Political Punch

Jake Tapper wrote:
"That meant that the emotional core of the film makes it, probably, lean a little left. Not intellectually, but emotionally."
-----------------------
Yes, the film-makers had their hands tied; they HAD to portray Gore's side as the heroes, fighting not to win, but just to make sure every vote counted- god bless 'em. Amazing how often that happens - film and TV producers having no choice but to portray the democrats as the good guys.

I've only seen the movie in parts, but was there any explanation of why Gore's team wanted to exclude military votes, which would have certainly gone disproportionately to Bush? If so, I'm sure Kevin Spacey gave a thorough explanation as the movie's score provided emotional proof to his wounded sincerity.

Or how about the questionable tactic of calling for a recount in four counties where Gore led; even a rudimentary understanding of statistics would tell you that such a recount will give additional votes to the leader in those counties, for purely mathematical reasons. But Gore would not do that, would he? He just wanted everyone's vote to be counted... In those counties where he was ahead... To hell with the soldiers' votes... and the rest of Florida.

It is unfortunate that the people we trust and elect made the wrong decision; to move up the primary date. Obama nor Clinton had any control over this decision. Obama and other candidates removed their names from the ballot in Michigan except for Clinton. I ask this "How fair is it for Hilary to receive delegates from Michigan when his name was not on the ballot" See below: January 15, 2008
Team Obama: Michigan's Meaningless
Emailed a few minutes ago from Bill Burton to reporters with the subject line, "Something to think about as returns come in from Michigan" ...

TO: Interested Parties
FR: The Obama Campaign
RE: Michigan Democratic Presidential Primary

Because Michigan violated DNC rules by placing its Presidential Primary on January15th, the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee ruled that the Michigan Democratic Party could not use the results of the January 15 Presidential Primary to allocate delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In other words, no delegates are at stake today in the Michigan Democratic Primary.

All of the Democratic presidential candidates publicly pledged not to campaign in Michigan, none have visited the state, opened offices, hired staff or communicated with voters through television, mail, phones or otherwise. In addition, four Democratic presidential candidates, Obama, Edwards, Richardson and Biden withdrew their names from the Primary ballot in order to avoid participating in the Michigan Primary. Clinton did not withdraw her name even though she publicly committed to not participate in the Primary. Clinton, Dodd, Gravel and Kucinich are the only candidates on the ballot today. The Obama Campaign is not participating in the Primary and has not instructed supporters in Michigan whether or how to vote.

Therefore the results of the primary tonight have no bearing on the Democratic nomination contest.

Florida, whose primary was scheduled for January 29th, is just like Michigan – the DNC applied full sanctions for setting an early primary date and there are no delegates are at stake. As with Michigan, all of the Democratic presidential candidates signed a pledge to not campaign in Florida. Although Senator Obama did not remove his name from the Florida Primary ballot because Florida law did not allow him to do so, Senator Obama is firm in his commitment to neither participate nor campaign in the Florida Primary and its outcome has no bearing on the nomination contest. We raise Florida today because Senator Clinton has scheduled a fundraiser in Florida on Jan. 27th, and there are signs – despite Senator Clinton’s public pledge to the contrary – that she may be planning to campaign in the state – inquiring about large venues and increased organizing activity – ahead of the Florida primary.

Our position and the position of the DNC is clear – neither the Florida nor Michigan primaries are playing any role in deciding the Democratic nominee and we are not campaigning in either state.
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/01/team_obama_mich.html

Agreements were made between all of the candidates before the campaigns began. I live in FL and I am very disappointed with the people who made decisions for the citizens in FL.

Did I forget to mention the whole part about Bush signing a Bill stating "hand recounts are preferable" in Texas then getting his lawyers to do everything they could to STOP the hand recount in the state he would have lost? Everyone may have acted in their own political interest in that election, but the law was on the side of the legally requested recount that was haulted by our current President. Even the Supreme Court agreed with that but we all know what a bang up job they did to remedy, or should I say IGNORE, that problem. Acknowlege the recount was legit and neccessary, yet deny the recount claiming their hands were tied, then add a disclaimer stating that their action was only legal that one time. Great job guys!!

Google the following quote:

"Gore wins popular vote by more than 2 million"

And also, when you read about Bush "Prevailing" according to counts done by newspapers you must remember that the newspapers could not count ballots found on the side of the road and in dumpsters nor could they count the votes that were never cast due to Katherine Harris not allowing people with names similar to felons being able to vote nor could they count votes mistakenly cast for Buchanan on the FLAWED butterfly ballot. THE SYSTEM FAILED and now we have had a war monger, bold faced liar for a President who has literally destroyed an entire country (Iraq) and hundreds of thousands of it's innocent CITIZENS (women, children, men not in Al Queda or any other radical movement) and thousands of American soldiers (like 3 close friends and family members) all because his Daddy, who won the election for him, lost a school yard fight with Sadam Hussein several years before. Not to mention the state of our economy which was handed to this idiot on a silver platter, or the price of oil shooting through the roof (can you actually believe a man who made his millions by owning OIL COMPANIES could not figure out a way to ease oil prices or that HIS WAR IN IRAQ has nothing to do with this?)
If Gore won the popular vote by over 2 million there is not even a possibility that voting in MANY states was completely accurate and on the "up and up." Gore would have won if not for corruption and/or STUPIDITY. Here is the kicker though...America was so blind and obviously ignorant that half of us actaully reelected this moron. Wow. Shocking what people will overlook just so they can be on the "right" side of a cause.

Virtually everyone in the 2000 election acted according to their political party's best interests: the county canvassing boards, Republican Secretary of State Katherine Harris, Democratic Attorney General Bob Butterfield, the Florida legislature (controlled by Republicans), the 7 Florida Supreme Court justices (all appointed by Democratic governors), and the U.S. Supreme Court justices. That's why it's best to simply go with the machine count and possibly a machine recount. A hand recount of punchcards is very subjective and leads to bias. Machines have no bias; that's why we rely on them to do the counting. Plus they're much faster. I think we can all agree that punchcard ballot systems need to be eliminated because we've proven that they can't reliably be counted by hand.

Google the following phrase and make sure that you include the double quotes at the beginning and end:

"Newspapers recount shows Bush prevailed"

What really gets me is that Bush's little soldiers' only agenda was STOPPING the process of a LEGAL recount. I am not just talking about what was "portrayed" in the film, but what actually happened. Not a single Bush supporter alive can ever say they would not have demanded a recount in the same scenario and that Gore would have "won" the election under the same exact circumstances. It is what it is, but the system is flawed and the law did not protect the voters...Period.

I just find it hysterical that yet again Florida voters are being shunted. All by the Dems. Makes you wonder who is the true villain when it comes to voter manipulation in the state of Florida. After all, leopards can't change their spots. Given the chance, they'll always repeat their actions out of habit.

Elizabeth,

Tell your 90-year old friend she WASTED her money.

What disgusted me the most throughout the entire movie was the 20,000, majority African-American, people that got turned away at the polls because of computer error being accepted.

Allow those 20,000 to vote and lets see the result of the election then.

We all know on average African-Americans vote Democratic 90% of the time.

i don't have hbo and can't to pay for HBO -- and am so frustrated that i could not watch Recount. I wanted so badly to see it. Will it go on regular tv at any time or will be be made as a vhs or dvd?

I want to see the Movie "Recount". Let it be shown everywhere ...

This movie makes me so mad at how the Republicans stole the 2000 election. Gore should have been President.
Then, guess what, we would not be in Iraq, and we would have paid attention to global warming, and I bet you that we would not have the problems that we have now. Do not vote for McCain, because he will only continue the illegitimate and wrong Republican policies that have done so much wrong to this country and hurt us so much.

The voting machines are made by the same people who make slot machines. Can you imagine seeing a Vegas pit boss if someone said we have no way to verify the machine receipts. Voting machines have the ability to tell you what time and who punched what. American public needs to demand accurate election results.

The real lesson here and that people need to remember is that ALL of the 50 states have this VERY SAME PROBLEM. Florida was the unlucky one to get caught. It is important that the will of the people be heard and that the we do a better job with the process of voting to make it as easy and accessible as possible for everyone qualified to cast a vote !!!

It just shows how important even the small swings states are. If Gore won only one or two of them Florida wouldn't have mattered.
The Dems are going to repeat the same mistake.

That the 2000 Fla voting process was irregular and many people were disenfranchised---notable example (discounting chads discarded as "unofficial) the 20,000 "alleged" convicted felons like Pastor White, I believe his name was? who were ordered purged from voter rolls by the Bush-of-FLA administration and never got the CHANCE to vote--- CANNOT be denied.

Moreover, given: along with the nation, Ohio voters were outraged by the result of their own state's election results after widespread dissemination of the document in which Ohio's then governor "promised to deliver Ohio to George Bush" state and as many as 350,000 Ohioans were estimated to have been prevented from having their real votes counted due to various machinations such as backward-counting machines,

there truly can be no doubt that our election process is capable of being completely invalidated by power brokers.

So...those who are determined to defend the corruption of the last two elections are just as guilty as the powers that perpetrated this monumental desecration of our nation's democratic process.

Forget party. Forget personal feelings of embarrassment due to guilt by association with any of those manipulators of our country's democracy.

Look where we are. Look where these desecrated elections brought us.

Look at the men behind the curtain.

WE, the PEOPLE are bleeding in a war Congress did not declare after a tragedy that is STILL uninvestigated.

And WHO --besides corporate America---has the power to manipulate the press as blatantly as what occurred in these two elections?

The media. The lobbyists. those who stand to lose when America votes en masse for change.

Here's a quote from Harper's about the 2004 election:

"As the last polling stations closed on the West Coast, exit polls showed Kerry ahead in ten of eleven battleground states -- including commanding leads in Ohio and Florida -- and winning by a million and a half votes nationally. The exit polls even showed Kerry breathing down Bush's neck in supposed GOP strongholds Virginia and North Carolina.(30) Against these numbers, the statistical likelihood of Bush winning was less than one in 450,000.(31) ''Either the exit polls, by and large, are completely wrong,'' a Fox News analyst declared, ''or George Bush loses.''(32)"
from "None Nare Call It Stolen"

Can anyone, sitting in their own chair, in the comfort of their homes, with no one around to judge...can ANYONE in TRUTH say freedom in America was not hijacked?

I followed the "choices" of Katherine Harris during the actual events, read articles in WSJ, NY Times and other respected publications during that time, and watched her portrayal in the film last night. My opinion has been consistently the same: Katherine Harris is NOT an embarrassment to the Republican Party (she is who she is, just as one can not control that crazy aunt or drunken cousin in the family). Her being a republican has NOTHING to do with her makeup as a human being. To bash the Republican Party over her personality is childish and unfair. What Katherine Harris is guilty of is being an embarrassment to WOMEN. Women who are in leadership roles. Women who care more about the content of their business roledex than the content of their nail salon. Women who work very hard to earn respect in their respective male-dominated field. {Kathy-Democrat in CA{

Imagine what a great world this would have been had GORE been allowed to have his just due. President Gore would be finishing up a successful second term, they'd probably be getting ready to redecorate WINDOWS ON THE WORLD on top of the WTC, and the economy wouldn't be hosed.

Look what happened to our US of A because of this fiasco. If Gore would of won and Bush lost, one billion Islams would not be vying for USA's destruction. This is what happens when the people lose their voice or have it wrestled away and special interests take over.

Your quoting from Wikipedia???

ROTFLMAO!!!!!

What is, of course, missing at the conclusion Recount is the obvious: that every single independent recount of every single county in Florida shows that George Bush won the election.

The silence at conclusion was, as they say, deafening.

as far as I ever heard George Bush never was behind in the count. I still dont get it they said even if all the ballots were counted Bush still wouldve won.

And then he won again 4 years later oh well. Gore didnt loose because of Florida there were 49 other states too you know.

Watch Florida screw it up AGAIN in November.

I am watching the rerun of the movie, my God those crazy Republicans attacking a Democratic lawyer?

They should have all been cuffed, removed and arrested.

What patriotic American would try to shut down a recount?

Answer: a sad and unstable woman wearing way too much beat manipulated into validating an election that was stolen by her party.

The day will yet come when Katherine Harris comes forward and tells us what really happened.

One thing about Hillary, you may not support her, (I didn't I voted for Obama), but she takes no crap from Republicans.

They are terrified of her.

Anyone who still votes Republican at this late date after 8 years of this crazy group needs to be deprogrammed.

On an unfortunate note Katherine Harris was eventually chewed up and spit out by this awful bunch of thieves.

She was thrown under the bus and to the wolves last year.

On a positive note 8 years of this administration really educated the public to be on the look out for filthy politicking, their brand of whisper campaigns and the swiftboating.

The public can spot a dirty Republic blindfolded these days, which is a good thing.

The Dems should have held out and not allowed Katherine Harris, called unstable last year by many of her colleagues and some pundits and friends, allegedly including Sean Hannity, to bully them.

Thank God the Dems will never allow it to happen again.

The whole thing was a major snow job by the Republicans, major. But thankfully the public is older, wiser and gets it. Look where we are now.

The good news? God works in mysterious and extraordinary ways. The GOP is done for a very very long time.

You psychotic Republicans probably still think that it's a good thing that Bush stole this election. This has been the most dishonest, least transparent, most corrupt U.S. government in history, but we're supposed to believe that there were no shady dealings going on in 2000 or in 2004 in Ohio? Give me a break. Keep your head in the sand and continue to vote against your best interest and the best interests of the overwhelming majority in this country. Continue to believe that the Bush Administration hasn't set this nation back 50 years, and continue to think that they have robbed this country blind. Good luck with that. We'll see what happens this fall, but anyone who continues to vote Republican is almost too dumb to live.

Just watched Recount. Very well done. What a blight on world history Katherine Harris turned out to be.

Lee-USA, you are still in denial. Sorry, but as Hillary would say, "Facts are stubborn things." -- and Gore did NOT win the popular vote in Florida. See the #3 post above, by "Get Over It," with the facts about the media-sponsored investigation which proved Bush won the popular vote. Bush would have won even MORE of the votes if (a) the military votes weren't thrown out, and (b) the media hadn't called Florida for Gore BEFORE the votes in the Panhandle were counted...the Panhandle has strongly Republican-leaning districts. Democrats are the cheaters, not the Republicans.

So, you say the film leans "a little left"

Gee ya think?
LOL

In Jan'08, when Mr Obama removed his name off the ballot, Hillary said "I cann't take my name suddenly off the ballot, and give a message to people of Michigan that your votes don't count and suddenly come back in Nov asking for their votes. I want to stand by them always." She rallied for a re-vote in FL & MI both, DNC agreed, Fund-raisers agreed, only Mr Obama refused. Why? This was a ditch to the people there. Now he says Hillary is angry. MI & FL need to be counted and delegates seated in accordance with people's choice that they have already made.

JR, Harris was the one who lived up to the laws of Florida. I'm sorry if it didn't work out to your liking, but the laws are the laws. It's just like Hilary wanting the Florida and Michigan delegates seated now, after agreeing that they shouldn't be seated 9 months ago. Rules are not to be broken for the wants of liberals.

As exit polls had never been wrong before why would the networks suddenly stop announcing projected winners? According to the exit polls - Gore had won Florida. Only since Florida, electronic voting and privatizing the election process have exit polls become unreliable.

ps...Gore did win the popular vote in Florida but it was too late to halt the appointment of Bush by the time all the ballots were counted.

Jake,
you say
"which probably made sense given the drama of the Gore-Klain relationship and the fact that the Democrats were the underdogs."

What FACT are you referring to?

***

JAKE'S RESPONSE:

The fact that Bush won every official vote count, and that from then-Gov. Jeb Bush on down Republicans controlled the state. Plus to be frank, the Bush team just seemed to have its act together more.

The Democrats were told they only had 3 weeks to hand count the ballots. The reason why the GOP opposed counting (by allowing enough time to do the job) ALL the votes is clear...they knew Bush wouldn't be the winner.

That's the same reason Congressional Republicans sent their staff down to create a ruckus. They knew Bush had lost and were pulling out any dirty trick to get him in office.

I haven't seen the film so I can't comment on it....I do believe in this election that the MSM long ago became a part of the story and declared a winner.

I would love to see a "fictionalized" account of the MSM role in assuring George Bush's message was spread to support the war.

Still avoiding talking about the topic of this article, 50 states? You know, the HBO movie about the 2000 Florida recount?

That doesn't surprise me, most fanatics have to live in a tiny world only they can control.

MayBee.....Harris was Secretary of State of Florida, her MIS-use of her office was unethical, illegal and immoral. NO, not anyone would have done the same. There must be an honest republican somewhere, we just can't ever find one.

Katherine Harris has nothing to with the current election. Why don't you talk Obama's big promise to bring freedom to the Cubans in Cuba. How is he going to do that except invade the country. Or was he just pandering to this group of people wanting their vote much like he did to the Jewish people of Florida. His supports the PLO policies and has good friends who do the same. Yet he did not tell the Jewish community that. He does not tell the truth.
This election is being bought or stolen much like the 2000 election.

I am primary caretaker for a 90-year old woman. She wants me to contribute her message to bloggers, and Jake. Note, she is on SS and contributed $200 to Hillary Clinton's campaign. This is the first presidential campaign to which she has contributed.

Her message:

Knock it off with the criticisms of Hillary's RFK comments. They were taken out of context and have been grossly distorted.

Count all the votes.

Stop telling Hillary to quit. She should stay in until the last vote is counted and if the race is still close, take it to the convention.

Elizabeth S. from Cambridge, MA
Lifelong Democrat

Katherine Harris played hardball politics and used the rules of the election to her candidate's benefit. As anyone in that position would do, and certainly as everyone involved in Florida 2000 did.
She is colorful, as are many male politicians.
It is difficult, however, to watch someone you *know* doesn't like the person they are portraying vamp up a performance. You can feel the malice.