Maybe for Florida

Submitted by Yale Zussman (United States), Aug 17, 2004 at 02:28

The real source of this problem isn't so much liberals or conservatives, but the growing scepticism among the public about the reality of democracy in America. Far too many people believe the elections are rigged, or can be, so their vote doesn't really count. This view is derived from the regularity with which average people end up losing out, no matter which party wins, and the absence of any significant political force they perceive as speaking for them. If America were truly a democracy, wouldn't they be able to win, at least some of the time?

I think we should also consider what might happen if there were to be another "hanging chad" problem in Florida that again resulted in the courts awarding the election to George Bush. It would be hard for the average citizen to believe that this could happen innocently twice in a row. The only way that the public might accept such a result is if there were some impartial and credible observer on the scene. This time, at least, I'm afraid we'll just have to "grin and bear it."

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".