Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Trusting the people

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 9:39 a.m.

Gov. George W. Bush trusts the people -- except when it comes to the presidential election.

Maybe I have missed something during the soap opera that is the Florida election, but it sure seems to me that the difference between what a man says and what a man does has become crystal clear in the past few days. That man, of course, is Gov. Bush -- George, not Jeb, and that's a whole other question -- and the issue is just whom does he really trust.

I was disappointed Election Night but I, like almost every other American, was perfectly willing to accept the will of the people and welcome a new President Bush come Jan. 20. I still am. But in light of the incredible voting snafus -- and perhaps worse -- it seems eminently fair and appropriate that the voting officials in Florida be left alone long enough to assure themselves and, therefore, voters in that state and across America that what we see as results is actually what was intended by the voters.

This is not a push for lawsuits and recounts ad nauseum. It is simply a suggestion that what is lawful and normal in every other election that is called into question be allowed to play out in Florida. In the end, whoever is sworn in January as the 43rd president of the United States needs to have a country that not only supports his presidency but accepts the verdict as fair. The only way to do that, in my opinion, is to count the ballots -- in every Florida county, if necessary -- by hand so that those missed by the machines will be given the value that they deserve.

Having said that, I am baffled by the antics of the Bush campaign. Former Secretary of State James Baker is the governor's man on the ground, so what he says and the way he says it must reflect the governor's point of view. What I have heard constantly from Secretary Baker are threats of a ground war that can spread from Florida all the way to Oregon if the Gore campaign doesn't desist in its efforts to have votes hand counted in certain counties in Florida. I sense a feeling of desperation, although I am not sure why, from the Bush campaign about the probability of the hand count of votes that, presumably, have not yet been counted for the very first time.

For example, I understand that there are 6,000 ballots in Broward County that contained votes that were counted for every office in Florida. The only office for which votes were not tallied was for that of the president. Is it conceivable that all 6,000 people -- in what is a heavily Democratic area -- decided not to vote for president? Yes. Is it likely? Of course not.

It is more likely that the machines used to count the ballots failed to pick up the votes -- whichever candidate they were for -- because of some mechanical reason. A hand count, human beings actually looking at the ballots and making a determination, would alleviate any concern that the machines had a technical breakdown. It would also allow the potential of 6,000 voters to have their choices for president counted in the tally. What is undemocratic about that?

And what is all this stuff we heard from Bush about trusting the people and the governments closest to them? That's what we heard during the campaign. Since the election what we have seen him do is run to the federal court in an effort to stop the actions of the county governments -- those closest to the people. The federal judge sent the Bush legal eagles packing with a ruling that said that the local governments were in charge and the federal government should be loathe to intervene without a showing of wrongdoing -- and there has been none of that. Unless, of course, you pay attention to the news stories about thousands of people waiting in line to vote who were turned away in Dade County, a traditional Democratic stronghold.

Something tells me the Bush team would not mention that blemish. And what about a candidate who lambasted lawyers almost every day of his campaign and who now has lawyers in every county in Florida waiting to file something to make sure this voting stuff doesn't go badly for the home team? Smacks of "do as I say, not as I do," don't you think?

As if the Florida count wasn't complicated enough, the Florida secretary of state warned every county that the votes would be certified come hell or high water as of 5 p.m. today. She did that with the full knowledge that county officials had already determined that there were good and sufficient reasons to order a hand count and that they wouldn't be finished for at least a few more days. What's the rush?

So why would the secretary of state order the cutoff of the hand counts? The fact that she was a huge supporter of the Bush campaign, I am sure, has nothing to do with her decision to try her best to stop the counting. But there are some people, perhaps as many as a hundred million of them around the country, who may believe otherwise. Especially since her actions -- and, by extension, the actions of the Bush campaign -- belie a feeling of trust as they make the effort to void the votes of Florida citizens rather than give them value.

I keep asking myself, "Why?" Why would George W. Bush, a man who believes in and trusts the people, do his level best to stop what even the federal judge who heard his case said was a better and more reliable way to count ballots?

The only answer I can come up with is also the obvious one. And that is, if the local officials are allowed to properly hand count the ballots, the results will swing the narrow election away from Bush and give a more decided victory to the vice president. That takes this fight from the more noble effort of getting on with the process of heeding the will of the people to the far less noble one of just winning at any cost.

As the public understands this more fully, all that talk from George W. Bush about trusting the people and local governments will be seen as just a lot of talk. His actions will speak far louder. It is not too late for him to show the country that he is a man of his word. He can order his hounds to stand down and allow the county officials in Florida the time they need to do their jobs. When they finish and if he is still the winner he will take the oath of office with his promise of trust still intact.

People want to trust their president. They also expect him to trust them in return. Now would be a good time, Gov. Bush, to show that you really do trust the people.

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