If Gore had fought harder and won, Gore would have been president but democratic legitimacy and belief in the voting process would have been damaged (in half th

If Gore had fought harder and won, Gore would have been president but democratic legitimacy and belief in the voting process would have been damaged (in half the country). If Gore had fought harder and lost, Bush president and same. The public wouldn't have believed / understood voting recount nuances: longer battle in courts = less faith in voting. So it came down to weighing the corrosion of the voting process against goodness of Gore v Bush as president. I don't think in 2000 anyone (including Gore) could have predicted that W's (and Cheney's) choices would be as poor as they were.