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Election 2000

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Why the media had such a hard time making the right calls on election night.

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Election Headquarters-- Analyze the election results and the ongoing Florida debate.

The Night America Stood Still
By R. Kayeen Thomas, 17, Children's Express, Washington, D.C.

On the night of Nov. 8, nearly every family in the U.S sat in front of their televisions, trying to come to some conclusion of who would be the next president. America watched and waited, eagerly anticipating and expecting the announcement that could possibly change our whole way of life.

Unfortunately, we had no such luck.

The night turned out to be one of the most nerve-racking nights in modern American history. Usually, the states on the television map light up red, blue, or clear, and we go to sleep either happy or sad.

We watched states go from red to clear to blue to clear, taking us on a emotional roller coaster, and sending us to bed (if you went to bed) more confused than we were when the whole process started.

Media boo-boos

Before this situation, I was under the impression that the press had to be absolutely sure of something before they televise it to the entire country. I guess I was wrong. They passed Florida around like it was the flu bug in December. You can't totally blame them for all the screw-ups of the night (well, actually you can), but if you overlook the boo-boos made by the media, some strictly unexpected things happened on election night.

The greatest of these was the repealing of Democrat Al Gore's concession to Republican George W. Bush. I'd put $50 on the fact that he never expected to call it back.

And now where are we? Neighborhoods are divided, states are divided, the country is divided, and we have no president-elect. Recount is the magic word that sparks hours of conversation in homes in America.
Meanwhile, television networks take huge chunks of time from my favorite shows to give me the pleasure of watching some old guy in a suit tell me things I could figure out for myself.

Get a life...

Democrats want a revote in Palm Beach, Fla. They believe there could have been a conspiracy such as elderly Democrats being fooled because the second choice on the ballot was supposed to be Gore, but was Reform party candidate Pat Buchanan instead. The Bush campaign, having nothing better to do, now wants a recount in Iowa and Wisconsin. There are no accusations of foul play in these states, unlike Florida, yet they still want to recount.

Man, get a life.

Although I can't vote, I still consider myself a Democrat. Therefore, I am biased to Gore winning this election. However, I also want what's best for the country. I promise you, if there is a revote in Palm Beach, within two weeks America is going to know how many times each resident goes to the bathroom, what they do, and what type of toilet tissue they use to take care of their business.

And what happens if the Republicans come up with some dumb excuse for another revote in another state? We may not have a president for another six months, and without leadership we are weak to foreign powers who don't look too highly upon the U.S. I'm all for the revote if it's fair, but there has to be a place where political parties and we as a country, must draw the line.

To the candidates: don't drag this out and make it something that it's not. If you do, this whole situation will become like spitting in the wind.

And you know what they say about spitting in the wind, don't you?

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