Danny Strong Quotes
I don't think there is anything more bitter in American politics than a close election.
Strong, Danny. Interview. Los Angeles Times, California Times, 25 May 2008.
Description of the 1876 race between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes. This election was very similar to the 2000 Bush v. Gore election. Tilden received more votes and there were shady dealings in Florida and other states which went to Hayes. Instead of the Supreme Court making the final decision as in 2000, a special Congressional Commission gave the Presidency to the candidate for whom fewer people had voted.
Al Gore had substantially won the popular vote but needed Florida to win the electoral vote. There had been a series of vote counting irregularities with many people being denied the right to vote to the point that no one was sure who had won Florida. The election moved from the ballot box to the courts and the Florida Supreme Court ruled that there should be some recounts in areas where Bush had supposedly won. The Bush forces and the Republicans appealed to the Supreme Court where the judges all reversed their traditional positions to support the party who had nominated them. Liberals who usually voted to have the Federal government override the states, voted for Florida to be upheld. Conservatives who usually supported the right of the States to decide such things without Federal Interference, voted to overturn the State Supreme Court. There were 5 Republicans and 6 Democrats and George W. Bush won the election by one judge’s vote.
Madison was right on most things, but got this one wrong. Of course he did not anticipate the era of mass communication which makes demagoguery in large areas possible.
Although there were many irregularities in the 2000 election and many thought that Bush was not the rightful winner, Nadar’s statement is ironic. He entered the race as the Green Party Nominee and siphoned off many more votes from Gore than from Bush. In Florida, the pivotal state, Gore lost by less than 600 votes and but for Nader, Gore would have won and become President. Then for him to later blame Bush’s maneuvers for Gore’s defeat, ignoring his own determinative role struck most observers as the height of selective analysis.
This was the result of Gerrymandering over the last decade where the Republicans outmaneuvered the Democrats in enough states so that they could control the House even of the Democrats had a large majority of the votes for congress members. See {632784} for an explanation of Gerrymandering technique.
Daniel William Strong is an American actor, film and television writer, director, and producer. As an actor, Strong is best known for his roles as Jonathan Levinson in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doyle McMaster in Gilmore Girls. He also wrote the screenplays for Recount, the HBO adaptation Game Change, Lee Daniels' The Butler, and the two-part finale of The Hunger Games film trilogy, Mockingjay – Part 1 and Mockingjay – Part 2. Strong also is a co-creator, executive producer, and writer for the Fox series Empire.
