By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - With the outcome in Florida officially certified but hotly disputed, Al Gore faces the tough challenge of persuading legal courts and the court of public opinion that his presidential quest is still legitimate.
"I don't think there's any question but that he's got an uphill fight," former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta, a Democrat, said yesterday.
"Everything is operating against him now," presidential historian Henry Graff said.
After nearly three weeks of uncertainty, Americans are growing restless. Time is running out as court cases stack up. Gore is on the defense, searching for more votes and voters' patience, while Republican George W. Bush tries to act presidential, reaching for the keys to the White House and beginning to assemble a Cabinet.
A day after Bush was certified the winner in Florida, Gore sought to counter the impression that the contest was over. "If every vote is counted," Gore said in a phone call with Democratic allies, "there are easily more than enough to change the outcome and decide the election in our favor."
Gore's court filings went a step further, saying not only that all the votes should be counted but that the vice president already should be declared the winner. Gore's lawyers asked a Tallahassee court to "certify that the true and accurate results of the 2000 presidential election in Florida" show Gore and running mate Joseph Lieberman as the winners.
While battling on the legal front, Gore launched a public relations offensive, answering Bush's urging that he should quit. Gore recognizes that his cause would be lost if public sentiment turns against him.
The vice president arranged a prime-time, nationally broadcast address to present his case.
Gore held a televised conference call with Democratic leaders of the House and Senate who assured him that Democrats "have been entirely supportive" of finding out how everyone voted - even though there was some isolating grumbling within the party. At the White House, President Clinton joined Gore's unity chorus.
In Bush's camp, there was a determined effort to focus on White House planning as if all the confusing legal challenges really didn't matter. Of course, it was Bush's team that brought the election to the U.S. Supreme Court in a challenge to Florida recounts. That pivotal case will be heard Friday.
Panetta, a respected voice in the political world, said both candidates should stop at the Supreme Court rather than take the battle to the House of Representatives.
"Once the Supreme Court makes a decision, by God, both candidates ought to abide by it," Panetta told The Associated Press. "Any candidate who tries to take it beyond that will be not only testing the patience of the American people but, I think, will be producing the kind of constitutional crisis we don't need. Up to this point we've had a political crisis. What we don't need is a political crisis."
Panetta did not seem hopeful about Gore's prospects. "Harry Truman had to give in on seizing the steel mills," he said. "Richard Nixon had to give up his tapes. It may be that Gore may have to give up his effort at his presidency as a result of whatever the court says."
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle acknowledged that Democrats are "working against the clock." Dec. 12 is the deadline for choosing Florida's electors. The Republican-controlled state legislature has threatened to take over the job.
Polling immediately after Florida's certification of Bush as winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes found that six in 10 Americans say it is time for Gore to concede. The survey, by ABC News-Washington Post, also found that about six in 10 say they would accept Gore as legitimately elected if he were to emerge as the president.
While legal maneuvering churned in Florida and loomed in Washington, Bush met with Andy Card, the man he picked as White House chief of staff. Card said Bush "is getting ready to be a great president."
The Clinton administration wasn't following the Bush script, refusing to release $5.3 million set aside for the presidential transition. Running mate Dick Cheney said Bush would finance his own transition operation with private contributions. He said it would be irresponsible if Bush did not move as quickly as possible, given the delay.
Some analysts say Bush's camp acted prematurely.
"What's real important here is not to fall into the trap of the permanent campaign, of thinking strictly in terms of public relations and spin and the game," said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution. "This is much too serious a matter.
"I understand that game is going on but the message you're getting from me is that what's much more important here is what's unfolding in the courts - the Supreme Court at the request of Governor Bush and in the Florida courts primarily at the initiative of Vice
