c. 2000 Religion News Service

(Tom Ehrich is a writer and computer consultant, managing large-scale database implementations. An Episcopal priest, he lives in Durham, N.C.)

(UNDATED) Before anyone knew the word “chad,” agents for the presidential candidates flooded into the beleaguered Sunshine State.

First came two former secretaries of state, a nice pairing of equally grating on-camera personalities. Along with the dueling diplomats came numerous other visible politicians, including the bizarre but historically apt choice of a Daley, scion of Chicago’s former mayor whose ability to “vote the dead” was unparalleled.

Partisan warriors emerged on television newscasts, some literally crossing the border into Florida and some slinging arrows from afar.

Next came the lawyers, who set up camp in the state capital and in disputed counties and quickly filed motions and lawsuits designed to press issues to their employers’ advantage, all in the name of lofty constitutional principles. Then came party loyalists who bent to the mind-numbing task of counting ballots by hand and watching others count.

The field of battle is littered with bodies. Florida’s secretary of state can kiss her immediate political prospects goodbye. Florida’s election officials have been deemed incompetent, at best, and the longer the national news media stays around, the more hints of chicanery they seem to find. Partisan labels are all.

The candidates, meanwhile, kept a safe distance. After goofing up his first post-election comments, Texas Gov. George W. Bush discovered the less treacherous ground of photo ops. Vice President Al Gore returned to Washington and what he hoped would be perceived as the higher ground of official duties.

As the battle neared its denouement, the combat seemed mostly about managing appearances. Which candidate gave the appearance of serenity and patience? Which former secretary of state appeared the most thoughtful? Whose lawsuits appeared most high-minded? Whose ballot-management snafus appeared more like incompetence (forgivable) or more like cheating (actionable)? Who seemed most passionate about Floridians’ rights?

Anyone who doubts the value of an independent judiciary need only study Monday’s (Nov. 20) hearing in the Florida state Supreme Court, when justices cut instantly to the chase and had no patience for lofty rhetoric.

I began watching this drama while on a business trip to Hong Kong. The Chinese were fascinated, mostly because they see their fortunes tied to American stock prices but also because voting is an evolving reality there.

Those who worry that we look foolish in the eyes of the world can relax, I think. The heart of this civics lesson is that votes matter.

Seen from afar and now up close, the Florida snafu shines a spotlight on modern political leadership and how thoroughly we have drifted into government-by-appearances. Watching Gore and Bush respond to Florida is painful. They resemble nervous teen-agers who want desperately to be liked and stifle authenticity in order to present a winning front.

Consider the vast difference between their image-conscious warfare-by-proxy and the time Jesus entered Jerusalem to combat the forces of darkness. Like Bush and Gore, he sent agents ahead of him, but they went, not to do battle on his behalf, but to prepare the way for his coming.

Jesus would personally enter Jerusalem. He would personally stand before the religious establishment and Roman governor. He would personally endure the taunts and torment. And when defeat came, when darkness did its worst, he personally would bear the agony.

None of us expects presidential contenders to be messiahs, and if either claimed the mantle, we would cringe in terror. But it would be good to see some courage, some direct engagement, some attention to people as citizens and not as mirror.

It would be good to see both candidates perched on the bleachers of some high school gymnasium in, say, Palm Beach, forced to watch as ordinary citizens held ballots up to the light and did their duty. Yes, they would look more like prom queen contestants than statesmen, but there would be an honesty to that.

Maybe they would edge toward each other and break down the wall of enmity. Maybe not. But we could see their faces out from behind media handlers. We could see their passion. We could see how one handled victory and the other defeat.

We could see them wrestle personally with that dread duty of leadership, which is to know the difference between self-interest and national interest.

DEA END EHRICH