An anatomy of the 2000 USA presidential election

An anatomy of the 2000 USA presidential election: Bush and the doubting Thomas - Part 2

President Bush’s coronation as the 43^rd United States of America chief executive officer took place on January 19, 2001 in Washington DC, the nation’s capital. His election has dramatically changed the political landscape. Henceforth, he has automatically become the United States of America Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and it does not matter whether he ducked the Vietnam War, like his predecessor, took refuge in the Texas National Guard or being handed over the presidency by the Supreme Court.

For the affluence that does not want to die for their country, the National Guard was the bastion of refuge during the Vietnam War. Others sought and received education deferment while some ran like mad cows to Canada and Mexico, both neighboring countries to the north and south respectively. Vietnam War consumed more African American lives because the army was one of the few organs that would gladly employ the services of African Americans whose exaggerated optimism that sacrifice to ones country would yield salvation from ostracism and discrimination at home. They were wrong as statistics showed that more blacks perished during that war, when compared to their proportion to the general population.

Furthermore, some of the war artful dodgers had employed flimsy excuses in order to avoid participation. Ironically, those master dodgers have turned out to be the most vocal proponents of mass military build up and the use of force as an instrument of foreign policy. This particular political expediency would be paramount as the Bush administration progresses into his mandated four-year term, that is if he did not commit any impeachable offense which would remove him from office.

The change of guard at the echelon of the American political structure is a testimony to the progression of the world’s oldest democratic institution. This grandiloquence occurred despite the enormous constraint, tough judicial terrain and challenges that the USA political institution underwent during the 2000 presidential election. The 2000 election was riddled with inconsistencies both in voting, ballot counting, media participation and reporting. Various political and none partisan institutions have begun to address the malady of the last presidential election by holding public hearings and reviewing the machines that were part of the problem. Compared to most nations, the outcome of the 2000 challenge to the USA political system and culture would have been sufficient for an emergence of a new party or desolation of the government and holding of a new election, Italy and Israel bears this out.

A meticulous observer would note that this last election saw an active participation of the conservative / Republican political machines in which different actors worked fervently to make sure that the Republican nominee, George W. Bush, Governor of Texas, succeeded William Jefferson Clinton who was barred by the constitution from seeking a consecutive third term. It was widely believed that the Clinton administration brought dishonor to the White House and President Bush would restore honor to the White House. It has been argued in some quarters that president Bush was out to avenge the defeat suffered by his father, George P. Bush in the hands of William J. Clinton and Al Gore presidential ticket of 1992 Democratic Party. Here are George Bush’s major campaign themes:

To restore honor to the White House

To unite the American people, whites and blacks; Republicans, Democrats and Independents

To provide $1.6 trillion tax cut over 10 years that was suppose to stimulate the economy

To restore solvency to social security through partial privatization – here he argued that the American people should be trusted to make a good investment judgment in their investments.

To ban abortion as we know it, and the advancement toward achieving this goal has started. The first act in office, George Bush signed executive order that banned foreign aid money being used by foreign recipients for abortion regardless of the circumstance.

Decentralization of the Department of Education activities so that the local communities would have a greater input in the decision making. He intends to use voucher as an instrument to force the public schools to reform or lose their pupils to private schools that would accept voucher.

Although some may not like the method by which the new president was elected, the fact still remains that some people saw the election as a new trend in the development of a Bush political dynasty like the Kennedy dynasty. Some have argued that George Bush is not smart, that his presidency would fail. It is the second issue that this analysis would focus on.

Every four years, the American people reelect the man in the White House or elect a new leader. In this year road to the White House, the system methodically chose George W. Bush as the new president, but the quest to find out who actually won the election continues to play out quietly in Florida. The press, through the freedom of information act was able to compel Florida Secretary of State to continue counting the Chads – dimple or pregnant. The outcome would not make any difference; it can only serve for record purposes and satisfaction of inquisitors.

On the 19^th of January every four years, American people and foreign guests descend to Washington DC for the inaugural parties for the new president. This year saw the highest security alert and protests than in the previous occasions. Thousands of people with diverse political causes gathered in Washington DC. This reflection of American diversity was prevalent in the last two presidential inaugurations, which is absent when compared to the current. Also, those multi-ethnic Americans that descended to Washington DC were there to have their protest voices heard. Most offices were closed on Friday proceeding the inaugural day and road blocs were installed along Pennsylvania Avenue, the venue of the inauguration and the presidential match.

One of these protest matches was a congruity of organizations that featured prominent African Americans such as Dick Gregory (an activists and comedian), Rev. Al Shapton (President of National Action Network), Rev. Walter Fauntroy (President of National Black Leadership Roundtable) and Congressman Payne (D-NJ). A shadow inaugural ceremony was at Stanton Park in SE, Washington DC. The organizers of the shadow inaugural ceremony urged their followers to prepare for the fight ahead of them because of the perceived assault on the civil right gains. They are of unanimous opinion that the election was stolen and that Florida African Americans were disenfranchised and that Bush election was a right wing conspiracy intended to disenfranchise the minorities by keeping them down and out.

Looking back at the process in its entirety, one would absolve and disarm the doubting Thomas’s regarding Bush potential to fight back. During the contentious Florida voter confusion, Bush applied pre-emptive strike by accusing Al Gore of running to the court for answer to a political problem. He accused Gore of being a hostage to the trial lawyers who contributed millions of dollars to his campaign coffer. Yet, it was George Bush who lobed the first judicial salvo by seeking courts injunctive from Atlanta to quash Democratic selective recount of votes at the majority Democratic districts.

Introspect, it was George Bush who benefited from the conservative Supreme Court that ruled the election in his favor by giving him the Florida’s 25 electoral votes in a platter of gold. Afterward, the United States of America Supreme Court Chief Justice in his annual report to the United States Congress wrote that this was one of the most challenging tenure in the court history. He argued that in the future, that political process should be kept away from the courts, the other branch of the national government. That political problem should be solved in the political arena. Unfortunately, the Pandora’s box has been open and there is no guarantee that future political can of worms would not appear before the court.

Again, because of the political chasm, the Clinton administration denied the Bush campaign access to the federal buildings to set up its transition team, and the funding for that purpose. The transition team quickly secured an office in northern Virginia and have the move publicized. The transition solicited money from eagerly conservatives who would do anything that would run Clinton out of town. The setting up of a transitional office in Virginia was another ploy to put heat on wavering Democrats who were still clinging to Gore as he sought to have the courts swing the Florida 25 electoral votes in his favor.

Importantly, to rectify the perception of Bush as a novice by doubting Thomas, a closer look at his action during the Republican presidential primary is imperative given that he offended the African Americans, gays, women and Catholic communities by delivering a campaign speech at Jones University in South Carolina. That appearance helped to knock off his last challenger, Senator John McCain for the Republican nomination. It also helped to bolster his standing among those conservatives who were at the extreme right of their party fringe.

As soon as the election and court challenges were over and Gore conceded, Bush made his nomination to the cabinet post public. Out of the first six nominees, two were African Americans while two were women. The early nomination choices such as Colin Powel and Condeleda Rice helped to strengthen his political ratings and aided his campaign slogan – "compassionate conservatism." Black criticisms remain mute until the flurries of final nominations when Linda Chavez, an anti labor union conservative, was slatted to head the Labor Department. Also controversial was the nomination of Senator John Ashcroft, a staunch conservative who single-handedly torpedoed the nomination of the first African American from his home state to the federal bench would head the Justice Department. Once again, the civil rights groups, the labor and the Democrats cried foul. Linda Chavez withdrew and in all likelihood, Senator Ashcrof would be approved. That was a smart move in all accounts.

George W. Bush is a savvy and astute politician who knows how to play the political cat and mouse game. Looking back, one remembered that prior to the Gore vs. Bush joint appearance or what some called a debate, Bush and his camp painstakingly persuaded the whole world that Al Gore was one of the best debaters in the American political history. George Bush in effect lowered expectations for his performance and raised the stake for Al Gore. After the debate, the Bush spin-doctors went to work and declared that Bush won the joint appearance despite the fact that throughout the entire campaign and the joint appearance, he offered limited initiatives and details. The point is that if Bush had a mediocre performance, he would have argued that "I told you, Gore is a great debater and thank God that I was able to stand my grounds, besides, I am not a natural born debater." Add to that, they would conclude that his poor performance would have nothing to do with his ability to carry out his constitutional obligation when elected into office of the presidency.

The tide of political wind has completed its shift in Bush favor. Once again, Bush and his entourage have employed their political machine one more time. This time, the President has called on the Americans to take note of the weak economy. In essence, he is attempting to lower the threshold so that if the economy rocks bottom, then he would say; " I tried to warn the American people of the pending economic catastrophe, a result of Clinton’s mischievous and failed liberal economic policy."

What Bush is not telling the American people is that the economy and the Wall Street are shaky because of the uncertainty of his policies. Any time that there is a political change of office at the national level, the investors had a tendency to hold back and analyze what is ahead of them. In this case, they were laid back because of lack of specifics in Bush proposed programs. But, the President does not need to worry as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve came to his rescue. The Federal Reserve Chairman is a Republican who was hired by Bush senior and retained by Clinton. Within one month span, Alan Greenspan lowered the interest rate three times and it is expected that he would lower it one more time when the Federal Reserve Board meets at the end of January.

What the Federal Reserve action means is that the banks would borrow money at a lower rate, then turn around and lend money to investors and others at a lower rate. This activity stimulates the economy by instilling consumers’ confidence, which was dormant during the Christmas shopping season. By lowering the interest rate, by stimulating the economy, what else does the new president want? Once again, a man born with a "silver booth in his mouth" to use Ann Richards terminology, has been given the presidency and a path for success on a platter of gold.

It would be hard to contend that Bush was barking up a wrong tree after all, who would blame him for crying wolf? The economy seems to be undergoing some metamorphosis and sending mixed signal. The private sector, which formed riprap of the economy, is crumbling as most businesses issue thousands of pink slips to their employees. Motorola, the giant electronic company would layoff 2,500 employees before June while Montgomery Ward, a big departmental store have filled for bankruptcy. JC Penney another departmental store would close 50 stores nationwide, AOL-Time Warner plans to eliminate 5,800 jobs by February, a NJ based Murray Hill intends to slash its workforce by 16,000 and Lucent Technologies has announced that it would issue pink slips to 10,000 employees. According to New York Times News Services, WorldCom Inc. plans to announce to lay off more than 10,000 of its employees which represents 13 percent of its workforce.

The economic radar screen looks bleak, and like a fox, George Bush would out smart his critics and the doubting Thomas’s once again. The pundits suggested that Bush should pursue his programs by piecemeal given that he did not receive voter’s mandate during the last election. So far, Bush has ignored the punditry and has acted otherwise.

He has consistently increased his amicability and that spells doom for the Democrats. Bush may not be the smartest person to hold the office of the presidency, but to help him run the country; he has brought together people of varying backgrounds whose experience dates back to the cold war era during the Nixon administration.

History has shown that the Democratic Party is always in disarray when the Republican Party occupies the White House. This is due to the fact that the party consists of competing forces, northern progressives, Midwest farmers and southern conservatives. The later ideology lean towards the Republican party belief and they would not hesitate to vote affirmatively to Republican sponsored bills which may be in accord with the thinking and belief of majority of their conservative district. Unless the Democratic Party captures the Congress, their future looks bleak. Already, there is a defection from the Democratic Party to the Republican in South Carolina, although the relationship to this new political wind is debatable.

Finally, as one can see, President Bush may not be as dumb as people thought that he is, after all. Evidence so far before us has shown that he did his homework very well and also, he is doing what it would take to be ahead of the political game. Although a majority of people may not like it especially given that more than 500,000 people expressed their preference for Al Gore during the 2000 presidential election.

Currently, Bush has systematically begun to implement his agenda in what Charles E. Lindblom called "incrementalism." In this case, he is changing things the way a majority of the Americans wanted it. Yesterday, it is abortion despite the fact that an ABC News-Washington Post poll of 1,513 American ad ults, conducted from January 11 – 15 showed that 59 percent supported abortion in different forms, 39 percent opposed. The same poll showed that 90 percent agreed on abortion to save the life of the mother, 8 percent opposed. In the case of rape, 83 percent supported abortion while 16 percent opposed. This statistic did not deter Bush from restricting abortion. Today it is education and voucher, tomorrow, who knows. For the doubting Thomas, this is for real.