We've had presidents before who did not have the most popular votes. This didn't happen, and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision was just one reason. Those who say the court might never recover from the way it is now politicized should read their history and see the political impact of such decisions as DredScott and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Having said all that, we must accept that narrow electoral victory for Bush, assuming none of his 271 electors defects in today's electoral college balloting in Dover and other state capitals. We must wish Bush well and hope he succeeds beyond anyone's fondest dreams to unite the country.
Nothing is more important than fixing our sputtering voting system.
We need to make sure no voter is ever again disfranchised. Heaven knows there are too few who take the time to go to the polls. Apparent incongruities in state and federal laws must be eliminated. It's a shame that neither Gore nor Bush directly addressed these problems in their speeches. I was lucky to have just completed an excellent course on the Constitutional Convention of 1787, taught by Ed Fersht at the Academy of Lifelong Learning.