"Recount" on HBO

Watched it and would have to agree with the review in the WSJ.  The movie portrays not the Republicans "winning" the election in the courts, but the Democrats "losing" the election by not being assertive enough.

I do have to admit that a discussion on here may be tantamount to a spark near a powder keg, but it just seems that the Democrats had the facts on their side, but didn't push the issue hard enough.

Look at the basic fact that Bush had a team of advisers and PR people boots on the ground from day one.  Dems had limited presence, and in Tallahassee - the other side of the state from the epicenter of the local election issues (Broward county, Dade county, etc.)

Plus, it really does expose the lunacy of the Supreme Court granting cert on this issue and how they were able to justify "irreperable harm."

I thought it was a good movie. 

I found the movie mildly entertaining and my first thought was, jeez they had good comedy writers for this movie. But then I remembered, you can't write comedy this good

I did fall asleep about 2/3 the way through the movie though so I willl hold my opinions until I have had a chance to watch the rest of it.

One thing that did strike me as interesting: A few of the people were portrayed in a less than favorable light. After years of SNL Skits and Standup/Improv at their expense, they now have to endure yet another indignity.

From what i understand, the SCOTUS said no to Gore's petition to have three counties recounted. Even if they had said yes, those three counties wouldn't have changed the election. BUT...a subsequent recount of the entire state (by the NYT, I think) of all the ballots from a FOI request showed that had the entire state been officially recounted, Gore would have won.

That being said, I'm not sure a petition to have the entire state recounted would have changed the SCOTUS's decision. So, to that extent, I'm not sure what else Gore could have done, or how he could have been more "aggressive."

I need to see the movie, I guess, cause I'm not usre how much harder you can push once the SCOTUS turns you down?

Jim - I'd recommend you see the movie because the issue of how hard the Gore camp pushed was well before the SCOTUS intervened.  The problem with the SCOTUS decision was that it ran concurrent with a Florida legislative provision that let the state legislature cast the electoral  votes if the regular election was not finalized by December 12th.

As to the movie, I did find it very interesting how political the judiciary was, including noting the appointments of the Florida Supreme Court Justices, as well as the fate of the lower court stay proceedings basically being lost upon lower court judge selection.  For instance, the Florida Supreme Court was noted as being completely liberal and there decision on Gore's petition was to not only demand the requested recounts, but also then demand a state-wide recount (which Gore never even asked for). 

If Gore would have won his own state, FL would have been a moot point....

just saying

Being from TN, his own home down voted for Bush - that should tell you something about Gore.

Someone mentioned an independent source did the recount afterwards and NO Gore did not win, Bush won that recount too...just like he won every other recount.

If anyone would like to become a part of Florida voting nightmares, we are taking applications.

Movie got good reviews. I haven't seen it yet.