Free Republic

PORTSMOUTH - With the drama of last week’s midterm primary barely past, the stage is already being set for 2004. Apparently, Al Gore is interested in reprising his role. Sunday night reports began circulating that Gore has confided to his top aides that he will take another shot at the presidency. Almost immediately, people in the Gore camp denied the reports. With scheduled stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and the focal point of the 2000 election, Florida, it’s hard not to see Gore is preparing another presidential bid. The Portsmouth Democratic headquarters is still strewn with the mementos of Gore’s...

Al Gore. State election officials ultimately declared George W. Bush the winner by a margin of 537 votes, but during and after the election dispute, questions remained about the uncounted ballots of 175,010 voters, ballots that had been rejected by error-prone tabulating machines employed in many Florida counties. Confusion and conflict, much of it generated by partisan intrigue, prevented these ballots from being counted during the election controversy. However, in 2001 every uncounted ballot was carefully examined in a scientific study by the University of Chicago, which concluded that when all the votes were counted, more votes had been cast...