Gore not ready to close shop

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If there is one message that can be gleaned from the numerous speeches here yesterday, it is this -- Al Gore will not go quietly into the night. "There's no question he is ahead in the popular vote and in the Electoral College," Gore campaign chairman Bill Daley said yesterday. "This is the beginning of the process, not the end of the process." Daley's talk leaves an air of suspicion that when the results of the recount are announced as early as this afternoon, and even though Republican George W. Bush is expected to hold on to his slim lead, the entire process will be far from finished. "We have very serious questions about the votes in Florida," Gore spokeswoman Kym Spell said. "The [Democratic National Committee] is prepared to [offer a legal challenge]." Gore now appears to be the winner of the popular vote, meaning he could be the fourth man in American history to win the popular vote but lose the presidency. Calling this an ''extraordinary moment in our democracy,'' Gore noted in brief remarks to the press yesterday that the Constitution awards the presidency to the Electoral College winner, not necessarily the leading vote-getter. ''We are now, as we have been from the moment of our founding, a nation built on the rule of law,'' Gore said, standing with running mate Joseph Lieberman and in front of an American flag. But the vice president's aides were privately making the case that Gore's popular-vote lead gives him standing to contest the recount if state officials overlook voting irregularities. As Democrats searched for potential ballot abuses and questioned the motives of Florida's GOP secretary of state, Gore's staff said a legal challenge was a possibility. So two options are left for Gore, should Bush win Florida. First, Gore could concede the race if the recount comes back tomorrow in favor of Bush. As Gore said yesterday afternoon, "Let me make my own resolve clear: No matter the outcome, America will make the transition to a new administration with dignity, with full respect for the freely expressed will of the people and with pride in the democracy we are privileged to share." But Gore's concession may be an unlikely scenario given the question of voter confusion in Palm Beach County. In the heavily Democratic area, ballot confusion may have led a few thousand voters to mistakenly vote for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan when they meant to vote for the vice president. Those voters could be the difference between Gore's victory and defeat. So the most likely option for Gore would be to challenge the results in south Florida, a process that could take days, if not weeks, to produce an outcome. "I can't say with certainty when this will be over," Daley said. "[The recount] is just the first step." "We want to make sure there are no mistakes," DNC spokesman Jamal Simmons added. So Christopher and Daley are in Florida monitoring the recount along with 70 volunteers sent by the DNC. ''We don't think we're on the edge of a constitutional crisis and we don't intend to try to provoke a constitutional crisis,'' said Warren Christopher, the former secretary of state whom Gore asked to represent his interests in Florida. Playing a similar role for Bush is James Baker, a former secretary of state for Bush's father. Although the large stage in Nashville where supporters were hoping Gore's victory speech would be delivered is being dismantled, the mood here is one of cautious optimism. "I'm not getting my hopes up from the recount," said David Roeske, an intern with the Gore campaign from Pacific Union College in California. "This is a weird course of events." So the fight lives on. "This race is still too close to call," Daley said. "Until the results in Florida become official, our campaign continues." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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