A month ago yesterday, the nation went to the polls to vote in what would become one of the closest presidential races ever. Today, the nation still doesn't know who the next president will be. So much has gone wrong during this election that most students are simply tired of hearing about it.
Like many others, freshman Tom Baran thinks that it's pointless to watch the political battle sway back and forth. "There's nothing that I need to find out now that I won't find out in two weeks," he said. Baran, tired of hearing the same, repetitive news every day, would rather just wait for the final results.
At this point, some students don't even care who wins. Junior Patrick Lea said that he had lost respect for both candidates because neither was interested in democracy. Instead, he felt that it was a personal interest battle between candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Junior Trent Ruder shared similar sentiments. "I'm disappointed in both of them because they're making a mockery of the democratic election process. In a way, they're trying to take the vote away from the people and the system by sending it to lawyers and judges," he said.
Freshman Jon Goulet added that the judicial system should not alter current legislation regarding recount deadlines. He doesn't believe that it's fair for Florida officials to change the rules so late in the game. "The judicial branch in Florida is making deadlines and swinging this way and that... it is defeating the purpose of why we have legislation on these topics to begin with," he said.
Goulet also criticized the candidates' behavior during the election. "It's not up to the candidates now. [They] should step back and at least show a little respect for the system that's in place," he said. In particular, he felt that Gore's post-election behavior makes the presidential hopeful look bad.
The media and the public at large mostly criticized the issues concerning the ballot system, though. James Glaser, Associate Professor and Department Head of Political Science, explained that people who live in poorer regions were more likely to use obsolete voting equipment. "[I expect to] see advocates for minorities and urban voters - poorer people - calling attention to the discrepancies," he said.
Glaser also added that such questions have not been raised in the past because the current election situation is unprecedented in US history. "This episode has focused the spotlight on the problem, a problem that we didn't even know existed," he said. Glaser also expects the public to focus on potential changes to the Electoral College.
Ruder is not satisfied with the Electoral College process, and would like to see modifications made in the next election. He doesn't believe that such changes will come easily, though. "It's not necessarily an issue that's very clear, and if it's not clear, then it's harder to get a lot of people to push for change," he said.
Baran, on the other hand, feels that much of the controversy is due to the public's ignorance of the purpose of the Electoral College. He believes that the people who complain the most about the system are those who know the least about its advantages.
Regarding the outcome of the election, freshman Ghanim Marouf expects few to be content once the next president is finally chosen. "There are going to be a lot of disagreements just because the vote is so close... There's no possible outcome that people can agree on," Marouf said.
Students such as Marouf feel that no true winner can be declared, considering that the judicial system will have the final say in the election.
Glaser predicts that each candidate will deliver a "gracious" speech when Gore eventually concedes to Bush. However, he believes that the true feelings of the contestants lie deeper than a speech would convey. "Down the road, I think you'll see how Gore really feels, which is a sense of disappointment," he said.
