10 Years Later - President Bush Wins

It has been 10 years since the Supreme Court ruled on Bush V. Gore.  The case that made George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States.  Much has been made of this case and at the time many thought it was the Supreme Court that was deciding the election.  Of course this isn't true, but it did cast a shadow over the Bush presidency that never really went away.

Now, I didn't vote for President Bush in 2000.  At that time Virginia was solidly red as far as presidential elections went, so that freed me up to vote my conscience.  I had issues that I couldn't get passed and didn't allow me to pull the lever for President Bush the first time around.  To be honest I don't remember who I voted for, and it is possible that I just left that blank.  I have done that before and I am sure that the occasion will arise that I will do it again. 

So much of narrative of what happened during this election is completely false and has continued for the past ten years.  The decision that really ended the election was a 7-2 decision not 5-4 that many people think that it was.  The decision that really ended it was about Florida using different sets of standards in order to do the recounts.  (Bush V. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board) Which clearly violates the constitution on the grounds of equal protection under the law.  Vice President Gore and his legal team wanted to use different sets of standards depending on which county you lived in.  He cherry picked heavily democratic counties for the recount and tried to change the rules on what constituted a legal vote.  Federal law requires that the law for how a vote is to be counted must be in place before the election takes place.  In Palm Beach County the law before the election was that "dimpled" chads couldn't be counted as a legal vote.  Yet, Gore and his legal eagles somehow convinced the Florida Supreme Court that they could be; hence a protracted and illegal recount.  One that still showed him as the loser.  Unable to accept this decision, Gore kept pressing forward which then led to the 5-4 decision that most people remember. 

Another big misconception was the job of Secretary of State Kathleen Harris.  She followed the letter of the law, as much as many tried to make her out as some sort of evil character hell bent on illegally handing President Bush the presidency when he didn't deserve it.  That simply is not the case.  Florida law requires the timeline of when the vote must be certified and she followed it.

The final electoral vote count was 271 to 266.  Florida counting as 25 of those.  Another thing that many on the left seem to leave out of the equation is the small pesky little fact that Gore lost his home state of Tennessee, which has 11 votes.  So, had Gore won his home state he would have Florida never would have mattered.  It wasn't Florida that gave President Bush the win, it was Gore being unable to win his home state that cost him the presidency.  Had Florida declared the state to Bush before Tennessee was announced it wouldn't have become the issue that it did.  Florida was the last ditch attempt to hold on after the news that he lost his home state had been announced.  Personally, I think if a candidate for president can't win his home state he doesn't deserve to be the title of President of the United States.  The one thing that was very enjoyable to watch during that time was the left championing states rights.  They certainly aren't interested in them now.  The reality is that even when the AP sent people to do recounts after the election had been called even they found that Bush did indeed win the count in Florida by the narrowest of margins.  As much as the left may detest this, President Bush won the presidency fair and square based on the electoral college.