Bill, the judiciary--in 2000 that ultimately ended up being the Supreme Court, as they trumped the state Supreme Court--is the only institution with the power to stop the vote count.

One needs to understand the arcane system of the electoral college system, to understand why Gore needed to throw in the towel (besides the fact that once the US Supreme Court overruled the Florida Supreme Court, there was no other remedy to pursue). The sitting vice president, in 2000 that was Gore, receives the electoral votes of electors, who meet 41 days after the election is held. One month after that, a joint session of Congress meets and it's presiding office (the sitting vice president) declares the president and vice presitent elect.

As it happened, in 2000, Gore won the popular vote, but because of the electoral college system, lost the electoral college vote because of the way delegates get apportioned.

Now, in order to keep fighting (as some suggested he should have) he would have had to throw the country into a constitutional crisis, because he not only was the popular vote winner, but the constitutional officer charged with certification of the election.

So that put Al in a bit of a spot. I think he did the right thing.

It wasn't Republicans or Diebold or sell out Democrats responsible for the election outcome. History will show it was intervention by the US Supreme Court--by stopping the very legal recount ordered by the Florida Supreme Court. I don't fault the Republicans for trying to get the courts to stop the recount--the Dems would have done the same had it gone the other way in Florida. That's just what they do.

Did they throw out votes of black voters in Florida--yes, the absolutely did. Was it a travesty? Yes. Should the system be changed? I absolutely think so. But IMO, it was the most extraordinary judicial activism by the Supreme Court that "stole" the election.