There were some articles written where a liberal reporter investigated the votes of all counties in Florida and he had to ruefully admit that even if the whole state was recounted, Gore still would have lost by about 300 to 500 votes. So there were arguments(early 2000’s) countering your “whole state” view.
This article indicates that according to which ballots were counted and judged by which method, Gore could have won, or Bush could have won. So, regarding the recounts undertaken this election those decisions could be very critical to the final results, which was basically my point.
Sorry, I forgot to include my link. Time for bed.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/01/the-florida-recount-of-2000/