Spin May Be Crucial in Election Battle

Nov. 28 -- Al Gore is placing his presidential hopes on a series of legal challenges, but the vice president’s chances of moving into the Oval Office may rest equally in the court of public opinion.

Both he and his Republican rival George W. Bush have mounted all-out efforts to sway the public. Bush has the far stronger position with leads in every vote count thus far in the all-important state of Florida. Having been certified as winner of its 25 electoral votes on Sunday, the Texas governor has called for Gore to concede.

Gore has been forced to justify why additional recounts and court battles are necessary, telling the nation Monday night in a televised address that there had not yet been a complete vote count in Florida and that “ignoring votes means ignoring democracy itself.”

But without support from the public and his party, Gore will be unable to keep pressing his lawsuits for the weeks or even months it will take to resolve them, says Howard Gold, a politics professor at Smith College.

“The way public opinion is perceived could determine how this works out,” he says.

Does Certification Spell the End?

Many political analysts agree the certification of the Florida vote Sunday night was a key moment in the post-election battle, placing the burden firmly on Gore to show why he should not give in.

“Public perception has changed with certification,”says Alex Jones, director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy.

An ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll conducted after certification Sunday night found that 60 percent of Americans want Gore to concede, including 26 percent of people who said they were Gore supporters.

Still, the public may be willing to accept that the battle will continue, for now at least, says Jones.

“He’s not worn out the patience of the public yet,” says Jones.

Because the public is thought to frown on using lawyers and lawsuits to win political fights, Gore has an uphill battle to convince America to be patient.