HBO Docudrama about 2000 election.
The 2000 presidential election between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George Bush was extremely close. The electoral vote count came down to Florida. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually ruled that the Florida recount should be stopped, thus ending Al Gore’s challenge to the election in Florida, and thus ending the dispute and declaring George W. Bush the winner of the state’s electoral votes and giving Bush a majority in the Electoral College. Despite a 500,000 vote lead in the national popular vote, Vice President Al Gore did not secure enough votes in the Electoral College.
Here’s an excerpt of the 2008 HBO docudrama:
Questions for Reflection
1. According to the clip, how was the Florida recount considered a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment?
2. Why do you think Vice President Gore eventually dropped his legal challenges to the outcome of the election?
3. Since 2000, Democrats have won the popular vote in four of five elections (2000, 2008, 2012, 2016), but only won the presidency twice (2008 and 2012). Is this a crisis in our democracy? Why or why not?