The Sunshine State’s Shadowy Legacy

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http://inthesetimes.com/article/12644/the_sunshine_states_shadowy_legacy


Middle-school students demonstrate outside the Stephen P. Clark Government Center on December 1, 2000, in Miami. The students joined hundreds of others at a rally demanding a recount of dismissed presidential election ballots. (Robert King/Newsmakers)

There are a few iconic moments and events that represent profound shifts in American history. Think of the civil rights marches in 1965, the riots at Altamont and Stonewall in 1969, or Jimmy Carter’s “crisis of confidence” speech in 1979.

This week’s GOP primary election in Florida will not rank among them. But with the state in the spotlight again, it’s worth pausing to remember what happened in Florida a dozen years ago, and to wonder why it isn’t better remembered as an iconic moment in our history, and to consider how the 2000 election has shaped our politics in ways that defy all expectations.

Recall that George W. Bush was declared the winner in Florida by about 500 votes, giving him the presidency. Recall also that Bush’s victory was sealed by a 5-4 Supreme Court decision that abruptly halted a statewide vote recount.

In the election’s aftermath, the press was concerned more with “healing” than digging into the facts of what happened. And then, after 9/11, it was considered unseemly to question the fundamental health of our democracy. The upshot is that we’ve never honestly grappled with the extent of the fraud that occurred in Florida in 2000. But the truth is that the state’s GOP-controlled election was corrupt almost beyond belief.