If Gore had simply called for a statewide manual recount immediately (there had already been machine recounts), he would have looked a hell of a lot better in my eyes. He would have still come out behind, but with at least some statesmanlike standing, and the evenhanded recount would have been far less likely to get a legal challenge that stood up.

Instead, he and his crew targeted specific areas where Democratic votes would be more likely to show up in a recount, and went for them only, trying to change the counting parameters in real time. This "some votes are more equal than others" gag was exactly how this thing ended up in Federal courts in the first place.

As for the Buchanan ballot problem, I could retort with the "calling the election while western Florida was still voting" bit, too. Such things are part of ANY election, and if you start crying for "do-overs" on all this stuff, elections will never end. Believe me, if the Democrats had come out behind in 2006, many elections would still be in the courts.

The media has not distinguished itself as a non-partisan player in the elections. They are so obviously rooting for Democrats it's gotten almost funny.

It was fun in the last election to track when states were called for Bush and when they were called for Kerry. I could see the votes roll in on the internet as easily as the press could, and the differences were glaringly obvious. I wouldn't be surprised if there are news stations that have yet to call a result in Ohio.