super-close elections

[Sanford Levinson]

I think the truth about Bush is somewhere in between my comment about the
fat cats and Greg's enthusiasm.  It is true that people tend to like him:
I think I have earlier admitted to leaving my ballot blank in the last
gubernatorial election, which, for me, was quite a statement about Bush's
having been a not-bad governor (and about the inadequacy of his Democratic
opponent).  Still, I think it's naive to underestimate the importance of
money. (We'll never know if McCain would have won New York had he not been
blindsided by vicious commercials bought and paid for by Bush's extremely
rich Texas friends.  And if McCain had won New York, all of American
history might have been different.)  I also notice that Greg didn't take
issue with my criticism of the front-loaded primary system.

As to his comments about why Gore got the nomination, he is, I think,
basically correct.  I think that this helps to explain why it is so
unlikely that Gore will get a second chance.  I can't imagine why
Democratic fat cats would find him a good investment in four years given
that he didn't have the wit to win an election in which he held a number of
remarkable advantages.

sandy