I'm starting to wonder whether Gore's apparent timidity conceals an exit strategy. Obviously being the President for the next four years has become the booby prize, (Some of us even thought that the Oval Office was the boobly prize before Election Day.) At some point in the next four years there will almost certainly be a fairly bad economic downturn, maybe even a real recession - who wants to preside over that? Politics is becoming even more partisan, and it will take a real explosion to change that. Who wants to preside over an explosion? Also, now that the two candidates are looking bad and worse, its certain that the opponents of whoever becomes President will make Clinton or Nixon's second terms look like a picnic. Is Mr. Gore simply doing his best to keep the issue in play for a couple more weeks so as to make sure Bush's presidency is as unhappy as can be? I think its possible. Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to a person is for their wish to come true... Gore can look like he's fighting the good fight, "lose" and leave the left hating Bush more than they ever hated Reagan or Nixon. What a nice place to be sitting four years from now.

T.