ALLAHASSEE - Some thought she could emerge as a Florida political star, a symbol of a democratic process that, however wrenching, produced an accepted presidential winner and accolades for her fair-mindedness.
But, in the end, Secretary of State Katherine Harris exited the national spotlight as she had entered it: as a lightning rod for partisan divisions.
Harris at first had seemed like so many state and local officials unaccustomed to being in the national eye. Hers was an administrative job, a ministerial one. In an act that normally would not have attracted mobs of reporters and cameras as it did last night, Harris was to have simply signed off on the county election results, a technicality required to send the winner's representatives to the Electoral College.
By the time Harris finally served that function last night, everything had changed - including Harris herself. Wearing a bright suit, Harris strode into a room at the state Capitol, appearing to savor her perhaps final moment in the Sunshine State's election saga.
Cameras clicked as the nation waited in anticipation last night as Harris inked her signature on Florida's election returns with a dramatic swoosh.
''I want to point out that our American democracy has triumphed once again,'' Harris said. ''And this is a victory in which we can all take a great deal of pride. The true winner in this election is the rule of law.''
Republicans outside cheered raucously; Democrats guffawed.
Within her party, she was seen as something of a savior. Republicans backed her as the final authority on election procedure in Florida. Supporters sent her e-mails, faxes, even flowers - for which she gave profuse thanks last night.
For Democrats, Harris was a hack, a Republican loyalist and Bush campaign official they could demonize as an adopted member of the Bush dynasty, someone who would use her voter-given power to hand her friend the greatest prize in American politics.
Regular voters who didn't seem to have much enthusiasm for the presidential campaign when it was actually going on were suddenly caught up in it. Some carried signs that called for her removal; others who assembled in downtown Tallahassee chanted that her rulings were right.
Officially, the Gore campaign shied away from a direct attack on Harris's integrity.
''I believe Katherine Harris is a good person who is trying to carry out her responsibility,'' said Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida.
But others have not been so kind.
''Having her certify George W. Bush as president is like having George Bush's campaign certify him as president,'' said Represenative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Malden. ''It doesn't have any legitimacy.''
Before the presidential election dispute, there had been talk that Harris might run for the US Senate, or be named for an ambassadorship. Neither would be an easily achieved goal for her now, Democrats say.
A Senate run would be tough, especially against Graham. Talk of an ambassadorial appointment has become a joke among politicos, who wager that Harris could only become ambassador to Chad.
Senate confirmation hearings for Harris, should she ever be nominated for a post, would be bloody, said a Democratic Senate aide.
''It would make the Bill Weld confirmation look like a walk in the park,'' he said, referring to the former Massachusetts governor's unsuccessful bid to be confirmed as ambassador to Mexico.
