Say if you will that the Florida count of presidential votes was medieval, inconsistent, unfair, unbelievable, maybe even downright wrong in the result, Judge Sanders Sauls said yesterday it was not illegal, dishonest, grossly negligent, coerced or fraudulent. And so it is going to stand, strong enough to make George W. Bush president, barring a long shot reversal on appeal of the trial judge’s reading of the facts. Judge Sauls shocked both sides with the simplicity of his ruling that Al Gore had no case in contesting the election because he hadn’t shown the probability of winning the race through a recount of three Florida counties. So the judge’s ruling clears a legal path to a Republican presidency.
It also opens an extra-legal parlor game among Democrats in opposition: counting up the lost ballots, mis-read chads, thwarted voters, and bum machines that handed the prize to the wrong guy. The Bush win, and the asterisk with it, are this hour on The Connection.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Tony Lewis, New York Times columnist
Jasjeet Sekhon, Professor of Government at Harvard University
Larry Tribe, attorney for Al Gore
and Einer Elhague, attorney for George W. Bush