Clinton is to leave Monday on a trip to Asia that will end with a visit to Vietnam. He will be the first U.S. president to visit that nation since the war there. Bush and Gore mainly stayed out of the public eye. While Bush met with running mate Dick Cheney at his ranch near Waco, Texas, Gore huddled with his top advisers at the vice presidential mansion in Washington. Gore and his running mate, Joe Lieberman, joined by their wives, escaped the tensions of the recount battle late Saturday by going to the movies.
Transition plans Both campaigns are quietly moving ahead with plans for a new administration.
The next president is scheduled to take office on Jan. 20. Although the presidential campaign officially ended nearly a week ago, the hostilities continued unabated over the weekend. Both sides insisted that they were acting in the public interest in dealing with the election standoff. Baker pledged that Bush would accept his defeat if the absentee ballots shift the majority back to Gore. However, Bush is confident that he will win the absentee vote, largely because many of the overseas ballots come from conservative military personnel.