The Florida recount has convinced me that number is high. Democracy requires that votes be counted. A political contest may look and sound like a football game, but its outcome is FAR more long lasting. If I were Al Gore or George Bush and I honestly thought I'd won the presidency, I'd go to court to assure my victory. Politics, contrary to popular opinion, isn't all about power, and elections aren't just about winning.
Candidates run because they feel their ideas and values are best for the country.
They have an obligation to those to vote for them to see that a close election is resolved properly. Anything less lets the entire nation down. Lana Whited Lana Whited is associate professor of English and journalism at Ferrum College. Her column about media issues runs every other week in the campus newspaper, The Iron Blade, whose staff she advises. She is a graduate of the Hollins creative writing program and earned her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.