Down For The Count

I just caught the HBO movie Recount. It's a very entertaining retelling of the Florida 2000 election aftermath. I'd definitely recommend it.

Of course, it's partisan. The Republicans are often underhanded and cynical, and employ goons and thugs to get their way, while the Democrats are hard-working guys who just want to get at the truth. And when the Repubs raise an argument, the Dems are usually allowed to respond, while Dem arguments are treated as definitive.

But the person who has the most to complain about is Democrat Warren Christopher, who's seen as too ineffectual to fight against the cutthroat Republicans. (Democrats often depict themselves this way--as losing because they're too decent.) Katherine Harris is pilloried, but her portrayal is such a caricature that I don't think anyone will take it seriously. (And those who would have already made up their minds, anyway). It actually hurts the movie. As odd as Harris may have seemed in real life, she's the only character in Recount who comes across as fictional.

One thing I don't get. The film has a Raiders Of The Lost Ark ending, where we see boxes and boxes of uncounted votes, sitting in a warehouse. Can't the show at least recognize a newspaper consortium looked at the ballots and determined if the Supreme Court had not ended the recount that Bush would have won.