Gore needs to give it up

Poor Al Gore. He lost, fair and square. So here come the lawyers.\nNot that I blame him. As any candidate knows, losing by so little -- in one count and two recounts -- is frustrating. But as any of the mostly Democratic recount attorneys can tell you, when you lose, you just count and recount and litigate until your candidate comes up with a phony victory. \nSo far, Gore has damaged himself greatly by the recount/litigation process -- more so than any other candidate I have seen. His hypocrisy is evident to even his past supporters, including liberal Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, who recently stated Gore could never re-unite America. \nGore's warts are showing. The Washington Post's Sandra Sobieraj reports a Gore confidant said he is a "lost soul," grasping for any reason to hang on, coming up with any dimpled chad or conspiracy theory to throw him over the top or justify his assault on the windmill known as America. For the first time since 1976, Gore is without a swearing-in ceremony to attend in January. \nHis military ballot tactic badly hurt his campaign and the Democrats. His repeated call for a recount in only three Democratic counties is so phony I don't know how even a stiff like Gore doesn't break into laughter as he continues to call for a "fair, accurate and complete" count. Gore's hypocrisies are huge, and may be too large to list here (if you're looking for a list, check out CBS News commentator Dick Meyer's work on the CBS.com Web site: http://cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,252872-412,00.shtml).\nGore is beginning to remind me of the androids on an old "Star Trek" episode. Unable to get past them, Kirk and Spock overload their circuits with emotional "input" the androids cannot comprehend. Sooner or later, at one of those flag-draped press conferences Gore is staging daily, smoke is going to start rising from his head: "I lost, does not compute! I lost, does not compute!" \nTipper and campaign chairman William Daley, Son of a Daley, will whisk Gore off-stage, but I have a feeling he will be just fine. They will just reprogram him to run again in 2004.\nAs for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, no matter what his fate, he has done an outstanding job as a candidate. Perhaps a little unsure of himself earlier this year, he has been doggedly persistent, dominating Gore and always bringing the focus back to his own agenda. \nA friend and alumnus e-mailed me from Miami -- after the liberal Florida Supreme Court's decision to extend the counting deadline -- and seemed ready to give up hope. Relatives and friends also sighed and mourned that night. Too many times I heard and read the refrain: "Gore will never give up until he gets his way." Counting undervotes, creating votes that would never be counted anywhere else in the United States (no, not even in the few precincts in Texas that still use outdated voting machines) -- it looked bad for Gore. \nEven worse, Gore was going to get away with his phony recount in three friendly Florida counties -- all while ripping the military off by not including the mail-in overseas ballots. And Gore would win with his propaganda and distortions, the worst of which was the assertion that voters always cast votes in the presidential race. Nevada has a "None of These" ballot option that, according to CNN, garnered 3,315 votes -- which Gore would claim as votes for himself.\nBut, I assured my friend, Bush's obituary had already been written five or six times in the 2000 election. Remember New Hampshire? Remember Gore's bounce? Remember the sleazy D.U.I. story-mongerers, peddling their desperation five days before the election? Now Democrats know how Republicans felt during impeachment. Bush won't give up -- no matter what -- that's why he is the perfect foil for the Clinton-Gore administration.\nRalph Reed said it best in the National Review earlier this year when he said Bush is a pleasant candidate who puts a warm smile on a previously frowning GOP face. He has revived optimism, compassion and enthusiasm in the Republican ranks and many parts of America, much like Reagan did in 1980. His character may not appeal to every elitist conservative or Republican in America (e.g., William Kristol) -- and it may seem phony to hateful Hollywood Democrats and glib media commentators -- but it appealed enough to about 50 million voters. \nBush may not have won a majority of votes, but he did win more than Clinton ever did, a good base to build upon as 2004 approaches.