Al Gore defended his unprecedented reach to the courts Monday, declaring "Let the people have their say" by counting every ballot in Florida's make-or-break presidential election. George W. Bush plunged into the work of building a new government even as scattered rank-and-file Democrats warned that Gore's time may be running out. A day after Bush summoned TV cameras to press for Gore's concession, the vice president laid out his case for letting courts settle the nation's long-count election. "This is America," he said with a forced chuckle. "When votes are cast, we count them. We don't arbitrarily set them aside because it's too difficult to count them."
The prime-time televised address was perhaps Gore's last, best chance to explain why the closest presidential election in 124 years didn't end Sunday night when Florida's top elections officer, a GOP partisan, certified Bush the winner by 537 votes out of 6 million cast.
Gore's support was falling as he went on the air.
An overnight poll conducted before the address by CNN/USA Today/Gallup found that 56 percent of Americans said Gore should concede the election compared to 46 percent who said that last week. An ABC-Washington Post survey found similar results.
"I guess Bush does have a legitimate right to the presidency, but if I was in Gore's place, I'd probably be doing the same thing he is," said Rick Prowell, 39, an electric lineman in Little Rock, Ark.
Gore protested the results in a Florida state court earlier Monday, becoming the first candidate in U.S. history to contest a presidential election before the judiciary. His lawyers asked for a quick hearing, but may not get one before the end of the week.
And on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear GOP argument against recounts.
The stakes could hardly be higher.
"If the people do not in the end choose me, so be it," Gore said standing at a presidential-style lectern before a dozen American flags in the vice presidential residence. "The outcome will have been fair, and the people will have spoken."
"If they choose me, so be it. I would then commit to bringing this country together. But, whatever the outcome, let the people have their say, and let us listen," Gore said, hours after Democratic leaders and President Clinton queued up to show their support.
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With the agonizingly close election stretching into its fourth week, neither side appeared ready to give way in a fierce struggle that has entangled the judiciary in the business of presidential politics, threatening to spill past the Dec. 12 deadline for selecting state electors.
Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said Gore's address offered nothing new to the nation.
"It was just unfortunately not giving Americans the full picture of what took place," Fleischer said. Bush watched Gore's address in the governor's mansion, while his top aides gathered at campaign headquarters to see it.
The Texas governor moved quickly to take on the work, if not the title, of president-elect. Running mate Dick Cheney criticized the Clinton-Gore administration for refusing Bush access to $5.3 million in government transition funds and a federal office building set aside for the presidential changeover. He announced the Bush team would raise donations to finance its own operation.
"This is regrettable because we believe the government has an obligation to honor the certifiable results of an election," Cheney said at a Washington news conference, naming an executive director and press secretary for the transition team.
In the sort of juxtaposition that has been a hallmark of this ever-shifting election dispute, Cheney's news conference got under way just as lawyers gathered in a Florida court room to discuss Gore's election protest. Cable TV viewers saw history in the making, split screen.
Cheney took a swipe at Gore for not dropping out, as the Bush team sought to rush the vice president from the race before the courts have an opportunity to renew recounts.
Gore is "still unwilling to accept the outcome," Cheney said.
Gore believes he would overtake Bush if the final tally would include recounted ballots that were rejected by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris.
The vice president faces a tough legal fight - persuading a court to overturn a certified election - and an electorate with limited patience.
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