Dallas County Democrats
Mandates & Texas

Does A Vote For Gore In Texas Matter?

Pollster John Zogby said yesterday that he could see a real chance for Al Gore to win the electoral vote, but Bush the popular vote. While we would, of course, be pleased with a victory of any stripe, there is NO doubt that in such a scenario, Republicans would question Al Gore's mandate, and that this would hurt his ability to enact the program we have all been fighting for these past months.

So in a sense there are TWO elections a week from today. In the electoral college vote, our chances of carrying Texas may not be high. But, in the national popular vote, our votes here in the Metroplex count just as much as a vote in Oregon, or Michigan or Florida. Indeed, the only way a Gore electoral vote win coupled with a Bush popular vote win would be possible would be if Bush "runs up the score" here in Texas.

Don't let him do it!! Just a handful of extra Gore votes per precinct may not make the difference between winning or losing Texas. But they may very well make the difference between winning or losing the national popular vote. Your vote for Gore in Texas, and the votes of your neighbors do matter. Even here in Texas, the time is now to pull out all the stops in our efforts on behalf of Al Gore.

(And, by the way, national polling trends continue to move our way. Some polls have Gore and Bush exactly even. Others have us down one to three points, in a "statistical tie" considering the polls' margin of error. There is reason for cautious optimism in Florida. Ms. Carnahan's announcement that she will seek the Missouri Senate seat that her late husband, Governor Mel Carnahan, had been campaigning for before his untimely death, has reenergized democrats in Missouri. Trends in Wisconsin, where Al Gore spent the day yesterday, are also positive. So there's good news across the country -- but we still need to cover our bets by cutting Bush's percentage here!!)

--Bruce Rothstein, Precinct 1147 Democratic Chair

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