| Summary: | www.cord.edu/dept/concoi World watches US election LONDON (AP) World leaders offered congratulations — then hastily took them back. Newspapers hurriedly rolled out new editions. And from Hong Kong to Helsinki, ordinary citi-zens marveled at America's chaot-ic electoral spectacle. "If s like Italy!" said the proprietor of a Roman coffee bar. For a watching world, a full day of confusion over the results of the U.S. presidential race was a lesson in democracy's messy glory -- or proof that the political system in the world' s most pow-erful nation might just be in need of an overhaul. Rushing to congratulate the winner was an early and oft-repeated mistake. European Commission President Romano Prodi was among the first to com-pliment George W. Bush on his election as president — and among the first to repent his haste. Forty minutes after German President Johannes Rau circulated his letter congratulating Bush in the name of the German people, his office faxed an excited follow-up: "Please don1 t publicize the president' s congratulations to George W. Bush!!!!!" Too late. The Dutch government put out a congratulatory statement — then retracted it. New Zealand's prime minister, Helen Clark, was all set to get down to brass tacks with the presumptive winner, mentioning the new round of world trade talks in her congratulatory note to Bush. In every comer of the world, newspapers rushed to correct early editions proclaiming Bush the vic-tor. " Bush wins," read the early-edition headline in London' s Evening Standard. That was trans-formed in the second edition to " Deadlock." In Seoul, the English-language Korea Times ran a banner head-line: "Bush Elected U.S. President." "The U.S. Decides: Bush!" said Mexico' s respected daily Reforma. In Johannesburg, The Star newspaper sent out 20, 000 copies of its afternoon addition with the banner headline: " Bush is President." Then it dispatched an extra 30, 000 copies with a new headline: "Bush Win in Doubt." A safer approach was to treat the election as a political who-won- it, akin to a juicy murder mystery. Sweden's Expressen newspaper called it a thriller, while a Swiss TV anchor likened the vote to a Hitchcock movie. "The script for the American elections seems to have been writ-ten by a master of suspense," said Lisbon' s A Capital newspaper. For many observers, long hours of waiting failed to pay off. "To tell you the truth, we didn't know what to believe," a weary Mithat Bereket, foreign news edi-tor of Turkey's private NTV news channel, said after an inconclusive all-night election special. In Italy, no stranger to political chaos — and home to notoriously untrustworthy exit polls ~ many were amazed that the more scien-tific American approach had failed to produce a reliable result. "What happened in Florida? It sounds like Italy!" said coffee bar proprietor Massimo Ruggeri. Other observers worried that the results pointed up fundamental problems with the American polit-ical system. Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson called the outcome "strange" and pre-dicted it would lead to a constitu-tional debate. Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told Ekho Moskvy radio that whatever the outcome, "one might expect an amendment to the U.S. constitu-tion aimed at improving the elec-tion process." Others saw a deeply -- and per-haps dangerously — divided America. "The U.S.A., in modern times, has never been as clearly split, "analyst Ole Ludvig Nymoen wrote in a commentary for Norway' s NTB news agency. In Israel, even a nation of polit-ical junkies wearied of long dis-courses on the complexities of the U.S. electoral system. As one expert detailed the circumstances under which the selection could be thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives, radio anchor Mickey Miro cut in to plead: " That* s about all we can take for now." Some disapproved of the slow vote count. "It* s unreasonable in such a big and advanced country," said Joseph Leung, 24, a Hong Kong government worker. " It sets a bad example." Recount Continues (AP) In an election for the his-tory books, George W. Bush cau-tiously declared victory Wednesday over Al Gore and promised to "unite the nation" after the wildest White House fin-ish in decades. Gore promised to abide by the final results but insisted, "We still do not know the outcome of yesterday' s vote." It was a fitting finale of tumult and tension for two men who spent eight months and $240 mil-lion on the campaign trail, only to finish a few thousand votes apart in a single pivotal state. If Gore's lead in the national popular vote held, Bush would be the fourth man in history — the first in more than a century — to win the presidency despite coming in second in popular votes. Calling this an "extraordinary moment in our democracy," Gore noted that the Constitution awards the presi-dency to the Electoral College winner, not necessarily the leading vote-getter. "We are now, as we have always been from the moment of our founding, a nation built on the rule of law," the vice president said. Bush was looking ahead to his transition to power, preparing to announce key. r,oles in,his adminis-tration . for. .retired. Gen. Colin Powell and former Transportation Secretary Andy Card. "If s going to be resolved in a quick way," Bush said of the Florida recount set to be finished Thursday. Joined by running mate Dick Cheney in Austin, Texas, he added: 'T m confident that the secretary and I will be president-elect and vice president-elect." Florida was a state of chaos, its 25 electoral votes the margin of victory as both Bush and Gore were agonizingly close to the 270 required. The AP tally showed Bush leading by fewer than 1, 700 popular votes out of 6 million cast in the state. "Not only is the vice president ahead in the popular vote, he' s ahead in the Electoral College, " campaign chairman William Daley said. Earlier, he said Gore would be prepared to "move on" if he lost the recount. After a long night of suspense, the vice president slept late before his statement on Wednesday. He was confident of victory " if the recount is handled in a fair and honest way, "spokesman Mark Fabiani said. Democrats privately said they worried about the objec-tivity of Florida' s secretary of state, Republican Katherine Harris. Soon after she ordered the recount, lawyers for both candi-dates flocked to the state, led by two former secretaries of state -- Christopher for Gore and James A. Baker III fbr Bush: '(V •'* The -n.ext president, no matter who he may be, faces a Congress that will be divided deeply by modest Democratic gains. "It won't be easy for whoever is president, "said Republican strategist Scott Reed. Around the WORLD MOSCOW ((AP) The/mission to recover remains from a sunken Russian nuclear sub-marine has reportedly turned up a second note on a sailor's body,--one that tersely describes the desperation of the doomed crew. The note was written shortly after the submarine Kursk sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea on Aug. 12,••crippled by explo-slqns, with 118 men aboard. Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov told the commission Investigating the sinking on Wednesday. I MADRID, Spain IAP) The government held tts much-loathed military draft lottery for the last Hme Wednesday/as Spain moves fitful-ly toward an all-professional armed forces. Marking the end of a 150-year-old tradl- Hon, the Defense Ministry selected 90, 625 men age 18 or older to serve nine-month stints In the army, air force or ngvy. LONDON (AP) Hoping to- head off a repeat of Septembers nationwide fuel blockades, the British government announced Wednesday that ft would cut taxes on cars, trucks and some grades of Fuel. Treasury chief Gordon Brown said his package of tax cuts, effective In April, was equivalent to a reduction of 8 pence perllter (44 cents per U.S. gallon) of diesd for truck* ers and A pence (22 cents) a gallon for gasoline-powered cars. ' 1.Another note found on Kursk 3. Gasoline taxes lowered 2. Draft abandoned
|
|---|