Stick a fork in him -- Gore's done

By Jake Tapper

Published December 8, 2000 8:22AM (EST)

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I agree that the wrong that is alleged to have occurred in Seminole County is not remedied by rejecting or setting aside the relevant votes. Such a remedy would unfairly penalize the voters. But if the allegations are correct, I don't think it's enough to just shrug one's shoulders. Why can't the state hold the responsible election official criminally liable? Otherwise, where's the accountability? And what's to deter the next election official from similarly violating his or her duty?

-- Laura Plaut

As a Jew who observes the kosher dietary laws, I am thoroughly appalled by your insensitive depiction of the Gore-Lieberman ticket as a ham, with a fork stuck in it. (I object to the substance of the article as well, but that's a different matter.) Given that Senator Lieberman is an Orthodox Jew, your choice of the ham as a symbol is thoughtless at best.

-- Jeff Cooper

I am somewhat puzzled by the tone of this article. Jake Tapper may well be correct about the results. However, I believe that Vice President Gore has been treated most unfairly.

As I am sure everyone is aware, Gore won the popular vote by over 300,000 votes. This is three times the margin of Kennedy over Nixon.

On election night, Voter News Service declared Gore the winner in Florida very early. The next day, a representative of the VNS appeared on the PBS News Hour. He noted that the VNS had been correct for 299 of the previous 300 predictions. Their exit polls showed Gore with a large lead, about 5 percent. It is very suspicious that the exit polls and the actual results are at such a large variance. Especially since, as we all know, the governor of the state in question is the brother of one of the candidates.

Yesterday, I was watching "Rivera Live" on CNBC and former Florida Supreme Court Justice Kogan said he thought the Democratic case in Seminole would probably win and that the court would probably decide not to count the absentee ballots. There is an important principle here. Modifying or improperly handling ballots or ballot applications between the time voters turn them in and the time they are counted is a serious crime. In Florida, it is a felony. When you commit a felony and get caught and convicted, you are supposed to go to jail. You are not supposed to become the president of the United States.

-- Tom Dorman


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2000 Elections Al Gore