Strings go with all the jobs that count

WASHINGTON - Katherine Harris, Florida's Republican Secretary of State, is under savage fire from senior Democrats for insisting that Florida's 67 counties must send in certified election results by 11 am today, New Zealand time.

But the complaints against her merely underline how in America's system of devolved democracy, no one can be counted impartial, even in the court system that is supposed to be the referee. So many legal offices as well as political ones are decided by election.

"Are There Any Wise Men Left in America ?" a headline in USA-Today plaintively asked. The same is to be heard from the constitutional scholars and other worthy souls wheeled out on the talk shows: surely there is someone who is truly neutral.

Some have suggested that ex-Presidents might fit the bill, and Republican Gerald Ford and Democrat Jimmy Carter seem suitably statesmanlike and above the fray.

So why not a ballot of ex-Presidents? The problem is that given Ronald Reagan's debilitating illness, the third ex-President, George Bush sen, would have the deciding vote. And he is the father of one of the candidates.

Harris is an elected Republican and, no one should be surprised, closely aligned with Florida's Republican Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of course of Republican candidate George W. Bush. But all may not be lost for the Democrats. The Palm Beach County canvassing board has voted to seek a legal opinion from Florida's Attorney-General, also an elected official, except he is a Democrat.

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Herald Online feature: America votes

Democrats and Republicans wage online war