HURMONT, Md. - President Clinton urged Americans on Thanksgiving Day to trust the courts to sort out the hotly contested presidential race, saying it was part of a healthy political process.
''There is a process underway. The courts will do what they're going to do and that's the way it ought to be,'' Clinton said yesterday after playing nine holes of golf with a group that included his brother Roger.
Meanwhile, a legal struggle continued between Democrat Al Gore and Republican George W. Bush, more than two weeks after Nov. 7 presidential voting, to determine who will succeed Clinton in the White House in January.
Clinton said he wanted every vote to count, including those cast by US military personnel overseas.
''I just want everybody who tried to vote, legally voted, to have their votes counted, including the service people,'' Clinton said. ''I think that's what they're trying to do, and I hope there'll be time.''
He sidestepped a question about whether the US Supreme Court should become involved in deciding whether Florida recounts continue.
''I think the law on that's pretty clear,'' Clinton said, then paused and added: ''I don't think I should comment about it.''
Clinton urged Americans to be patient and to recognize that they were seeing democracy in action.
Referring to his trip last week to attend an Asian economic summit and his visit to Vietnam, Clinton said: ''In Asia I had a couple of people tell me, `You know, in some countries people would be in the streets over this.'
''Instead, you know, we trust our system,'' Clinton said. ''We just have to trust it whether you agree with it or disagree with it, let it play out.''
After playing golf in near-freezing temperatures, the president returned to Camp David for a private Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, including his wife, New York senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea.
