Even Al Gore Knew When to Quit...
This is for anyone who followed the Evanston First Ward aldermanic race between Judy Fiske and Cheryl Wollin. As you may know, Fiske contends that by providing students incentives to register to vote and to vote (not for a particular candidate, but just in general), Northwestern manipulated the election and broke the law. She wants large numbers of student votes thrown out so that she can be declared the winner. It's an interesting assertion, and depending on how closely you read Illinois state law on the matter, you might be inclined to agree with her. In spirit, it seems like nonsense. But if you parse the language carefully, she could have a point.
That said, this seems like the sort of fight you might keep up for a few weeks after the election. Maybe even a few months. Well, she's still fighting. And the election was in 2005. 2005!!!.
Even Vice President Gore, who has gotten taunted by the right for being a sore loser, gave up at some point. He realized that correct or incorrect, there was nothing more he could do.
Yet where Gore stopped short, Fiske perseveres. Could there be anything more trivial in electoral politics than an aldermanic election in the city of Evanston? Could it possibly be worth the time, effort, and cost of fighting this case for a year? One wonders whether Fiske's personal worth, her very sense of being, rests solely on the outcome of an election she clearly lost. The woman needs a hobby. And a day job.
But perhaps it's not so much that victory would stroke her ego. Maybe it's the struggle itself. She talks a lot about making sure people were represented and that their votes were fairly counted. In demanding that hundreds of students be disenfranchised for getting the hefty bribe of housing points not to vote for her opponent, but to vote period, Fiske believes that she is championing the very foundation of American freedom. And in losing, even more than in winning, she may find great comfort.
After all, Judy Fiske is a martyr.
That said, this seems like the sort of fight you might keep up for a few weeks after the election. Maybe even a few months. Well, she's still fighting. And the election was in 2005. 2005!!!.
Even Vice President Gore, who has gotten taunted by the right for being a sore loser, gave up at some point. He realized that correct or incorrect, there was nothing more he could do.
Yet where Gore stopped short, Fiske perseveres. Could there be anything more trivial in electoral politics than an aldermanic election in the city of Evanston? Could it possibly be worth the time, effort, and cost of fighting this case for a year? One wonders whether Fiske's personal worth, her very sense of being, rests solely on the outcome of an election she clearly lost. The woman needs a hobby. And a day job.
But perhaps it's not so much that victory would stroke her ego. Maybe it's the struggle itself. She talks a lot about making sure people were represented and that their votes were fairly counted. In demanding that hundreds of students be disenfranchised for getting the hefty bribe of housing points not to vote for her opponent, but to vote period, Fiske believes that she is championing the very foundation of American freedom. And in losing, even more than in winning, she may find great comfort.
After all, Judy Fiske is a martyr.