ASHINGTON - Democratic congressional leaders united behind Vice President Al Gore's decision to battle on past yesterday's deadline for completing a manual recount of contested Florida ballots, reflecting their growing anger over what many view as heavy-handed Republican tactics.
Senate minority leader Thomas A. Daschle of South Dakota and House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri appeared on talk shows yesterday to defend the Gore campaign, which is expected to file new court challenges to Florida's election results.
''I've talked to most of my colleagues in the past several days and there isn't any interest in conceding anything at this point,'' Daschle said on NBC's ''Meet the Press.'' He said he was confident that a full recount would show that Gore had won Florida.
The Gore campaign has gone to great lengths to keep the party together, launching a series of conference calls in recent days between top campaign officials and congressional Democrats. Another round of calls is likely today to assess any fallout from the rapidly changing events, Democratic aides said.
The current Democratic unity springs from several sources, Democratic aides said, including the fact that the pending US Supreme Court argument tends to reduce the perceived significance of yesterday's election certification by Florida's secretary of state. Some Democrats said the Supreme Court hearing, sought by the Bush campaign, may actually buy Gore more time to proceed with county reexaminations of contested ballots.
''There's no advantage for anybody to get out ahead [of the courts] at this time,'' said a top House Democratic aide, referring to party leaders. ''Staying pat doesn't mean, however, they think the results are going to change [Gore's way.] They just don't want to be a traitor to the party.''
Gephardt, appearing on CBS's ''Face the Nation,'' predicted that the legal wrangling over the election, by both parties, could easily continue for a couple of weeks.
Even Democratic Senator John Breaux of Louisiana, who earlier had called for a quick end to the standoff, said he was willing to let the process play out - at least until Friday. That is when the Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing on whether the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its bounds by allowing manual recounts to go forward.
At the same time, Republicans are increasingly united and upset over what some have termed Democratic efforts to steal the election from Texas Governor George W. Bush. Republicans remain outraged by the Florida Supreme Court's decision to allow the manual recounts to proceed.
Dick Armey, Republican of Texas, the House majority leader, called the Gore team ruthless in its efforts to challenge overseas absentee ballots, including those from military personnel. The increasingly sharp divisions could undermine efforts by Gephardt, Daschle and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert to try to compromise on health and education legislation when Congress reconvenes in early December for a lame-duck session.
One contributing factor to Democratic unity was vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman's claim that Republicans have orchestrated demonstrations in Florida specifically to disrupt vote counting. After one such demonstration, officials in Miami-Dade county called off a planned hand recount of ballots.
Republicans have strenuously denied any effort to intimidate local officials. Democratic aides also said that recent moves by House majority whip Tom DeLay to get involved in the fracas, including sending staff aides to Florida to observe the recount, had angered Hill Democrats.
The harsh partisan feelings are, in part, a hangover from the 1999 debate over the impeachment of President Clinton. DeLay was the leading force behind Republican efforts to push forward against the president.
In the long term, the poisonous atmosphere will very likely make it difficult for whomever wins to quickly put a Cabinet in place, let alone implement a legislative agenda. Gephardt warned Republicans yesterday against efforts to try to challenge the election in the House.
The Democratic unity, however long it lasts, is a political and public relations victory for the Gore campaign. Officials had worried that anxious Democrats would begin to desert the vice president as the election controversy dragged on.
Daschle has been talking with Senate Democrats one on one about the presidential contest in recent days, as part of broader conversations about how to organize the Senate next year. The Senate could be split 50-50 next session, if Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, prevails in a recount against incumbent GOP Senator Slade Gorton.
The Massachusetts delegation has been involved in the damage control efforts for Gore. Democratic Representative Edward Markey has been in Florida for the past several days, at the Gore campaign's request, to help sell its version of unfolding events to the media.
