Democrats Tell the N.Y. Times End Is Near

Here’s what several leading Democrats are saying:

"Right now, I'm not optimistic about anything," said Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. "This is the first time I have felt that what is evolving is a morass of uncertainty. It's hard for me to believe that the United States Supreme Court has a role in this. It just increases the polarization. How do we put the bricks together and work for the benefit of this nation?"

"The court, at least in my eyes, has damaged its credibility," said Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska.

"This is not just any court intervening," Mr. Kerrey said. "It would be one thing if this were the Warren court. This is the Rehnquist court. That court that has established in case after case the principle of state sovereignty. It's going to put them at odds with their own conclusions in the big federalism case that's going on."

Mr. Kerrey told the Times he questioned whether Gore could recover. "I don't know how you get them going again," he said.

"You can't feel optimistic for more than three hours in this process," said a top Gore strategist in Florida who earlier in the day had predicted that Mr. Gore would be president. "It's mind-blowing that the court would actually stop counting votes."

"The situation was becoming somewhat frightening," he said, "With the idea of competing slates of electors from Florida and the houses of Congress taking different posititons. The country is testing constitutional machinery that has rarely been used – and may not function as smoothly as the founders anticipated."