Al Gore's Florida War Room

...I hope they are just saying this in the heat of the moment, without considering the violence to our national fabric that such words seem to countenance...

...OPEC might decide the time is ripe for a supply shock that would send oil prices soaring...

...BY RICHARD POLLOCK SIX YEARS I was the head of a Ralph Nader group, and later for a decade I served on the board of the liberal League of Conservation Voters...

...They don't seem to understand—or are indifferent to the notion—that attacks on the legitimacy of our elections are not precision-guided munitions, capable of undermining a specific administration without collateral damage...

...The markets will fall even farther if the delegitimization campaign continues...

...They should stop while they still can...

...Might China decide to provoke a crisis with Taiwan, thinking Washington is distracted...

...Now, however, they are about to outdo themselves...

...As a producer at ABC and Fox News, I saw old-fashioned political consultants transformed into hardened kamikaze pundits, escalating their rhetoric and political tactics...

...soil...

...It should...

...The morning after the presidential vote, a weary NBC anchor Tom Brokaw advised everyone to take a deep breath...

...Is it possible other adversaries might try to "test" the White House...

...A commitment to civility must come from the top of the ticket...

...In foreign policy, allied governments will treat the United States with less respect if the legitimacy of our elections begins to be questioned...

...But it is playing out on a far larger stage than the closeted world of inside Washington, where their scorched-earth tactics were perfected...

...By seeming completely oblivious to this possibility, the Gore campaign has demonstrated a lack of seriousness unbecoming to a group that may be just days away from winning the White House...

...Both presidential candidates should pledge to accept the official vote certifications, in Florida and across the country, and condemn those who would litigate our presidential elections...

...This is almost a declaration of war against the half of the country that didn't vote for their man...

...Talk about a coarsening of public life...

...The knives are out...

...The game under way in Florida may seem like clever backroom politics...

...My liberal friends say a Bush presidency must be stopped at all costs...

...Liberals should remember that when President Clinton faced national ridicule in his first months in the White House, it was a Republican presidential adviser, David Gergen, who came to his rescue...

...Don't they understand the effect of their recent rhetoric, in which they claim to be the unique repository of the "will of the people...

...The era that was capable of producing such graciousness in our national discourse may be coming to a close...

...Then he called for "wise men" to prevail in this uncertain time...

...When Gore campaign manager William Daley said the Florida vote was "an injustice unparalleled in our history," you could watch the stock market ticker turn red on the television screen...

...Confidence in the dollar could also collapse, wreaking havoc in markets around the world...

...Terrorists might be emboldened...

...America's liberals have always claimed to be the champions of good government and "civil society...

...They have been in the forefront of those who say that civil discourse and respect for opposing viewpoints are the bedrock of democracy...

...America's liberals, led by Vice President Al Gore and his aides, are consciously preparing to undermine the legality and legitimacy of the next president of the United States...

...Richard Pollock is an executive vice president at Shandwick Public Affairs, a Washington, D.C., public relations agency...

...He said the nation couldn't afford to see any president fail...

...Think of the consequences if this campaign continued for weeks or months...

...There could be attacks against American citizens living abroad or on U.S...

...When the Democratic party pours an army of lawyers and unbridled activists into Florida, the Gore campaign and its allies may imagine they are merely extending the hard-fisted "continuous campaign" of the Clinton years...

...The liberal gambit in Florida could end up causing global instability, chaos, and lasting suffering...

...When asked why he had done so, he said that President Clinton was his president too...

...You could say I have had a front row seat to observe the left in action...

...What might happen in the Middle East if the Palestinians and Arab governments should decide our government is illegitimate...

...Call it War Room Florida...

...The damage in this case would be done not just to a Bush administration but to our political heritage of unquestioned acceptance when power is transferred from one party to the other...

...Let's hope so...

...The Democratic party badly needs to take a deep breath and heed their counsel...

...Are there any wise men left...

...What must be done...

...I'm sure some Gore campaign aides consider their challenges to the legality of the election in Florida a smart tactic—simply another way to weaken George W. Bush if he wins the White House...

...Political instability in Washington certainly will trigger chaos in our financial markets that could cause lasting trouble to the national economy...

...Foreign investment, which has helped power year after year of American prosperity, will slow as uncertainty builds...

...But while threats, court actions, and street rallies have delivered partisan victories in the past, in the context of a close presidential election, they could trigger the most severe constitutional crisis in our country's history, one that would cripple our country for decades...

...Vice President Gore should forcefully instruct his surrogates and allies to end their attacks on his opponent, stay out of the streets, and accept the certified results of the election...

...All of this may sound alarming...