Thoughts on the Florida Recount

As the title might indicate, these are just my thoughts on some issues surrounding the U.S. Presidential election, and the subsequent recount in Florida, which so far seems to indicate that George Bush narrowly won the state. If you're looking on an informed, in-depth political analysis, you're at the wrong web page. Try CNN or something like that. But, if you're interested in reading about my thoughts, read on...

Some union leaders have come out as saying that those people who voted for Ralph Nader wrecked Gore's chances of being elected President. Do these people think people are so stupid that they aren't able to decide who to vote for by themselves? People should feel free to vote for the candidate for which they want to vote, for whatever reasons. I believe that many people who voted for Nader believed what he said - that both Democrats and Republicans were basically the same and Nader was the only person who really represented the interests of the people. Voting for Nader (or anyone else) is an individual's decision to make, not anyone else's. Why was there little criticism of right-leaning candidates in past elections (Ross Perot is a fair example) who took votes away from Republican presidential candidates?

There was also some whining on how ballots in Palm Beach (?) County were designed in an odd manner, thus causing Gore supporters to vote for Pat Buchanan (I would hope that the Democrats aren't saying that people are too stupid to read, but one never knows). It may be that the ballots were poorly designed, but even so, why is this issue only being brought up now? The implication seems to be "We lost, therefore someone cheated". That's certainly not necessarily true. It's certainly possible that people from Florida (narrowly) do prefer Bush over Gore, and this is the possibility that we should assume (assuming the recount shows this to be true).

Should there be more recounts? Maybe, though I don't see why a manual recount would be more reliable than an automated one. Should there be a re-election? No! Whichever candidate wins Florida (which currently looks like Bush) should, according to the U.S. Constitution and federal and state laws, receive Florida's electoral votes. We can't keep having elections until one candidate or another wins.

One final thought: Wouldn't computerized voting make life a lot easier in many respects?