I don't profess to be an expert on the events of the 2000 presidential election, but here's what I think I know:
A) Gore won the popular vote - nationwide, he garnered more physical votes than did Bush.
B) With every recount in Florida, Bush actually gained votes. In spite of this fact, the Bush campaign wanted to stop the recounts, and went on to try their case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and won. Bush became president.
C) Our nation uses an electoral college which essentially spreads out the weight of a state's vote, puting campaign emphasis on the whole of the nation, not just on the most heavily populated areas. This way, presidential candidates can't afford to ignore less populated areas.
Because we use an electoral college, the facts say that Bush is indeed a legitimate president. So, with some people still screaming "BUSH IS ILLIGITIMATE!!!", I'd like to invite those people to explain the situation to me.
Yes Bush is the legal, duly elected president without question but what everyone seems to avoid talking about is WHY Gore didn't win the election by a landslide. The anwer to that is simple- voters were totally repelled by Gore's spur of the moment "reaction to Clinton's impeachment ralley" were the vice-president (surrounded by the usual assortment of schrill political hacks) breathlessly exhorted that "Bill Clinton will be remembered as the greatest American president" instead of boldly and publically asking Clinton to resign. Gore's own cowardly and unwise actions cost him the presidency. An interesting note however is that Al Gore actually received more physical votes than Clinton did in both of his successful presidential bids. Too bad Gore showed such bad judgement- I always thought he was a pretty good guy.
