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NewsHour Links: Video: Why
the media had such a hard time making the right calls on election night. NewsHour Extra: Election Headquarters-- Analyze the election results and the ongoing Florida debate.
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A
Big Mess
The country is divided equally in half with two mediocre candidates, each receiving 48 percent of the popular vote. No matter who becomes president, he will lack the most crucial aspect of the job - the support of the American people. If this kind of scenario happened in my high school, I know a deal would have been worked out where the two candidates would be co-presidents. In fact, in high school, if the difference between the winning candidates is not substantial, everyone assumes there must be a problem. A candidate for student body president can't possibly win with only 48 percent of the students voting for him. Everyone assumes he doesn't have the necessary support to lead the school and a run-off is held. This ongoing presidential mess probably wouldn't happen in school. Usually, everyone knows who they want to vote for from the start of the election. They vote for their friends or people who have the best overall perception. Campaigns are only a few signs scattered around the school with the person's name and maybe some cool drawings, and a brief speech. Nobody takes it too seriously - if you do take it seriously, you won't win. High school students like me would question why the candidates take student council so seriously when in reality it doesn't mean anything to me. In the one extremely rare instance when the high school election results were tight with a difference of only seven votes, the two candidates immediately proposed a co-presidency. Obviously, this wouldn't work in our situation. Al Gore doesn't have the "dignitude," as the George W. Bush impersonator would say on Saturday Night Live.
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By
Dan Freilich, 17,