The clock is running out on Gore

By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist, 11/28/2000

E CAREFUL WHAT you wish for. It could come true.

That old adage must be haunting George W. Bush. He asked the US Supreme Court to rule on the legitimacy of Florida's presidential vote and now must wait for it to do so.

With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear oral arguments on Friday, Vice President Al Gore now has more time to press his case for more ballot recounts in Florida. The Bush coronation remains on hold, despite the Texas governor's best effort to begin a transition after being declared the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes on Sunday night

That is the tactical reality, three weeks after Americans went to the polls on Election Day. And since this post-Election Day contest is, above all, a war of public relations strategy and legal maneuverings, it means no transition will really begin until after the Supreme Court has its say.

It's not necessarily right, but it's exactly what happens when lawyers, consultants, and operatives rule the day.

Lawyers litigate. Consultants consult. Operatives operate. They don't back off, because if they do, they are no longer relevant.

Their loyalty to a certain course of action is not purely self-serving. They are invested in the cause and believe in it. In the echo chamber of the campaign bunker, its rightness is easy to embrace; any outside voices challenging it, are easy to dismiss as weak-willed, misinformed or just disloyal.

But as Gore considers the recommendations of his loyalists, I wish he would also do what he said he did during the pre-Election Day campaign season: strain to really listen to the people.

While preparing for his first debate with Bush, the vice president retreated to Florida, surrounded himself with average voters, and sought their advice and counsel. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, he returned to those average voters for reaction to what he was saying and how he was saying it.

Today, as Gore vows to contest Florida's election results on their behalf, average people seem very far away from the vice president's decision-making process.

Of course, he is watching the polls and taking heart in their reflection of the voters' patience. But, even with that patience, Gore should understand that average people are becoming more schizophrenic about the post-Election Day wrangle over Florida's vote.

They want the ''full, fair, and accurate count'' the Gore team repeatedly advocates. They also want closure and a president. They are fascinated by the drama of the nonstop ''breaking news,'' but they are also exhausted by it, and anxious to get on with life and Christmas shopping. (If the crowded, post-Thanksgiving Day malls are any indication, they are getting on with both.)

This schizophrenia allows the average voter to understand and accept a reality that will forever repel the candidate, his closest relatives, and advisers. In his heart, Gore believes he won Florida. That is very likely true, in the sense that more Florida voters intended to choose him over Bush. But it is also very likely true that it will be impossible to prove that. In short, a flawed system very likely declared a wrong winner.

This is not meant to trivialize a contest as important as a presidential election. But think for a moment about all the sporting events we cheer and agonize over.

So many times, a referee makes a bad call; an instant reply may even document it is as absolutely wrong. It can cost a team a game or a championship, some victory it craves above all else at that moment. It leaves one team ecstatic and one team feeling miserable and cheated. Still, when the clock runs out, a winner is declared. A protest may be lodged, but the competition is essentially over, until the next face-off.

That's what happens in sports. In presidential politics the unfairness of the conclusion fires up the lawyers and strategists. It keeps the vice president in the hunt until every last legal avenue is exhausted. On an emotional level, it's understandable. But at some point, logic, order, and finality must take precedence over emotion.

Thanks to Bush, Gore now has until Dec. 1 to run out the legal string. That gives him more time to operate on emotion, not logic.

Be careful what you wish for. It could come true.

Joan Vennochi's e-mail address is vennochi@globe.com.