On a bizarre night, all the crowd got was this anti-climactic
appearance of—no offense—two B-list stars. Hell, not only did Bush
never emerge all night, but nobody else, not even Derek or Newton,
actually took the stage. Somewhere along the line, even the two
celebrities just faded into the night. The networks had finally
reported that Gore had called Bush to retract his concession—and it
would take another 35 days to sort out the mess.
What I wrote that terribly anti-climactic night at 9:30 p.m.
central time, as the election was so breathtakingly up in the air,
might be worth remembering this month as we absorb the results from
this year’s numbingly endless presidential campaign: “Washington,
D.C.’s permanent campaign will continue, and somehow laws will
still be written. And every apparent political victory will hold
the potential seeds of disaster, and every apparent loss could
portend a greater triumph.”
Quin Hillyer is an associate editor of the Washington Examiner
and a senior editor of The American Spectator.