And the next four years will be tough, said Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Republicans, meanwhile, might treat Gore the same way, he said. And it could go either way. America's stature abroad is also at stake, although some foreign policy experts said that, like politics, electoral chaos stops at the water's edge. Former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, a moderate Republican, doubted that ill will would harm the White House occupant.
People have short memories.
Indeed, polls so far suggest most Americans are prepared to accept either man as the legitimate president, and they do not yet consider the impasse a crisis. But with Congress split so closely, gridlock may still result, Rudman said. Former Sen. Bob Dole, Clinton's GOP opponent in 1996, said some Republicans might not show up at any Gore inauguration. Even the recently dethroned world chess master weighed in. Yet the legal chess game went on in Florida counties and courts, each side maneuvering pawns in hopes of achieving checkmate.