Throughout it all, they remain certain in their division and united only on the point that this is a true mess. Sure, they're growing a little irritated with Gore, but not enough to plead that he stop holding daily press conferences on his front porch. And they think Bush may be pushing the envelope with his pointed transition bustle, but no big deal. It's only the presidency. If there's a big crisis looming, we don't know about it yet.
People still respect the presidency, but the edge is off.
So maybe it's the curse of comfort. Or maybe politics itself has just become too inflammatory and rigid, offering voters in the middle nothing to admire and plenty to disdain. If undecided voters figured that Gore was ready to be president, they also figured that Bush could have his father's advisers help him become president. Last week, they watched it happen. Told you so.