One of the GREAT delights during that frustrating period was joining the FREEP at the Naval Observatory that first Saturday after the election... Sort of misty and overcast, I can remember the JOLT of enthusiasm as we turned the corner on Mass Ave. and saw the ~1000-strong band of fellow Freepers with signs and flags raised, screaming our lungs out. Opposite us were about 12 Gore-ites... and the picture on the front page of the Washington Post that Sunday showed just the 12 Gore-ites! How perfect.
This article on the Gores has helped me to figure it out: Al Gore is Richard Nixon without the smarts... and, perhaps, without the paranoia. Nixon knew the 1960 election had been stolen from him, but he also knew (for his future electoral viability) it would do no good to protest (unlike Gore). Gore was always treated like a princeling (very much unlike Nixon), so he always felt entitled to the high office he sought. Also, unlike Nixon, Gore has always had a favorable press on his side, at least until lately. Gore is stupid enough to think he can make a successful run in 2004 -- he should hope that the Dems nominate someone else and that they suffer a massive washout like the Republicans did in 1964. Nixon then did massive party-building in 1966 that set-up his victory in 1968: one of the most amazing political comebacks in US history. Such a wash-out for the Demos in 2004 might (but I doubt it) set up a potential return for Big Fat Al in 2008 but he has already gone way too far to the left.
Let's face it, the Freepers were right: he's just a Sore-Loserman!