The Beauty Contest

Harry Browne's passing reminded me of this remark Tim Slagle made in Liberty Magazine three years ago:

Democrats still can't believe they lost the 2000 presidential election. I was listening to a couple the other day complain about how it's wrong that George W. Bush is president, because he lost the popular vote. I suggested that perhaps Harry Browne should have been made president because he was certainly the most handsome of the three. They looked at me like I was nuts. "It wasn't a beauty contest," one of them remarked.

"No, and it wasn't a popularity contest either." If we're going to abandon the procedure laid out in the Constitution, either method is equally valid.

I don't know if he was "certainly" the most handsome of the candidates, but he certain looked and sounded more like a President.