Time running short for either candidate to walk away a winner

By SARA FRITZ

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 27, 2000

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to playing the endgame in a disputed presidential election, Al Gore and George W. Bush are no Richard Nixon.

Just a few days ago, everyone assumed the presidential contest would be over by now -- that one of them would bow out gracefully as Nixon did in 1960.

When Nixon lost narrowly to Democrat John F. Kennedy, he decided not to challenge the vote, even though it might have changed the outcome.

He later wrote that he had decided to "set a good example" by conceding to Kennedy because he feared a challenge would usher in "open season for shooting at the validity of free elections throughout the world."

If a man known for his stubbornness such as Nixon could bow out under such circumstances, we thought, surely one of these two sensitive baby boomers running for president in 2000 would be able to do so.

But sadly, the chances for such a simple solution to this election are no longer possible. Tempers are running too high. Conspiracy theories are beginning to take root in the minds of loyal partisans. Neither side seems particularly worried -- as Nixon was -- that a down and dirty battle to the finish will jeopardize confidence in the electoral process.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., was right when he said Sunday that any settlement of the presidential contest short of a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court would result in a political stalemate in which "neither candidate would be legitimate" in the eyes of the American public.

In fact, the quarrel between Bush and Gore has now become so volatile, no one should be surprised if the postelection drama continues to play out long after the Supreme Court has ruled on Bush's petition. Is there any doubt now that Congress and the Florida Legislature will weigh in?

Perhaps the best barometer of how expectations have changed in recent days was the change in the attitude of Sen. John Breaux, D-La., who just a week ago was advocating that everyone agree to abide by the Florida Supreme Court decision setting the Sunday deadline for choosing a winner.

By Sunday morning, Breaux had changed his mind. He announced on NBC's Meet the Press that he was no longer pressing for an immediate resolution -- prompting a sigh of relief in the Gore camp.

If the mood had not changed in recent days, Bush surely would have been acknowledged as the winner Sunday night -- even if Gore did not bow out after Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified Bush as the winner of the Florida election.

Bush himself helped to undermine the power of Sunday night's certification. If he had not appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last week or if the high court had refused to hear the case, Gore would now be under much more pressure to concede because he is trailing in the Florida count.

But the key element that prevented Gore from bowing out after Harris' announcement was the growing sentiment on both sides that the opposition is playing dirty, trying to manipulate the rules to their own advantage.

Florida's own Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, spoke on behalf of the conspiracy theorists in her party Sunday night when she declared on CNN: "We feel strongly that Al Gore won the election. . . . We will not have this election stolen from us."

Republicans are every bit as angry and suspicious of Democrats. Their fury was apparent over the weekend when a group of GOP protesters showed up at the vice president's official residence in Washington on Saturday, yelling at Gore to "get out of Cheney's house."

The rhetoric is so bitter, in fact, that Sen. Graham says he hasn't heard anything like it since the late 1950s and early '60s, when the John Birch Society led a nationwide campaign to impeach then Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.

In other words, Graham thinks this is worse than the Clinton impeachment battle.

There is now no telling how this will end. It certainly will not be settled as long as Gore and Bush supporters are unwilling to back down under any circumstances. The candidates will continue to wage war as long as the citizenry will tolerate it.

Nevertheless, public patience will eventually wear thin. And when it does, Bush will still have an advantage over Gore.

The longer Bush appears to be the presumed winner, the more likely it is that Democrats who keep their fingers to the wind -- Breaux, for example -- will once again start to lose confidence in Gore. Democrats in Congress will easily console themselves with the thought that they are more likely to take control of Congress in the 2002 election with Bush in the White House.

Although the end of the battle is not in sight, it will end. As Oklahoma's Republican Gov. Frank Keating observed, "Sometime, someplace, someone has to declare "uncle.' "

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