states in the modern era.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-9/apush-1990s-america/a/the-election-of-2000