t was a day that left Al Gore's presidential hopes in dire straits.
First, just before noon, the US Supreme Court set aside a ruling by the Florida Supreme Court that allowed manual recounts to continue past the deadline established by the Florida Legislature and affirmed by the secretary of state. The justices pronounced themselves perplexed by the decision of their Tallahassee brethren and sent the case back to them for further review.
George W. Bush, who had been certified the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes, and with them the election, greeted the ruling as ''a very strong statement on our behalf.'' Gore's allies called it a procedural ruling likely to have little effect.
Then, as evening approached, Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls issued an unvarnished, point-by-point rejection of Gore's effort to challenge Bush's certified victory in Florida. In every case and every county, Gore had failed to make his case that this was an election whose result a recount would change, Sauls said.
The Gore campaign immediately appealed the ruling, setting the stage for a climactic proceeding before the Florida Supreme Court. The date for that hearing had not been set last night, but swift action can be expected. The justices said they would accept motions on the US Supreme Court matter at 3 p.m. today.
Gore lead attorney David Boies had a crisp reaction to the Sauls verdict: ''They won. We lost. This is going to be resolved by the Florida Supreme Court. I think whoever wins at the Florida Supreme Court, we'll accept that.''
While there are other legal challenges pending (some 40 state and federal cases, by some counts) all eyes, political and judicial, are focused on two approaching deadlines: Dec. 12 (a week from today), when state electors are chosen, and Dec. 18, when the Electoral College meets to select the president and vice president-elect.
If there is no clear resolution by the time the college meets, the next voters to take up the matter might very well be the members of the incoming Congress.
But, after yesterday's judicial one-two, it seems as though a resolution, one way or another, will come sooner than that.
