We need an Al Gore moment

The parade of losers crying they were cheated is getting to be wearisome. Worse are those losers who claim they were offered a chance to cheat before the elections as if to imply they lost because they didn’t come across. They had the duty to report those offers but they didn’t. For all we know, they probably bought the cheating scheme but lost anyway because those who tricked them out of their money didn’t have the ability to subvert the electronic polls in the first place.

All we had was a brief post election period when it seemed we were about to disprove the notion that our politicians are a pathetic bunch of sour grapes who never lose elections but are only cheated. It was so refreshing to see Manny Villar concede so early. It was laughable to watch the three tailenders concede and then revoke their concession claiming they were cheated.

What this country badly needs at this time is an Al Gore moment. No, not in terms of his climate change message but the example he gave when he conceded an election he could have won for the sake of the American republic.

Even in Gore’s case, however, he telephoned an early concession to Dubya but later took it back when it became clear the Florida count could turn in his favor after a manual count. But he conceded for good after the Supreme Court made a ruling against the continued Florida recount, even if he disagreed with the Court’s decision.

I refreshed my recollection of the events by going back to a Wikipedia account of what happened.

“As the final national results were tallied the following morning, Bush had clearly won a total of 246 electoral votes, while Gore had won 255 votes. 270 votes were needed to win. Two smaller states – New Mexico (five electoral votes) and Oregon (seven electoral votes) – were still too close to call. It was Florida (25 electoral votes), however, that the news media focused their attention on.

“Mathematically, Florida’s 25 electoral votes became the key to an election win for either candidate. Although both New Mexico and Oregon were declared in favor of Gore over the next few days, Florida’s statewide vote took center stage because that state’s winner would ultimately win the election. The outcome of the election was not known for more than a month after the balloting ended because of the extended process of counting and then recounting Florida’s presidential ballots.

“Most of the post-electoral controversy revolved around Gore’s request for hand recounts in four counties as provided under Florida state law. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced she would reject any revised totals from those counties if they were not turned in by Nov. 14, the statutory deadline for amended returns. The Florida Supreme Court extended the deadline to Nov. 26, a decision later vacated by the US Supreme Court…

“On November 26, the state canvassing board certified Bush the winner of Florida’s electors by 537 votes. Gore formally contested the certified results, but a state court decision overruling Gore was reversed by the Florida Supreme Court, which ordered a recount of over 70,000 ballots previously rejected by machine counters. The US Supreme Court quickly halted the order…

“On Dec. 12, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 vote that the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling requiring a statewide recount of ballots was unconstitutional, and that the Florida recounts could not be completed before a Dec. 12 ‘safe harbor’ deadline, and should therefore cease and the previously certified total should hold. The Supreme Court’s decision was an unsigned or ‘Per Curiam’ ruling; the ruling was ‘limited to the present circumstances’ and could not be cited as precedent….

“Though Gore came in second in the electoral vote, he received 543,895 more popular votes than Bush…

“Ultimately, the Media Consortium hired the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago to examine 175,010 ballots that were collected from the entire state not just the disputed counties that were discounted; these ballots contained under-votes (votes with no choice made for president) and over-votes (votes made with more than one choice marked).

“Their goal was not to deduce who actually won the election, but to determine the reliability and accuracy of the systems used for the voting process. Nonetheless, NORC concluded that if the disputes over the validity of all the ballots statewide in question had been consistently resolved and any uniform standard applied, the electoral result would have been reversed and Gore would have won by 107-115 votes.”

In other words, Gore could have been President if he persisted like a Pinoy politician… but at a cost to the reputation and even the stability of the republic. Gore knew winning the election was not the most important thing. The stability of the republic was more important than him.

Thus, Gore recalled in his concession speech, “Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency, ‘Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.’ Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country.”

Here are more snippets from Gore’s concession speech.

“Neither he (Bush) nor I anticipated this long and difficult road. Certainly neither of us wanted it to happen. Yet it came, and now it has ended, resolved, as it must be resolved, through the honored institutions of our democracy.

“Now the U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College. And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession. I also accept my responsibility, which I will discharge unconditionally, to honor the new President-elect and do everything possible to help him bring Americans together in fulfillment of the great vision that our Declaration of Independence defines and that our Constitution affirms and defends…

“I know that many of my supporters are disappointed. I am too. But our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country.

“Now the political struggle is over and we turn again to the unending struggle for the common good of all Americans and for those multitudes around the world who look to us for leadership in the cause of freedom.

“And now, my friends, in a phrase I once addressed to others: it’s time for me to go.”

What a man! Our politicians look embarrassingly petty and devoid of patriotism in comparison.

Al Gore is supposed to be visiting the country next month to deliver a speech on climate change at the SM convention center. I hope he finds time to deliver a lecture as well on the topic of how to lose an election graciously. He could share what went through his mind in those moments when personal interest clashed with national good… and how he resolved it.

That is a civics lesson our politicians still have to learn.

Magic Mirror

A reader contributed this one.

Ate Glue was showing Noynoy and Jojo Binay around Malacanang as part of the transition process. They came upon a large mirror which Ate Glue said was magical… say something that’s not true and a hand will come out of it and slap you in the face.

Ate Glue offered to show them how it works. She declared before the mirror that she managed an administration free of graft and corruption for nine years. She got a swift smack on her face.

Jojo Binay volunteered to try the mirror as well. He declared that he didn’t junk Erap in favor of a NoyBi ticket. A hand emerged to slap him but missed him… it was too dark in the Palace for the mirror to figure out where he was.

It was Noynoy’s turn. He said that Kamag-anak Inc will have no influence in this second Aquino administration. A genie with a prominent jaw mysteriously emerged from the mirror and slapped him.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. This and some past columns can also be viewed at www.boochanco.com