Yes, Your Vote Counted

The American presidency teetered in the balance this morning.

The suspense focused on Florida, first called for Democrat Al Gore, then pulled back to the undecided column, then to Republican George W. Bush, and back to uncertainty, leaving Gore and Bush in a virtual electoral dead heat. Some experts had talked in advance about a cliffhanger. But few envisioned just how close it would be, both in the popular and electoral vote.

Though Green Party candidate Ralph Nader was running in low single digits, his tally was the potential margin of victory in several states. Nader was not getting the 5% of the popular vote he needed to assure federal funding for the Greens and establish the seriousness of the party. Instead, he appeared mostly to have been a spoiler who damaged Gore.

In California, voters apparently were approving a sweeping shift away from imprisonment for nonviolent drug offenders. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein easily won reelection over Republican challenger Tom Campbell, a member of the House. It is an ironic note that one of Campbell’s chief issues--the failure of the drug war, which led him to support Proposition 36--did not help him.

Experts on all sides have declared the drug war a failure, but Proposition 36, by removing judges’ flexibility in sentencing, went too far. However, because elected politicians failed to address the problem, the state evidently now will have to figure out how to make Proposition 36 work. In a less surprising California vote, Proposition 38, a sweeping school voucher measure, was handily defeated.

However--and whenever--the presidency is finally decided, the federal government beginning next January is going to be one of the most narrowly divided in decades. Democrats picked up several seats in the Senate, but the GOP seemed certain to retain its majority. Republicans will still hold a narrow majority in the 435-member House on the basis of unexpected GOP pickups in the East.

The close balance of power would indicate that neither presidential candidate would have much success in pushing his more ambitious programs--Bush’s massive tax break, for instance, or Gore’s ambitious agenda for health care and other programs. This was an extraordinary election to watch as Gore and Bush battled their way across the network television maps, states turning blue if they went for Gore and red for Bush. California went easily for Gore, and its Legislature easily stayed Democratic.

No matter who controls the Senate, it will be a historic body that sits for the 107th Congress the first week in January. One of its members will be First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat elected from her recently adopted state of New York. For a few days, she will be both first lady and senator until her husband, Bill Clinton, leaves the presidency Jan. 20.

It was an evening of drama and suspense, with people glued to their televisions late into the night. Turnout nationally was high. The best news from election night is that a lot of Americans felt--no, knew--that their votes made a difference.