In her response to my crude remarks, Debbi Quick said:

"The true explanation for what happened is that Gore is a coward."

Well, that cleared things right up! ;)
<<<<

If I may be totally honest, I think that it does.

Did Gore follow rational legal strategy? No. If one is ahead, one tries
to limit the scope of a recount to be as narrow as possible; Bush
followed this strategy. If one is behind, one tries to widen the recount
as much as possible; Gore did not follow this strategy.

So, what is the explanation for Gore's failure to follow the rational
strategy? Jeffrey Toobin in his book, "Too Close to Call," reports what
most reporters who were close to the matter seem to have concluded. My
word "coward" is stronger than anything Toobin says, but Toobin does
offer the following as his final evaluation.

"Gore's analytical powers were such that he even convinced himself not
to make the very claims that might have won him the election in an
honorable way. If Bill Clinton was a prisoner of his id, Gore was
bedeviled by his superego - - - an internal censor so strong that it
wiped out not only the killer instinct but also the fighting spirit."
(276) 

This comment is a negative explanation; it explains why Gore was
disinclined to take a broad fighting strategy, and why he never said the
words, "we wuz robbed." (See p. 225) But what about a positive
explanation. Toobin offers the following:

"Ironically but fittingly, Gore chose the limited recount in an attempt
to ingratiate himself with Washington - - - and crippled himself in the
course of that futile attempt." (280) And elsewhere in the book, this
theme of Gore as a prisoner of establishment values is developed at
length.

One might wish to argue that Toobin is a bad reporter, but I think that
such an argument would be wrong, especially since his account is so well
corroborated by other political reporters. 

So, from my red neck viewpoint, he was a coward.

But, those who are offended by my hard words can easily hit the delete
button.

Best wishes,  ............   Lash /


Lewis Henry LaRue
Washington and Lee University
School of Law
Lexington,  VA  24450-0303

email: laruel@wlu.edu
phone: 540-458-8513
fax: 540-458-8488

Debbi Quick <DQuick@dpfnapa.com> 11/14/03 01:40PM >>>

"The true explanation for what happened is that Gore is a coward."

Well, that cleared things right up! ;)