Certainty He Won Keeps Gore Resolved John M. Broder New York Times Service Monday, November 27, 2000

WASHINGTON One psychological force above all others motivates Vice President Al Gore as he endures his postelection purgatory: He believes - no, he knows - he won the election, say people who deal with him daily.

Advisers and associates of the vice president begin and end every discussion of Mr. Gore's state of mind with that declaration. Mr. Gore is frustrated, even at times embarrassed, they say, by the legal maneuvering he has set in motion in his quest to prove he won the balloting in Florida. But he firmly believes that all the machinations are justified by his certainty that more people went to the polls intending to vote for him than for Governor George W. Bush, these associates say.

That certainty has kept Mr. Gore, ever a man of preternatural self-control, from succumbing to emotional vertigo, even as many around him have experienced sharp mood swings as events unfold in Florida.

When the news is good, as it was last Tuesday when the Florida Supreme Court allowed the hand recounts in three counties to continue, Mr. Gore was the first to caution that the court had given very little time to find the votes he needed to prevail. When the same court refused to order Miami-Dade County to resume its hand count two days later, Mr. Gore reminded his staff, "We got the most votes on Election Day and we're going to get them counted and win," a longtime adviser to the vice president said.

"Unlike in previous crises," this adviser added, "where he has tended to get excited in the good times and anxious about bad times, he has been very even."

Mr. Gore has helped his aides maintain their composure and control their anger in the face of what they believe are provocations from the Bush camp. Mr. Bush has sharply criticized the Florida Supreme Court, Republican members of Congress have spoken of Mr. Gore's efforts to "steal" the election, and crowds of Bush supporters have demonstrated outside the offices where Florida officials are trying to count ballots by hand.

Mr. Gore has specifically instructed his aides to avoid rhetorical excesses and urged them to act with restraint, one senior aide said.

"He recognizes the seriousness of the challenge, and the stakes, and he wants to conduct himself in a way that will be seen favorably in history, whether he wins or loses," a senior Gore adviser said.

Roy Neel, a longtime friend and adviser to Mr. Gore who is handling transition planning, said Mr. Gore was understandably concerned about developments in Florida. But he still spends time each day thinking about how to build a Gore-Lieberman administration and how to bridge the chasm between the parties if he is elected.

"You can't sit around doing nothing but watch CNN," Mr. Neel said.

But several people who have worked closely with the vice president over many years said that his calm demeanor masked an unwavering determination to battle for every last vote in Florida.

Mr. Gore told one Democratic strategist last week that he would "fight this to the last breath."

Mr. Gore is aware of the criticism from commentators and even some Democrats for his aggressive legal and political tactics, a top adviser said. But he is undeterred.

"What I've heard is a strong sense that he believes he has very broad support inside the party and beyond that for the idea of having the votes counted," this adviser said. "I have never heard any doubt or wavering in his voice on that."

Anatomy Of A Psychopath

-- Ain't Gonna Happen (Not Here Not@ever.com), November 27, 2000

Answers

yeah, well, he did get about 300,000 more votes than bush did. I know that he won as well.

however, I say let the fascists have the white house this time around. they're not gonna get anythiong done, and they will show their true colors. in '02 and '04, people will rally to get these idiots out. we have to see how horrible they truly are first. unfortunately, it will be the less fortunate in society who will bear the brunt of it, but maybe it will that's what it will take to get them to become active.

so be it...

-- (gore@did.win), November 27, 2000.

Yes, "certainty," Ain't is a psychopath who wants to overturn abortion in the USA. That's what motivates this ranting little fanatic who calls elected officials with IQs several dozen times more than her own "psychopaths."

-- Ain't a Rabid Person (who@hates.women), November 27, 2000.

"yeah, well, he did get about 300,000 more votes than bush did. I know that he won as well"

You know this? Hmm... This is getting more and more interesting as the days go by. Pretty soon Gore will *really* have 1,000,000 votes. Yeah, that's it...I'm sure of it!

Rolling eyes yet again

Mar.

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), November 27, 2000.

Gore isn't the only one who thinks he won the election.

"Hey, Relax: We Wuzn't Robbed"

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004834

-- (both@sides.now), November 27, 2000.

If Mr. Gore wins, the first thing he needs to do is to fire all of those local Democratic Party Election Officials whose incompetence cost hime the election in places like Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Here they were in charge of the local political machines and could not even deliver an additional 600 votes to swing the election to him. The Democrats had control of the Florida House and Senate for 140 years until 1998 and thought they had the situation under control so that they would never lose an election. They were fooled in 1998. The party of intimidation was itself intimidated by a bunch of mad voters waving their fingers. The Democrats probably bussed these people in to protest to divert attention from the real reason they stopped the recount in Dade County which was THEY WOULD NOT GET THE VOTES NEEDED IF THEY CONTINUED.

-- Richard Dailey (Bigdick@honestvotes.abc), November 27, 2000.