Either it was James Woods or a James Woods look-alike standing outside my polling
place in Warwick early on election day, giving a theatrical air to what was a
campaign marked by its share of theatrics, with possibly the most dramatic ending
of any election in recent memory.
As we go to press, the outcome of the national election remains in doubt while
we await the recount in Florida, along with the investigation of allegations
of election irregularities from that state.
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In a sense the most enthralling part of the election was election day itself,
with predictions of the close national contest on target, but with an itchy
electronic media too quick to call the Florida election over, giving it first
to Vice President Gore, then to Governor Bush, and finally to the undecideds.
Those who nodded off before 10 were convinced that a Gore victory was at hand,
and those who finally fell asleep around 2 a.m. were convinced it was Bush.
Both camps awoke Wednesday to find out that none of the above was leading, and
that real losers were the networks who rushed to predictions just to be first.
But without the last minute dramatics, this was no election to write home about.
Neither Bush nor Gore demonstrated the charisma that would propel them to a
decisive victory during this campaign, and both took their share of criticism
for style, for integrity, and for an understanding(or lack thereof) of the issues.
Locally, we had no real contests, some amusing commercials, a lot of negative
campaigning, and some supporters of bond issues that failed to realize that
you need to have a sustained campaign to get your message across.
Chief among these were the supporters of the bond for the Heritage Harbor Museum,
the only bond issue to fail. It lost by a close margin, which to its supporters
had to be incredibly disheartening. Only in the last week or so was there a
concerted effort to get the message across about the importance of the museum.
But that effort was in a series of letters and op-ed pieces from various groups
that would have been participants in the project.
Nowhere did we see substantive material about the economic impact of this project
or its importance educationally.
It is disappointing to see the bond lose, but more disappointing that its proponents
did not have the foresight to understand that they needed a weeks-long campaign
to educate the electorate on its importance, including that this was a project
for all of Rhode Island, not just Providence.
There will be a Heritage Harbor Museum, maybe not quite what it would have been
had the bond passed, or maybe the funds can be found elsewhere. But the lesson
here is in the campaigning. No group can take for granted that the electorate
understands and supports their issue.
