Football has sudden-death overtime.
Soccer has penalty kicks. Republican and Democratic representatives listen as Palm Beach County, Fla., Canvassing Board members discuss suspending the hand recount of ballots yesterday. In contrast, the presidential election in Florida has no clear rules governing how to declare a winner with finality and fairness. Eight days after the election, the contest to win the White House is degenerating into the legal equivalent of a street brawl. And the first casualty, analysts say, is the kind of fair process that might have enabled the losing candidates' supporters to embrace the winner as president.