So it threw all its energy into spurring recounts in pro-Gore counties, with some, like Broward County, counting dimpled ballots as Gore votes, and others not.

(Maybe Hillary can find some extra Gore votes in the White House living quarters where she found those missing Whitewater files that had been under subpoena for two years.)

To be fair, however, without Mr. Nader's siphoning off likely Gore votes in Florida, Americans would have never learned how deeply flawed our election processes have been.

Lawyers for the Republican Party, accusing Democrats of merely searching for more Gore votes, protested the decision.

But the Democrats had their own aggressive and far-reaching plan to maximize Gore votes in Democratic counties, while suppressing likely Bush votes from overseas.

If the Palm Beach County recount starts turning up a lot of Gore votes, Mr. Bush's insistence that such counting is inaccurate might be shouted all the louder.

"Some are clearly Gore votes and some are clearly Bush votes," but the monitors are claiming otherwise, she said.

Republicans provided their lawyers with a detailed playbook that included instructions on how to challenge likely Gore votes while fighting for the inclusion of likely Bush votes.

By contrast, in Democratic strongholds, Bush lawyers simultaneously worked to exclude as many likely Gore votes as possible.

The Broward and Volusia recount results (567 and 98 net Gore votes respectively) were thus locked in under all NORC scenarios.

So it threw all its energy into spurring recounts in pro-Gore counties, with some, like Broward County, counting dimpled ballots as Gore votes, and others not.

(Maybe Hillary can find some extra Gore votes in the White House living quarters where she found those missing Whitewater files that had been under subpoena for two years.)

To be fair, however, without Mr. Nader's siphoning off likely Gore votes in Florida, Americans would have never learned how deeply flawed our election processes have been.

Lawyers for the Republican Party, accusing Democrats of merely searching for more Gore votes, protested the decision.

But the Democrats had their own aggressive and far-reaching plan to maximize Gore votes in Democratic counties, while suppressing likely Bush votes from overseas.

If the Palm Beach County recount starts turning up a lot of Gore votes, Mr. Bush's insistence that such counting is inaccurate might be shouted all the louder.

"Some are clearly Gore votes and some are clearly Bush votes," but the monitors are claiming otherwise, she said.

Republicans provided their lawyers with a detailed playbook that included instructions on how to challenge likely Gore votes while fighting for the inclusion of likely Bush votes.

By contrast, in Democratic strongholds, Bush lawyers simultaneously worked to exclude as many likely Gore votes as possible.

The Broward and Volusia recount results (567 and 98 net Gore votes respectively) were thus locked in under all NORC scenarios.