But just as important is the battle in the court of public opinion. Gore team races against time Dec. 3. Attorneys for Vice President Al Gore urgently tried to persuade a judge to take the unprecedented step of studying thousands of disputed ballots to decide who will become president. Candidates have little to gain from quitting now Dec. 3. Two would-be presidents are plotting transitions and Cabinet appointments that, for now, are of the virtual variety.
Every move being made is in the context of a strangely suspended state.
High court appears split Dec. 2. The U.S. Supreme Court suggested that easy answers were not in reach, as the justices struggled with whether Florida's highest court violated federal law by allowing selected counties to have more time for conducting manual vote recounts. Gore hit with 2 setbacks on eve of big recount trial Dec. 2. The Florida Supreme Court refused to grant Vice President Al Gore's request to order an immediate recount of contested ballots, and it rejected a suit from Palm Beach County seeking a new election. Camps downplay impact of justices' upcoming decision Dec. 2.