Sunday, December 17, 2000

By Milan Simonich, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Al Gore and George W. Bush spent their campaigns talking about character. Each said he could handle pressure, show courage and grace under fire.

		The views of three scholars: Stanley Weintraub, Penn State University Shannon Ishiyama Smithey, University of Pittsburgh Ken Gormley, Duquesne University

Even as they debated the complexities of taxes and smog control and Social Security, they tried to sell themselves to voters as something basic -- good men.

Then came the Election Day that seemingly would not end. The well-packaged presidential contenders found themselves in a different sort of campaign, under circumstances more difficult and daunting than the first.

They knew that their place in history could turn on a recount or a judge's interpretation of an obscure legal code. Their political jugular -- the content of their character -- lay exposed in a way it had not been before.

As Bush and Gore mobilized teams of lawyers to help them win the election, they also did their best not to look like politicians who wanted the White House in the worst way.

Each citizen will decide how well each man pulled it off, but how will history regard these men and their nail-biting election? We asked three scholar/writers.

The early returns from these Post-Gazette experts suggest neither Bush nor Gore will be remembered as an example of shining character, especially when compared to 19th century presidential candidates Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. Hayes and Tilden collided in an election that was even more messy and confusing than this one, but they handled themselves in more gentlemanly fashion than the modern players.

One of our historians believes the election of 2000 will be regarded, quite simply, as a rancorous disaster that undermined American institutions.

Another contends that machines, not men, will be the legacy of the 2000. The theory is that public demand to improve voting machines will outlive anything either candidate did or said.

It's often said that the winners write the history books. This may be a rare case where people watching from the sidelines -- some for Bush, others for Gore and some for neither -- end up getting the biggest voice and having the biggest effect: election reform.

E-mail this story   Print this story