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6 Guilford gets it half right: • Bubba's going back to Washington, but North Carolina disagrees with Guilford sentiments, sending Jesse Helms back for 6 more years LAUREN GILL world editor "Under Bill Clinton, the United States of America is not just better off, it's better." A 1 Gore's words brought thousands of supporters to their feet Tuesday night only hours after the President was reelected to office. William Jefferson Clinton be came the seventh name on the list of Presidents to serve two terms, and only the second Democrat since Franklin Roosevelt. With Bill Clinton, "We will, we will build a bridge to the twenty-first century." Little Rock, Arkansas was filled with tears, laughter, and victory last night as Clinton rallied his fans with hopes for the future. Along with his thanks to friends, family, and "the finest Vice President this country has seen," Clinton gave a special thanks to Bob Dole. The President stressed the fact that it was "time to put aside politics, and build America's community, together." After what most are calling a "harsh" campaign, Dole addressed the President from his headquarters in Wash ington, as his "opponent," not his "enemy." Dole went on to thank the President as well as his supporters. With bright eyes, and a face that looked as if it could stay awake just one more day, Dole called himself, "the most optimistic man in America." Reporters agree that we have not seen the last of Bob Dole, who seemed re lieved that the election was over, stating that "Tomor row is the first time in my life I will have nothing to do." For the first time in a 45-year political career, Bob COMMENTARY Election '96: predictable and embarrassing LINCOLN PENN HANCOCK guest writer It is ten o'clock Tuesday night. We elect a new presi dent today, and the air is bittersweet I have not turned on that all-knowing box of electrodes and transistors for the precinct-by-precinct, state-by-state report, but word on the street is Clinton and Helms aren't going anywhere. I over heard this news in the Underground a few minutes ago, and I have no reason to doubt it. A noticeble lack of reaction in my gut. Resignation, perhaps, but it could be nothing more than a reflexive recoil at the thought of that senator/relic. Nausea is my forte at this point. Lauren asked me to write on the elec tion a couple of days ago, and I am yet to find an object of inspiration. I asked her this evening if she could manage without my contribution, but ultimately I could not disregard my incurred obli gation. So I am writing to you now rather reluctantly. I should be up front about this. What can I possibly say about this entirely predictable and embarrassing election? I could lament the Mlesser-of two-evils" ballot, the insulting slanderous ads, voter apa thy, blah-blah-blah. Better writers than I have attempted to express their outrage and indignation at the sorry state The Guilfordian U.S Senate 0 / Jesse Helms \ 0 (Harvey Gantt, 53% | to 47% / I "The founding fathers built us a quality machine to ride on, but if we dont check the oil, the engine will inevitable lock up. And well be left on the curb." world Dole can rest. Although Clinton won three quarters of the electoral votes in states ranging from Arizona to Wisconsin, Dole won North Carolina's electoral votes with a 47%-46% popular vote margin. The same Republican air that sup ported Bob Dole in the Old North State returned 75-year-old Jesse Helms to the Senate. Senator Helms de- feated Democrat Harvey Gantt with 53% of the votes. Gantt, who was counting on the support of the one million new North Carolina residents since 1990, only received 56% of their votes. Helms plans to continue his term in Senate with a restora tion of the "moral and spiritual values" which he based his campaign on. Governor Jim Hunt was reelected over Republican Robin Hayes. Hunt will reenter his fourth term in North Carolinian office with a new power, that of the veto. North Carolina was the last state in which the Governor received veto power. The veto bill was voted for 75%- 25%. Result's of the Guilfordian's mock election mirrored those of the Presiden tial election. The student body which participated in the election that began a week before in of the democratic process. But the truth is, we have the government we deserve. No monster to blame here. As Abraham Lincoln said over a century and a half ago, "If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time, or die by suicide." We live in freedom sanctioned by our government, but we've got to realize this freedom is not self-perpetuating. The founding fathers built us a quality machine to ride on, but if we don't check the oil, the engine will inevitably lock up. And we'll be left on the curb. I don't know political theory, but I know enough to know there aren't any easy answers for us now. In a system of majority rule, where the majority is becoming more and more susceptible to technological persuasion, we have aproblem. Who is going to put a check on the ability of the mega-corporation to shape public opinions and desires? The founding fathers never experi- enced a thirty-second sensory blitz emanating from the TV screen, much less witnessed a cor poration like General Electric (one of our laigest defense contractors) owning one of the most prominent and effec tive media outlets, NBC. Can anyone ever really wonder why the amount we spend on defense perpetually increases, even in peacetime? Can you imagine a candidate who November 8,1996 TJ.S. President (popular vote) £ 0 Bob\ 0 [Bob Clinton \ "te / Bill Dole \ +- Dole /jnp/ Clinton AT*)/ o Ury *r /o J 14?/j Ross Perot Other (1*) Ross Perot again Guilford's Democratic voice supported Gantt with 87% of their votes while Helms received 13%. Junior, Jessica Images from Guilford Vote '96 last week openly confesses to disagreeing with our military philoso phy receiving the media spotlight now essential to any major political aspiration? The guys in the GE boardroom certainly don't want to jeopardize the billions of dollars they receive from the US government each year in the name of something so abstract as truth, so they just tell Tom Brokaw to shut up or pack his bags. Excuse my ranting, please. It's just that this type of thing is going on. It scares me to death. The majority rules, and the majority gets its news from sources owned by larger interests, and thus the majority will likely never find out what hit them. Or is in the process of hitting them, I should say. I guess even if some hard-hitting stuff did make the airwaves, people would be more interested in turning the channel to their favorite sitcom, anyway. Who wants to be bothered, right? Everyone's too busy playing her own part in the exact destruction Lincoln spoke about The default setting is self-destruct. Larger interests are acting to get what they want; they are shaping the very fabric of our culture to do it. Who profits from a culture of unreflective consumerism? Not just McDonald's. The more accustomed one becomes to receiving information and forming judgments based on the thirty-second TV com mercial format, the more open she will be to absorbing crap like the pet-of-the-week segment on her local news show in place of substantial content. Eventually, no one will nouce the anchorwoman's passing comment that Con gress has been sold to Tune-Warner. Steve Marasco, President of Guilford senate has tried the lobby of Founders, showed a clearly Democratic mind set. Bill Clinton towered over Bob Dole with 84% of the votes, while Bob pulled 13% and Perot a mere 2%. In the Senate race, once Templeton was one of many Guilford stu dents who found the re sults of the mock elec tion "typi cal 1 y Guilford". Templeton said, "No, it doesn't sur prise me at all. We have a very liberal campus. I would ex pect nothing else." Isaac Palant
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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