In the bitter tone that we’ve all grown accustomed to these last four years, Al Gore once again reminded us today that Bush stole the 2000 presidential election.
Addressing the Democratic National Convention that opened here Monday, Gore said the first lesson was “every vote counts” and to make sure that every vote “is counted” this year.
But Bush didn’t do any stealing, unless it’s possible to steal what’s yours. And Mr. Gore sure gets a lot across with such a cheap shot.
According to a couple independent studies conducted after the election was called, Bush actually won without the Supreme Court’s help. Think of that little fiasco as an election fast-track.
In April, the Miami Herald and USA Today completed the first comprehensive study of undervotes. They concluded that Bush would have widened his 537-vote victory to a 1,665-vote margin if the recount mandated by the Florida Supreme Court had continued. Bush would have won even using standards that Gore favored, namely counting faintly dimpled undervotes.
[…]
It wasn’t until Nov. 12, more than a year after Election Day, that [the National Organization of Research at the University of Chicago] announced that Bush still would have won. Having spent more than $900,000 on its study, NORC aimed to “provide a historical record for one of the most remarkable presidential elections in U.S. history.”
The truth? Bah, says Al Gore. And the Democrats are listening.