Election 2000: It's a Crisis! But Largely on Cable

Hold the hysteria, please. There's plenty of time for us to sort out this mess

The pundits, the partisans and a fair number of citizens are treating the Florida ballot dispute like a constitutional crisis on the scale of Seven Days in May. Former Secretary of State James Baker, the solemn, senior aide to the Bush camp, says, "Our process is at risk," and we are "on the cusp of having this thing spiral out of control." Bush's strategy chief, Karl Rove, makes a legal battle sound like a civil war. Even a non-alarmist like CNN's Jeff Greenfield likened our democracy to a beautiful antique car sliding over a cliff.

What cliff? If there's a...

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