What Harrington and Haner both talk about is the time this fall when a Republican was desperate to get through to his party's headquarters, to no avail. In frustration, he finally called the Democratic headquarters and left a message. Haner says the Democrats tried to be good neighbors, and Harrington agrees. Richard Moore, the president of the City Commission, gives his staunchly Republican view of the election over lunch and then walks his visitor across the town square to Central Supply. He wants Dorothy Chestnut, the proprietor and a longtime Democratic activist, to have her say, too.
People here know they'll have to live with each other the day after the votes are counted.
You get a good sense of how different national politics are by examining the reaction to the last-minute leak of George W. Bush's DUI arrest. Republicans were very unhappy that this story broke at the last moment. Bush's success in beating his drinking problem won admiration all around. If he had disclosed this episode long ago, it would never have been an issue. But, without evidence, some of Bush's supporters immediately charged Al Gore's campaign with leaking this news for nefarious purposes.