Election Failings (Jeff Hankins Publisher’s Note)

Where does one start when assessing such a bizarre election?

For me, the bizarreness started from the moment my wife and I tried to vote in west Little Rock. We tried three polling places — one of them twice — and none of them claimed to be the voting location for our precinct, nor could poll workers direct us to the correct location. Furthermore, we would have been out of luck at the one we visited twice because 30 people were standing around due to a shortage of ballots.

Turns out the Pulaski County clerk’s office had not processed our change-of-address request, so we finally found our names on the rolls at our old voting location and cast ballots. Nor did the clerk’s office fulfill our request to be mailed an absentee ballot, which would have eliminated our five trips to polling locations.

Gov. Mike Huckabee’s proclamation on a New York City radio station that Arkansas is a banana republic was a gross exaggeration. But I’m comfortable declaring that the Pulaski County Election Commission, its staff and the county clerk’s office provided ample evidence of their inability to execute their fundamental jobs. It was borderline incompetence, but not illegal.

But that ordeal couldn’t diminish my excitement about following the returns, and it was a political junkie’s dream night.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush carried Arkansas as I expected. I imagined a scenario in which Bush would lead the popular vote nationally and lose to Vice President Al Gore in the Electoral College, but not vice-versa.

Network television suffered through a pitiful night of pack journalism. How do five major organizations make inaccurate projections not once, but twice? They let their fear of getting beaten to the punch overshadow their responsibility to report the facts.

Whatever the final outcome, either Bush or Gore will be forced toward moderation with a deeply divided Congress in a deeply divided country. That’s probably good for everyone, particularly the stock markets, but it will prevent either from carrying out election promises.

Then there’s First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who pulled off the U.S. Senate race in New York. Strategist James Carville predicted as much during a Little Rock visit last spring, when he noted the huge number of Democrats who turn out in New York for a presidential election. If Bush wins, she becomes the Democratic front-runner in 2004. I thought she was crazy for subjecting herself to a campaign, so what do I know?

Dickey Stumbles

How does Arkansas deliver for Republican George W. Bush while ousting U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Pine Bluff?

The best explanation is that the 4th District went back to its history of supporting a Democrat, and Dickey didn’t get the substantial margin he had previously enjoyed in Garland County to offset Jefferson County.

It was amusing to read Dickey’s comments about how horrible it will be for the district to lose an Appropriations Committee seat and for Mike Ross to be in the minority party. Dickey wasn’t the least bit concerned for the 4th District when he unseated Beryl Anthony, cost the district seniority on the powerful Ways and Means Committee and was in the minority party himself.

The success of the amendments on the ballot was surprising. The margin of victory for the tobacco settlement and the defeat of the casino amendment were particularly pleasing but unexpected. With only one measure failing, the conventional wisdom that voters tend to vote no on amendments was off target.

U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Little Rock, and U.S. Rep. Marion Berry, D-Craighead, really solidified their positions, and the Democrats dominated judicial races. The GOP has to be pleased with the approval of nonpartisan judicial elections even though that was not the reason to support the measure.

Finally, Barbara Graves’ victory over New Party candidate Paul Kelly for the Little Rock City Board was one of the best steps that could be taken toward moving this city forward.