By A. Finn Moss|On this beat far too long

Who says democracy is dead? Well, maybe four former candidates for President of the United States, that’s who.

The notion that citizens of a country should cast votes to elect their leaders has long been the rallying cry of freedom.

But for at least four hopefuls seeking the highest office in the land of the free and home of the brave, the will of the people was denied by something we like to call the electoral college.

Three of those wide-eyed optomists are the subjects of the 38th or 40th Annual Bass Lake Beacon Presidential Biography Contest. (One, RBH, eventually reached the goal and so doesn’t make this year’s cut.)

Fifth-graders at Bass Lake Elementary School continue the venerable tradition started by commander-in-chief enthusiast Elmer Sgluebottle with 45-word biographies of three who nearly made it: Al Gore, Samuel Tilden and Hillary Clinton.

Al Gore by Renaldo Jimmerschmidt
Al Gore was born near The Grand Old Opry and my grandad said that’s the best thing that ever happened to him. Al Gore, not my grandad.

Gore got oh roughly a half million more votes than George W. Bush, another person who was born.

Hillary Clinton by Kimmie Verona Yoder

In what many believe to be the most recent election for president Hillary Clinton received almost three million more votes (65,853,514 to 62,984,828) than Trump, giving Clinton a popular vote lead of 2.1% over Trump. And look how that turned out. Hillary should run again.

Samuel Tilden by Corky Gonzalez

The year was 1876. The American experiment was 100 when the ideals which the country got founded on crumbled. Samuel Tilden got 4,288,546 votes and Ruhterford B. Hayes got 4,034,311. But a Great Compromise solved the riddle. Hayes won in a game of mumblety peg.