Spare Us Indefinite Dread And Circuses

Gov. George Bush and Vice President Al Gore should agree now to declare the election of the 43rd president over when Florida’s results are certified next Friday.

This means the Gore camp should drop threats of lawsuits that could tie this election up in the courts for months - and even years.

This means that the Bush camp should drop plans to challenge election results in Iowa, Wisconsin, New Mexico and possibly Oregon. And it means both sides should tone down the rhetoric. The wrangling in Florida is threatening to undermine our system of law.

Absentee ballots are filtering in from overseas. They could erase Gore’s unofficial deficit of 327 votes and make him winner of Florida’s precious 25 electoral votes. Or they could uphold Bush’s claim to be the next president. Conventional wisdom says the overseas ballots will favor Bush if they’re from military personnel. Or favor Gore if they’re from Florida Jews now living in Israel. Some 10,000 ballots were mailed out to voters overseas.

Either way, Bush and Gore should abide by the final result - even if the count declares a winner by one vote. Our rule of law depends on it. The orderly transition of power depends on it.

The Gore camp set the tone of the current nasty national debate by fuming about voting irregularities, butterfly ballots and the validity of an Electoral College win. And Republicans took up the gauntlet. They questioned the intelligence of voters in disputed Palm Beach County, claimed the networks’ premature call of Florida for Gore depressed Republican turnout in Florida and nationwide, and accused Democrats of voter fraud in several states.

For every accusation made by one side, the other side has a counteraccusation. For every point of law made by one side’s experts, the other side has its own experts making an opposing case. One thing, however, is certain in this mess. The country doesn’t want the election to be decided by a judge. Elections are the voters’ business. Democrats should take a long look at the Constitution - and at the current polls. More than 70 percent of respondents to an MSNBC poll said the ballot count should decide Florida’s electoral votes.

If he doesn’t call off the dogs, the vice president risks a serious backlash by the American public. He can lay groundwork now to appear a gracious loser and keep future presidential aspirations alive by telling his side to calm down until all the votes are in. The Texas governor, meanwhile, should resist the temptation to gloat or make pronouncements about his cabinet.

The votes aren’t in yet. Bush and Gore ought to back off and respect the voting process - which may not be flawless but certainly is more dignified than the campaign was.