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Think Again: Florida 2000 Forever

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Bush v. Gore decision, it is interesting to note how much of our current political predicament can be discerned in the events of those days.
Eric Alterman
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Nation columnist, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Senior Fellow, CAP

Nation columnist, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Senior Fellow, CAP
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As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Bush v. Gore decision -- technically, December 12 -- it is interesting to note how much of our current political predicament can be discerned in the events of those days. The Bush-Gore election illustrates three key points about today's political and media environment:

  1. Conservatives fight harder and dirtier for what they want than progressives.

  • The mainstream media gives conservatives a pass for acting and speaking in their own political interest while criticizing progressives for the same thing.

  • Conservative commentators recognize few if any boundaries in their willingness to demonize progressives, with virtually no corollary of any kind among progressives.
    • How badly did conservatives want to win? Remember Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris? Before the election, she hired a GOP-connected database company to purge the state's voter rolls of thousands of mostly minority citizens, many of whom it falsely categorized as felons. Republican election officials allowed Republican operatives to doctor absentee-ballot applications in Seminole and Martin counties, while Democrats were not granted the same right.

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