George W. Bush was sworn into office only five weeks ago, and I still can?t stand him. Every time I see his face on TV, it seems that he, and his Republican friends, stole the election. I also can?t stand the fact that during the Florida election controversy, there was so much venom toward Al Gore, who won the popular vote by more than a half a million votes.

I can?t stand the fact that there are so many people having so much hatred against the Democrats, especially toward Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Sure, Clinton made some mistakes that are currently haunting him, but was he really that bad? But I have a message for all Republicans. You?re not innocent. The reason that George W. Bush is in there because the five members of the Supreme Court (all of them conservative) ruled in favor of Bush, giving him the White House.

That angered African Americans?90 percent of whom voted for Gore. What?s worse is that they were victims of voting discrimination in Florida, and many blame the president?s brother, Jeb Bush, and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, for basically giving him the office of the president. In other words: Republicans used any cruel means necessary to get Bush into office.

The GOP won this round, but I have a suspicion that there will be consequences involving the Florida election. Let?s look into the present. The Senate is all tied at 50-50. The House barely has a GOP majority.

Bush won the presidency, but didn?t have the popular majority to back it up. There were three other presidents that also won the White House and didn?t have the popular majority. All three of those presidents did not get reelected. If this holds true, there is a pretty good chance that Bush will not get reelected in 2004. But, five weeks into his new presidency, he is doing an OK job.

His main focus is to provide a tax cut for every American. Many in the news media give him high marks in his first weeks in office, but it is too early to tell whether Bush is doing well or not. And the road is going to get rougher for him. Bush?s biggest obstacle is to reach out to minorities, many of whom voted for other candidates.

Nominating John Ashcroft for Attorney General doesn?t help him in the cause. Another obstacle is passing his much $1.6 trillion dollar tax-cut. It will pass in Congress, but the Senate is another story. In order for the tax cut to pass in the Senate, it needs 60 votes. With a 50-50 split in the Senate, it will be very hard for the tax-cut to be passed. A third factor is the “ghost” of Bill Clinton.

The GOP is trying to rough up Clinton for all the last-minute pardons that he made during his final days in office. Bush says that he wants to move on with the country. But the GOP didn?t listen to his advice. If this continues, and shows that there was no wrong doing in all of these pardons, that will really blow the GOP?s chance of maintaining both the House and Senate.

Plus, the Florida controversy will not go away that easily. Preliminary reports show that Gore only gained 49 votes in Miami Dade County. The word preliminary means that it?s not over yet. Several newspapers are recounting the votes throughout the WHOLE state of Florida, meaning the final vote won?t come out for the next couple of weeks.

If reports show that Gore won in Florida, then Bush better defend himself. Plus, his brother?s chances of being reelected Governor in Florida are not that good. So the next few months are going to be critical for him in order for Bush to succeed. If he does, then he is lucky. Otherwise, be prepared for a wild ride.

Aubrey Cannon is a staff member of The State Hornet. He can be reached by email at [email protected].