Pundits, Political Placards--and a Mule

They came--the committed, the curious, the creative--to express political sentiments, profound sidewalk legal theories and even make a buck off history.

As the U.S. Supreme Court heard what could be the final legal arguments on the Florida recount, hundreds of Gore and Bush supporters milled about at the foot of the marble stairs Monday, shouting themselves hoarse on a 40-degree day.

Backers of Vice President Al Gore--who seemed more numerous--chanted, “Oh no, Gore’s ahead! Time to call my brother Jeb!” Texas Gov. George W. Bush supporters waved signs that mimicked the Gore-Lieberman campaign logo but instead read, “Sore-Loserman.”

Keith Polarek, 25, of Norfolk, Va., saw one of those signs a couple of weeks ago and had an entrepreneurial brainstorm. He adapted the design and started turning out “Sore-Loserman” T-shirts, which he was selling for $10 apiece Monday to pay off the graduate school bills of his wife, Janet.

“I’ve made $4,000, and that’s gravy,” said Keith Polarek. A woman came up to him eager to buy a T-shirt from his suitcase stash.

“Can I write you a check?” she asked. “I’m a Republican; my check is good.” “It’s worth the risk,” Polarek answered.

A few feet away stood John Boyd with his mule, Forty Acres. Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Assn., said that during the Civil War, freed slaves were promised 40 acres and a mule but that the promise wasn’t kept.

“We don’t want people to lose the right to vote the way we didn’t get 40 acres and a mule,” said Boyd, of Spring Hill, Va.

As for the mule, Boyd had a police permit for it. And, he added, “we always clean up afterwards.”

Maggie Cole, who took her family to the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles when the family lived in San Diego, snapped a picture of daughters Jackie, in a “Sore-Loserman” T-shirt, and Katie, holding up a sign, “Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is a Bush administration.”

“They need to know what’s going on in America,” their mother said.

“We lived through O.J.,” said Cole, now of Stafford, Va., who added that she wanted to show her children that “it’s not always the best lawyer who wins.”

Asked whether the kids would be back in school today, the mother said: “You bet, with a report.”

Union members made a strong showing for Gore. There were demonstrators with signs from the AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union and the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Dennis Greenia of Baltimore was walking with a homemade placard reading: “My bluetick coonhound is smarter than George W. Bush.”

“The idea that who the next president is will be decided by vote-counting machines that are known to be flawed is mind-boggling,” said Greenia, who seemed resigned to a Bush victory. “I don’t think the Supreme Court decision is going to shut down this debate. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a Seattle-like demonstration on Jan. 20.”

As a Bush supporter walked away from the crowd with a ‘Sore-Loserman’ sign, Miami businessman Bob Hovey stopped him. Hovey, who was smoking a Cohiba cigar, pulled a money clip from his pocket. They negotiated briefly and Hovey handed him $4 for the sign.

“Before I voted in Florida, I read all the instructions,” said Hovey. “Afterwards, I held my ballot up to the light and then I looked to make sure I had punched the right number. I don’t have a lot of patience for dimpled chads, pregnant chads and third-trimester chads. It’s a bunch of bunk.”