Florida Supreme Court Seems Humbled

Gore lead counsel David Boies was first up at the podium and was peppered with questions before he uttered a single word of his prepared argument. The justices were much tougher with him this time than they were two weeks ago. Boies was asked repeatedly, but in different ways, how they could give Gore any relief in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Monday.

The justices were very vocal in expressing their concern that the Florida Legislature has "plenary power," found in Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution, that gives all control over the rules governing federal elections to the state legislatures, to the exclusion of state courts.

Boies, to be blunt, had nothing to offer them to the contrary on this "plenary power" issue.

Bush's lead counsel, Barry Richard, on the other hand, was eager to talk about the soundness of Sauls' ruling in the contest case, on the facts and the law. The justices were far less confrontive with Richard than they were two weeks ago.

Additionally, the amount of time allowed both sides was shorter this time around and much more strictly enforced, which indicates further that this Supreme Court may have heard enough about this mess, which it helped create.