Letter: Florida 2000 story is complicated
Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush Democratic with presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore at the first debate of the 2000 presidential election on Oct. 17, 2000. Gore went on to win a plurality of the popular vote, but didn't make the cut in the Electoral College after a long contest that was not decided until December. Credit: AP
The Associated Press article headlined "Webb drops out of Democrats' race" [News, Oct. 21] omitted the whole story of how presidential candidate Al Gore lost Florida in 2000, thereby perpetuating a historical myth.
The article states that third-party candidate Ralph Nader "garnered enough liberal support in Florida to prevent Democrat Al Gore from carrying the state and winning the presidency."
However, two investigations by news organizations concluded that Gore would have won the popular vote in Florida by several hundred votes had the recounting continued. Gore's lawyers failed to press for a statewide recount, instead choosing to focus a recount on only a few counties. This gave the U.S. Supreme Court the opening to deny a recount on the principle of equal protection.
It's unfortunate that a well-respected agency such as The AP would publish a story without including all the facts, and make it appear as though Nader's "liberal support" alone was responsible for giving us George W. Bush.
Gary Cronin, West Babylon
