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Saturday Morning News

Americans Take Leadership Vacuum in Stride

Aired November 18, 2000 - 11:52 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as the legal battles continue and the hand counts go on, the nation patiently waits for a president- elect.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And while he's doing that, our Bruce Burkhardt reports that Americans seem to be taking it all in stride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They took to the streets in Peru. They took to the streets in Yugoslavia, and in the Philippines, too. And in America, they take to the malls.

UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: I still have things to buy, you know? The holidays are coming.

BURKHARDT: The pool hall and the bowling alley.

UNIDENTIFIED BOWLER: I think we should do a recount!

BURKHARDT: This is not to say that Americans are indifferent to what's been going on in Florida, even if they're occasionally indifferent to a reporter's questions. On the contrary, this is a story that has captivated virtually everyone.

NOLAN MCCARTHY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: More people are paying attention to this than any other political event in the last 20 years, including the impeachment.

BURKHARDT: With keen interest, we watch, but not necessarily with keen concern.

MCCARTHY: This election is about this election. It's not about the survivability of our democracy. So it's somewhere between nothing and a big mess.

JANE CLAYSON, CBS "THE EARLY SHOW": We have a graphic showing how to deal with some of these post-election jitters...

BURKHARDT: And yet we're getting advice on how to keep calm.

CLAYSON: Maintain your routine...

BURKHARDT: The trains are still running on time. (on camera): Are you worried about the election?

UNIDENTIFIED COMMUTER: No.

BURKHARDT: No?

UNIDENTIFIED COMMUTER: I don't think I'm worried in the sense that, you know, we need to have a president right away. I just think that it's testing our (INAUDIBLE)

BURKHARDT: May I talk to you about the election?

UNIDENTIFIED COMMUTER: No. I got to catch a train.

BURKHARDT: A train? Got to catch a train?

(voice-over): If this is a unique moment in our political history, then our response is uniquely American.

(on camera): So who's going to win it?

UNIDENTIFIED POOL PLAYER: I think Bush'll win it.

BURKHARDT (voice-over): Recent polls have shown that most Americans are willing to wait this thing out for a while.

(on camera): It hasn't hurt your pool game, thinking about this election, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED POOL PLAYER: No. You have two tables of men -- well, actually, maybe it has hurt my pool game!

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: I think people are happy to see that the election process is going on. My students at John Jay College of Criminal Justice are really interested in this election procedure.

BURKHARDT (voice-over): A national civics class, and one in history, too. We've all learned about that other hotly contested election, the one in 1876, when Rutherford B. Hayes, loser of the popular vote, ended up being president.

(on camera): Does this kind of remind you of -- if 1876, when -- that situation back then?

UNIDENTIFIED SHOPPER: Uh-huh.

BURKHARDT (voice-over): It might all seem like a gutter ball at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED BOWLER: If we weren't the U.S., the U.S. would come and intervene.

BURKHARDT: We also seem to know inside that all the "He said, she said" stuff is just part of the deal. President Bush or President Gore? Eventually, one of them is bound to bowl a strike.

Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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