After the twists, high court action leaves both sides wary

By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff, 12/10/2000

USTIN, Texas - The spell of bad news lasted less than 24 hours, but when George W. Bush yesterday learned that the US Supreme Court had halted the manual ballot recount in Florida, he knew better than to embrace it as a solid victory.

Bush had already survived an extraordinary series of twists on Friday, with the surprise decision by the Florida Supreme Court to begin the recount following fast on the heels of favorable decisions that seemed almost certain to lead to victory. And so yesterday, when campaign manager Don Evans called from Florida to inform him of the latest hopeful sign, Bush replied, ''That's great news,'' before hanging up.

For Gore, the decision brought greater disappointment, suspending a time-consuming recount with just days left until the Electoral College meets. Although Gore lawyers expressed confidence that they will prevail in their arguments tomorrow before the US Supreme Court, they sounded frustrated that their efforts to tally uncounted ballots had been thwarted yet again, and with so little time left.

''We are disappointed that the vote counting has stopped, because real progress was being made,'' said Gore spokesman Chris Lehane.

The ballot count, viewed as the last real hope for the vice president after more than a month of legal appeals and sharp political division between the parties, ground to a halt yesterday afternoon as overseers in districts across Florida learned of the Supreme Court injunction. At the start of the day, Bush led Gore by 154 votes, a margin that both sides believed could be reversed if the tally progressed.

That outlook early yesterday sent the Bush and Gore legal teams into overdrive, as the Bush team appealed to the US Supreme Court and aides descended upon Florida, once again entering the world of ''dimpled chads'' and ''hanging chads'' that had created much of the confusion.

After sending more than 100 volunteers to Florida on Friday night, senior Bush advisers Evans and Karl Rove arrived there at the behest of former Secretary of State James A. Baker III early yesterday.

At the same time, dozens of prominent Democrats, reinvigorated by the Florida court's ruling, arrived to speak out on behalf of Gore. Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska held press conferences, sending a strong signal that Gore was closer to victory than he had been since election night.

Gore exuded optimism early in the day, holding a conference call with approximately three dozen supporters to thank them for their enduring confidence. He told them of a greater significance to the recount, saying a vote is ''not just a piece of paper'' but ''a human voice.''

''We must not let those voices be silenced, not for today, not for tomorrow, not for as long as this country stands for the principle that the people must be heard and heeded,'' Gore said.

''Years from now, we'll be telling our grandchildren about this,'' the vice president said, according to aides who listened to the call. ''You all will be able to take pride in the fact that, despite great pressure, you fought valiantly for our democratic values.''

But the lofty rhetoric turned to silence when, at midafternoon, the US Supreme Court order came down.

Gore did not invite reporters into his residence for a Christmas tree decorating photo opportunity as promised. Instead, his lawyers in Florida held a news conference to outline their strategy before the Supreme Court. In one of the most understated reactions of the election, Gore lawyer David Boies remarked of the turn of events: ''A lot has gone on today.''

Bush, who learned of the decision as he was giving journalists a tour of his Crawford ranch, plans to return to Austin for several staff Christmas parties this afternoon.

''We are tempered,'' Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett said. ''It just sucks optimism out of you. It sucks your instincts out of you, because you just don't know anymore. And every good news is met with bad news.''

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.