it gets worse

[Sanford Levinson]

I appreciate Greg's thoughtful reply.  I agree with him that if Bush
becomes president *and* rises to the occasion by actually providing
leadership and, even more, reaching across party lines (as I personally
believe is his wont, though I also believe he has no real appreciation of
the fact that Tom DeLay and Trent Lott are not like Texas legislators),
then it might not matter all that much in four years how he got there
(though I'd still bet he'd be a one-term president).  If the election is
based on what Gore supporters reasonably view as the "arbitrary" action of
the partisan Florida Republican Secretary of State, then I think that all
bets are off and there will be rioting in the streets on inauguration day,
with untold harm to the stature of the United States abroad.

More bets:  If George Bush becomes president, the first nominee for the
Supreme Court will be Orrin Hatch.  If Al Gore becomes president, the first
nominee for the Supreme Court will be George Mitchell or, more of a long
shot, John Edwards.

sandy