To Many on Both Sides of Congress, ‘It’s Checkmate’

Republican lawmakers--and significantly, some Democrats--predicted late Tuesday that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Florida vote-counting dispute is likely to push Al Gore to concede the presidential election today.

“It’s checkmate,” said Rep. James P. Moran (D-Va.). “They have isolated Gore’s king. The U.S. Supreme Court has left no room for the Florida Supreme Court now to move. So I don’t see that the vice president has any choice but to concede at this point, which I expect he’ll do [today].”

Gore’s Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill had been steadfast in their support of his legal fight in Florida against Texas Gov. George W. Bush. And most lawmakers were glum or mum as they assessed Tuesday night’s ruling. But their comments made clear that, should Gore choose to keep fighting, he risks doing so without the solid support he had enjoyed within his party.

On a night when official Washington was wading through a complex court document that appeared to hold the key to who will win the White House, Republicans were first to declare a verdict.

“It looks to me that we are now seeing the beginning of the end,” Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) said. “I’m confident that Al Gore will do the right thing at the right time.”

Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), a member of the Senate leadership, said it appeared to him that the election fight is over. But he noted a crucial caveat: “Of course, a concession by Al Gore is what really announces that it’s over with.”

Most members of the House Republican leadership had no immediate comment. But Rep. J.C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranking House Republican, said: “The ruling proves what any child on any playground in America will tell you. Players cannot change the rules of a game after it is underway. This is a democracy. There are no ‘do-overs.’ ”

Democratic reactions were slower in trickling in--for two reasons. First, the ruling was long and hard to digest. Second, it looked like bad news and few Democrats were eager to say so publicly.

Gore loyalists were cautious about drawing conclusions.

“I’m concerned about it,” said Rep. Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash.), a leading Gore supporter in Congress. “It sounds ominous. But we have to see if there’s some way for Florida to come into compliance [with the court’s ruling]. It doesn’t look good.”

Others were more direct.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that the court seemed to be delivering an “implicit” message that there should be no further recount of the votes in Florida. “I agree that it certainly doesn’t look good” for Gore, she said.

Sen. Robert G. Torricelli (D-N.J.) said that the ruling “leaves Al Gore with a predictable but very difficult decision to make. . . . It appears that the last vote in Florida has now been counted.”

Notably silent were the top congressional Democrats, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota. They have been among Gore’s stoutest allies in Congress throughout the postelection period, and on Tuesday night the two offered no comment on the high court ruling.

Some Democrats focused on launching a new phase of attacks on Bush--rhetoric that assumed the presidential contest is over.

“It’s a sad day for all of us,” said Jim Jordan, political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “I suppose we’ll have to sort out how to deal with a weakened and not clearly legitimate Bush administration.”

Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham of San Diego was among the Republicans looking forward to Bush finally claiming the mantle of president-elect.

But Cunningham confessed what many in Washington were feeling on both sides of the aisle in the immediate aftermath of the ruling: He was still trying to assess precisely what it means. “I’m sitting in a room with four lawyers and they don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

Waiting in the Fox television news studio in Washington, Cunningham said: “The problem now is that we’ve got a fractured Supreme Court. We’ve got a fractured nation. The good news is with Gov. Bush. I think he’s got the ability to realize that there’s going to have to be some real healing.”

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Times staff writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.