COTTERELL AS BOOK REVIEWER?

Today in the Tallahassee Democrat columnist Bill Cotterell becomes a book reviewer with a look at a new work edited by Florida State University professor of public policy Lance deHaven-Smith, The Battle for Florida, which looks back at the 2000 presidential election and surrounding controversy.

The FSU prof, a registered independent, believes that what happened on election night 4 1/2 years ago was only too predictable, and that noone was truly neutral. Then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris serving as co-chair of the Bush campaign in Florida, then-Attorney General Bob Butterworth heading Al Gore's campaign here, and a stacked U.S. Commission on Civil Rights panel holding hearings afterward.

The bottom line, according to deHaven: The Republicans were in power and knew how to use the system to their advantage, while the Democrats were --- to use Cotterell's phrase --- being Boy Scouts.

I prefer the professional wrestling analogy: The Republicans were being Ric Flair...a/k/a "The Dirtiest Player in the Game"...while the Democrats were being The Hurricane.