Recounting Recount

Recently (Sunday, before Memorial Day to be precise) I watched HBO’s Recount, which told the story of the 2000 election in a dramatic fashion. I was extremely pleased with the show; based on its accuracy, the actors, and frankly how enjoyable it was. Here’s the trailer:



For those of us who did not tune into the movie, Recount focused on the Florida debacle, with a heavy emphasis on Ron Klain (former Gore chief of staff- sent to Tallahassee for the legal battle) and Ben Ginsberg, who was a leader in Bush’s team. It used news footage from the past and fictionalized settings to create a real atmosphere.

It was accurate, or at least according to Al’s side (which I assume is the honest group). One of Gore's lawyers, Mr. Robinson, said of the film, “Recount does a remarkable job of conveying what it was like to be there.” The show takes you behind the excitement of closing the gap, the fear of losing the election as it gets close, disgust with Katherine Harris and her politics, joy with the full state recount and frustration with Bush v. Gore.

It helps that talented actors play the parts extraordinarily well. Laura Dern mastered Katherine Harris. Kevin Spacey was also great as Ron Klain; to me he became the star of the show. They took you behind the scenes, by giving an in-depth perspective with humor. For example, a scene with Katherine Harris:



Thousands of African Americans (and most who just happened to be registered Democrats) were rejected from the polls; Ralph Nader took away significant progressive support; over 10,000 older voters and others mistakenly voted for third party candidates because of the ballot design in Miami Dade, Palm Beach and other counties (according to research conducted by the New York Times); Joe Lieberman, Gore’s vice presidential choice, urged for all incomplete military ballots to be counted; which together gave Bush Florida and the Presidency by 537 votes.

But if all ballots were reviewed state wide in a standard as set by each county canvassing boar, Gore would have won by 171 votes. If fully punched chads and limited marks on optical ballots were counted statewide, Gore would have won by 115 votes. Imagine what a Gore presidency would look like.

What Eyck just talked about with voter registration is great. But if we don’t have a political system that reflects our nation’s Democratic values, there is no point. Recount reopened the discussion to fix the problems with electronic and punch card voting, along with the numerous other issues surrounding voting in the 21st Century. Florida won’t be going our way this time: but the knowledge we can draw from the Sunshine State situation eight years ago should be applied everywhere in this day and age.