As the saga of election 2000 continues, the Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments tomorrow in an appeal made by Vice President Al Gore as he contests the state's vote certification.
Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls rejected Gore's request to overturn Bush's certified victory of Florida's 25 electoral votes. Sauls also struck down Gore's request for a manual recount of thousands of contested ballots.
Attorneys for both Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush have until noon today to submit their written briefs in the case.
Some political pundits said they think Gore may concede if the Florida State Supreme Court ruling is not in his favor.
"By now, the number of his legal actions have dwindled," said Scott Keeter, director of the Center for Public Policy at George Mason University. "The State Supreme Court had been the biggest supporter for Gore, but if they reject his appeal, I'm not sure that Gore has many friends left except in the political world."
Gore's decision to contest the certification of Florida's 25 electoral votes has been criticized by many Republicans.
"We wish that Al Gore would do the right thing," said Ed Matricardi, executive director for the Virginia Republican Party. "But we are not holding our breath because we realize that this is a man who has been running for president for his entire life."
But Democrats think the closeness of the election justifies all the Gore camp's actions in the past month.
"Until we have gone through the entire recount process, there is no reason to concede," said Steve Vaughan, communications coordinator for the Democratic Party of Virginia. "I think that Democrats are very supportive."
Political analyst Larry J. Sabato, University government and foreign affairs professor, agreed that Gore is not overstepping his bounds in refusing to concede the election at this point.
"The election is so close, he is entitled to it," Sabato said. "People just have to be patient."
In light of the closeness of the election in the Electoral College and Gore's victory in the popular vote, some have speculated that electors pledged to Bush may defect and cast a vote for Gore.
States select their electors Dec. 12. The selected electors then will cast their votes for president Dec. 18.
Some political analysts, however, say they think the possibility of unfaithful electors is not a valid concern.
"I believe that the people who are elected as electors tend to be personally committed to the candidate and the party," Keeter said. "These are not open-minded people looking at all of the evidence."
But the Florida legislature is not taking a chance on the possibility of defecting electors and has prepared to call a special session to appoint electors loyal to Bush.
As legal battles continue to be played out in the courtrooms of Florida, Bush is concentrating on his possible transition to the White House. He continues to meet with prospective members of his presidential cabinet and also participated in a CIA briefing Tuesday.
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