gainst a backdrop of autumn leaves, Al Gore tossed a football to his wife and smiled before a group of photographers outside his residence in Washington, appearing confident - but refusing to say a word.
Hundreds of miles away in Texas, George W. Bush invited a small pool of reporters into the governor's mansion, making small talk and addressing how he will approach the continuing electoral stalemate, but only briefly.
For both men, the encounters with the media, and hence the public, were quick and awkward. Each tried to project a presidential aura, but with neither yet the official president-elect, each could do so only to a point. There was mostly uncommon silence from the two figures at the center of the historic turn of events.
Since Tuesday, in fact, both Bush and Gore have been forced into near-seclusion, emerging from their hotels and homes only to convey a very select image or two. For Bush, that meant showing a glimpse of his stately luncheon with vice presidential running mate Dick Cheney on Wednesday, or purposely walking in front of news crews as he walked Cheney to his car alongside a possible future chief of staff, Andrew Card.
Gore has sought to make an impression that he is highly relaxed, going jogging in a public setting on Thursday, then playing touch football with his wife, Tipper, yesterday. He even dressed according to casual Friday rules, wearing a sporty blue turtleneck instead of a suit.
The apparent calm of the candidates stood in stark contrast with the life-turning events unfolding several states away, as both campaigns made increasingly acrimonious remarks about how the other side is behaving.
In Florida, the Bush campaign's representative, James A. Baker III, accused Democrats of ''attempting to unduly prolong the country's national presidential election through endless challenges,'' while his Democratic counterpart, former Commerce secretary William Daley, accused Bush of declaring victory far too soon. ''Suggesting that the outcome of a vote is known before all the ballots are properly counted is inappropriate,'' Daley said.
Aides to Bush launched an e-mail offensive, sending nearly a half-dozen notices throughout the afternoon about where Gore had made missteps. On the Democratic side, surrogates for Gore flooded the airwaves, appearing on the networks to decry the balloting practice in West Palm Beach, the heart of the county whose ballots are most in dispute.
In a subtle turn, the Gore camp, stung by comments from prominent Democrats and others that it should not drag out the controversy, also began to play down the option of a court battle.
Gore spokesman Jano Cabrera insisted the Gore team was focused only on the effort to get a hand count of ballots in four Florida counties. A legal battle to win a new election or some other redress will not be considered until all other steps are completed, Cabrera said.
''What we're not trying to do is delay the result of the election in any way,'' Cabrera said, declining to specify how long a delay would be considered too long.
Still, it was clear the Gore camp felt cheated out of some possible votes in Democratic strongholds. The vice president's aides point to the discard of more than 19,000 ballots in Palm Beach County - votes they believe were meant for Gore.
Gore and his aides also underscored that, while Gore is ''prepared'' to begin naming a Cabinet, they will not begin such a transition to a new administration until the vote count is done.
Bush, on the other hand, was clearly doing just that.
Bush spent part of the day meeting with Card, the former member of the Massachusetts Legislature and former secretary of transportation expected to be tapped as chief of staff in a Bush administration. He had lunch with Cheney and Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry, who will face a transition of his own if Bush leaves office to become president. Bush communications director Karen Hughes said the meeting with Perry was to discuss ''state business and how all this affects the state of Texas,'' although Bush has not in reality been governing for much of the past year.
Bush also kept to his normal routine, going for a workout at the mansion, Hughes said.
For the first time in two days, Bush fielded limited questions from reporters, giving his own reasons for moving ahead with the transition before he has been officially named president-elect.
''I believe ... it is the responsible course of action for us to prepare and that's what I'm doing,'' the Republican candidate said. ''Should the verdict that has been announced thus far be confirmed, we'll be ready and I think that's what the country needs to know, that this administration will be ready to assume office and be prepared to lead.''
Gore, meanwhile, stayed slightly further from the spotlight. His only remarks came in response to a question shouted by a reporter during his family football game. ''I think we're going to win this game,'' he said, referring to the touch football game, not the election. ''We're up 6-0. I'm very optimistic.''
Kornblut reported from Austin, Texas, and Milligan from Washington.
