November 3, 2004

Four Dead in Ohio

Although readers of this blog know I am not enamored of either George W. Bush or John Kerry, last night's oddessy -- and the continued uncertainty of the electoral college resuilts -- kept me awake until the wee hour of 5:00 a.m. But regardless of who wins, nothing much seems to have changed. Indeed, because Dubya won the nationwide popular vote by about 3%, Republicans are now claiming a "mandate" for the President.

Bush was elected in 2000 by campaigning from the center ("compassionate conservative") but governed from the right. Seems like he's even more convinced to do so again, judging from what the Rs are saying on FoxNews and in other friendly forums. Todd Purdum gets it just right in this news analysis. President Seems Poised to Claim a New Mandate [NYTimes.com]:

If even a one-vote margin is a mandate, as John F. Kennedy once said, what might a real mandate look like for Mr. Bush? Will he pursue his course undaunted, whatever the opposition may do? Or once again seek, as he promised four years ago, to "change the tone" in Washington, and reach out to the one-quarter of voters in the electorate who described themselves as angry at his administration?

The evidence is mixed, and second terms are notoriously unpredictable -- and disappointing. But Mr. Bush has never been a man to shrink from a fight. . . . Already, through his aggressive handling of terrorism and foreign policy, he has made himself not only the most polarizing president since Nixon but also guaranteed himself a prominent place in the history books, and historical debate, for years to come.

Meanwhile, as Rudy Giuliani and other major Republican figures insisted this morning that Kerry could not possibly pulll out Ohio, the Republican secretary of state there was a refreshing paradigm of nonpartisan statesmanship. J. Kenneth Blackwell said that Ohio law requires all "provisional" ballots to be counted 11 days after the election, and that's what should and would be done. The mantra he repeated on all the TV networks at 3:00 a.m. was that "everybody should take a deep breath and relax." Provisional Ballots Could Decide Election [Cincinnati Enquirer]. "What we're going to give you is a solid tabulation when we give it to you ... if it takes two hours, two days, or two weeks, the result we give you will be a good result that the voters of the state of Ohio can have confidence in," Blackwell calmly said.

blackwell.jpg

Amen. A courageous man and someone who puts citizenship above partisanship. The election may be all over except for the counting, but the counting is what it's all about. Even though Kerry has almost surely lost, the efforts to force him to concede based on statistical probabilities are unseemly. We should all follow Blackwell's advice and relax.

 Posted by glenn

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