Who Won the 2000 election?

It's the sore question that just won't go away. Conspiracies abound about Ohio in 2004, and they may or may not have some basis in fact. But as more and more people look at Florida in 2000, there seems less and less doubt that Al Gore actually won the state.

Paul Krugman is the most recent observer to take another look at Florida. He was prompted by Andrew Gumbel's book Steal this Vote, a history of vote fraud in the United States that includes analysis of the 2000 and 2004 elections. If for no other reason, Gumbel's book should be worthwhile for driving home the point that election fraud has happened throughout the history of the United States, just as it has happened in every country with elections. We are no worse than anyone else, and better than many; but we aren't perfect.

Mickey Kaus also weighs in on the Florida issue.

No one (or at least no one I know of) is calling for Bush to step down as a result of election shenanigans. I doubt anyone even wants a criminal prosecution of his operatives. But stuff like this can't keep getting shoved under the rug. It does no one any favors, not even Republicans. After all, it might be the Democrats who cheat ten or twelve years from now.

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