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JUDY WOODRUFF, on CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS": A new book chronicles the long and contentious path of Election 2000. It is called "Deadlock: The Inside Story of America's Closest Election," and it gives readers the unique perspective of its authors, a team of "Washington Post" reporters led by David von Drehle and Dan Balz.
Deadlock:
The Inside Story of America's Closest Election
Political Staff of the Washington Post, Ellen Nakashima
Publisher: PublicAffairs, LLC
FROM THE PUBLISHER: "The Washington Post, America's premier newspaper for politics and elections, has been in the forefront of the post-election coverage, and in this book its award-winning staff provides the first full-length account of the closest and strangest election in our history..."
DIVA DOES DEDUCTION
Okay. Here is where I get angry. Here is where I get off on a rant.
CLOSEST? The CLOSEST election in our history?
By what standard? By whose?
THE ELECTORAL STANDARD
(Favored by 35-37% of Americans)
The election of 1876 is the centerpiece of every discussion of the Electoral College. The story: Hayes won the Electoral College by one vote, even though his opponent, Tilden, won the popular vote by nearly a quarter of a million votes. Of course, the Hayes-Tilden contest was not governed by the "winner-take all" rule in now in place.
The election of 2000 is NOT the closest Electoral result in history. The story: Bush won the Electoral College by five votes, even though his opponent, Gore, won the popular vote by over a half of a million (539,947) votes. The 25 disputed Florida electors, had they been awarded to Al Gore (that is, had the counts not been stopped by SCOTUS "hocus-pocus"), would have given Gore a margin of victory of 45 electoral votes (291-246).
The last time I checked (and stop me if I sound out of line), 5 votes were MORE than 1. So, and help me out here, how can the 2000 election be "the closest... election in our history?"
SIMPLE. IT CAN'T.
THE POPULAR VOTE STANDARD
(Favored By 59-61% of Americans)
The 2000 Election was the closest since 1960, when Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Vice President Richard M. Nixon (not "the closest... election in our history"). Kennedy won 49.7 percent of the vote, and Nixon got 49.5 percent. (Percent Difference = 0.2%) The race was indeed close--the closest of the century. Kennedy received 113,000 votes more than Nixon out of 68 million ballots cast. (Percent Difference = 0.166%)
What are the 2000 Election Popular Vote Percentages?
Gore 50,996,116 50,996,116/105,326,325 = 48.416%
Bush 50,456,169 50,456,169/105,326,325 = 47.914%
Other 3,874,040
TOTAL 105,326,325 PERCENT DIFFERENCE 0.502%
The last time I checked (and stop me if I sound out of line), 0.502% was MORE than 0.166%. So, and help me out here, how can the 2000 election be "the closest... election in our history?"
SIMPLE. IT CAN'T.
And for what it's worth, I wouldn't have even engaged in this simple mathematical exercise, if not for the fact that every minute error, every "exaggeration," every misstep by Al Gore during the 2000 campaign, was characterized by the media as a willful lie, and as more than ample evidence of Gore's "dishonesty". They tore him apart, and over statements a lot less unequivocal than "the closest... election in our history." So, by THEIR OWN standard, they CANNOT BE TRUSTED. (Which, of course, I already knew...)
CONTACT CNN, DRAW THEIR ATTENTION TO THIS
(COMPLETE CNN CONTACT INFO BELOW)
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