Florida's Usual Role in Presidential Politics
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Florida’s Usual Role in Presidential Politics | Robert F. Sanchez Editor’s Note: A version of this article originally appeared on FloridaVerve.org, The James Madison Institute’s website devoted to Florida’s history and culture. n the days prior to the Ides of March prominent pollsters and preening pundits 2016, Florida was briefly the center of found palmy vistas for the TV cameras to America’s political universe. As early capture in the background as they pondered Ivoting surged and Election Day for the state’s which of the candidates would win Florida’s presidential preference primary approached, large haul of convention delegates. On www.jamesmadison.org | 19 The Journal of The James Madison Institute Election Day, several candidates even set up the menu of viable choices available for shop in Florida, using Sunshine State locales voters in other states. Being able to have a as the backdrop for their victory speeches or, say early in the process is not unimportant; in the case of Marco Rubio, for announcing just imagine a country in which you may that he was “suspending” his campaign. choose to dine anywhere you want, but each And then, just as suddenly as the and every restaurant, cafe, diner, and bistro polls, pollsters and pundits arrived, they has only the same two items on its menu: were gone. Although the attention was nice a McDonald’s Big Mac and a Burger King while it lasted, and most Floridians had Whopper. welcomed a chance to have a say at last in Because of the way the winnowing a typically front-loaded process favors states that process, the rarity of are far smaller and less this year’s circumstances “In the last 24 diverse than Florida, our also reminded politically presidential state’s voters, like backup savvy voters that in most elections, for quarterbacks, often don’t presidential election get to enter the game until years, their state’s role in instance, the two it’s garbage time, when a key phase of the process major political what they do won’t matter — narrowing the field parties have split anyway. of candidates — is best Sure, Florida’s 29 described by two terms the victories, with electoral votes usually are borrowed from the world each winning highly sought during the of sports: “garbage time” Florida a dozen run-up to each November’s and “backup quarterback.” general election. The As for “garbage times. In the last only states of comparable time,” the term was well six elections, political heft — California, defined a decade ago by each party has Texas, and New York — are NBC’s Roland Beech, predictably “Republican as cited in Wikipedia: three wins.” red” or “Democratic blue” “Garbage time is a term on the electoral map. used to refer to the period Florida, on the other hand, toward the end of a timed sporting event that has been a swing state for decades. In the has become a blowout when the outcome of last 24 presidential elections, for instance, the game has already been decided.” the two major political parties have split the Usually, by the time Floridians get a victories, with each winning Florida a dozen chance to have their voices heard, four other times. In the last six elections, each party has states — tiny and eccentric New Hampshire, three wins. Corn Ethanol Kingdom Iowa, Casino Then there’s this bit of solace: Once Hangover Capital Nevada, and “Too Small in a while, even a backup quarterback To Be a Country/Too Large To Be an Insane daydreaming on the bench early in the first Asylum” South Carolina — have streamlined quarter will suddenly be thrust into the 20 | The Journal, Fall 2016 The Journal of The James Madison Institute game well before garbage time because the George W. Bush. Even without the ballot starter got hurt or, say, suffered a head injury confusion, the accidental votes for these after which he was sacked twice, fumbled minor party candidates may have affected thrice, and threw 10 interceptions in a the outcome nationwide. row, thereupon getting yanked to undergo As for the statewide picture, the vote the NFL’s “concussion protocol.” Likewise, totals for Bush and Gore were so close that Florida has occasionally found itself playing a recount was ordered. During the recount an influential role as a significant way station in Palm Beach County, another problem somewhere along the long and winding road arose: hanging chads. On the antiquated to the White House — although not always computer punch card ballots used in that in conventional ways. Consider, for instance, county, voters were supposed to use a stylus some of these 10 episodes selected from to poke a hole in a circle beside the name Florida’s checkered history in presidential of the candidate of their choice. However, politics. some of the voters did not manage to punch a hole all the way through. That left a little 1. Bush v. Gore: Butterfly Ballots and piece of punched paper, a chad, dangling Hanging Chads The episode that is probably the best known nowadays is the most recent. In 2000, the nationwide race between George W. Bush and Al Gore was extremely close, to say the least. In the end, it all came down to Florida, where getting a final tally was complicated by a number of problems statewide but nowhere as notoriously as in vote-rich Palm Beach County. There, the locally elected Supervisor of Elections, Democrat Theresa LePore, had Attorney General Bob Butterworth speaking at a news conference approved what became known with Governor Jeb Bush on the initial Florida recount during the 2000 Presidential election. Courtesy of Florida Memory. as a butterfly ballot. This design reportedly confused some voters, particularly senior citizens who had in the hole. On other ballots, the hole was long been accustomed to a different ballot intact but there was a tiny indentation, as design. Some of the confused citizens may though a voter had attempted to make a hole have inadvertently voted for minor party there. On those ballots whose holes were not candidates Pat Buchanan or Ralph Nader completely opened or were not opened at all, when they intended to vote for Al Gore or the recount officials who were conducting www.jamesmadison.org | 21 The Journal of The James Madison Institute questions lingered. The Miami Herald decided to investigate. Executive editor Marty Baron dispatched a team of reporters to follow up. The Herald team, led by veteran reporter Martin Merzer, uncovered numerous problems with Florida’s decentralized system of elections. In some counties, for instance, there were numerous problems of “undervoting” — due to ballots that were improperly marked. In other counties there was “overvoting” — ballots disqualified because Attorneys leaving the Florida Supreme Court building during the of participation by felons, non- 2000 Presidential election. Courtesy of Florida Memory. citizens, and others who were ineligible to vote. The Herald’s the tally by hand were supposed to decide investigation — which in 2001 each voter’s intent. Did he or she start to the St. Martin’s Press published in a 302- punch a hole then have a change of heart? page book titled “Democracy Held Hostage” Who knew? How long could this go on? — led to numerous reforms in the state’s Worse, Palm Beach wasn’t the only county election laws, equipment and procedures, where problems had cropped up, leading to but it did not mount a convincing case a recount. for overturning George W. Bush’s narrow Famously the matter wound up in victory. the courts as Florida’s recount dragged on. The liberal-leaning Florida Supreme Court 2. Gary Hart’s Monkey Business essentially ruled that the recount ought A dozen or so years prior to Bush to continue until Al Gore somehow won. v. Gore, Florida was involved in events that Subsequently, the conservative U.S. Supreme deeply affected the race for the White House Court considered the case, Bush v. Gore, — and the Miami Herald was involved in ruling 7-2 that Florida’s recount was being that episode as well. Democrats in 1988 were conducted in a way that was constitutionally still smarting from a landslide loss in 1984, suspect and 5-4 that it was time for Florida when Ronald Reagan easily defeated the to declare a winner so that the Electoral liberal Walter Mondale to win a second term. College, due to meet Dec. 12, 2000, could Some in the party argued that the best bet to fulfill its Constitutional duty without delay. win back the White House was to nominate The recount stopped. Bush won. a “moderate” from the South or the West. Al Gore conceded with graciousness. A Colorado’s Sen. Gary Hart seemed to fit the constitutional crisis was averted. Still, 22 | The Journal, Fall 2016 The Journal of The James Madison Institute bill, and as a plus some said he even “looked been having an affair with a young woman presidential” and “had charisma.” Moreover, named Donna Rice, and that the affair may as if to attest to his political potential in the have included time spent on a Miami-based South, Hart had won Florida’s presidential yacht aptly named “Monkey Business.” Hart primary four years earlier, garnering nearly soon withdrew. The Democrats nominated 40 percent of the 1.16 million votes cast liberal Massachusetts Governor Michael compared to only 32 percent for the party’s Dukakis, who led for a while but ultimately eventual nominee, Walter Mondale. In managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of contrast to Hart, Mondale was a self-effacing victory by losing to the Republican nominee, Minnesotan whose lack of charisma led a Vice President George H.W.