Gore down and almost out

5:00am - By STAFF REPORTERS and AGENCIES

The Supreme Court appears to have driven a stake through Al Gore's hopes of being the next United States President.

In a judgment that may bring a messy, divisive and confusing election to a messy, divisive and confusing end, America's highest court voted 7-2 to overturn a Florida Supreme Court ruling allowing recounts of disputed votes in that state.

The nine justices decided that the Florida ruling ordering the recounts presented constitutional problems, but then split 5-4 on whether new recounts should be ordered to remedy the problem.

The majority concluded there was not enough time to conduct a new recount before the Electoral College meets on Monday to pick the next President.

Mr Gore was still not conceding defeat early this morning, but there was an increasing chorus from his own Democratic Party supporters calling for him to finally end the contest by acknowledging Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush as 43rd President of the United States.

The complex Supreme Court ruling came late in the evening after a tense day in Washington. Hundreds of demonstrators spent the day waiting at the base of the court's imposing marble steps. Some, like Scott LoBaido, held placards proclaiming "The End" and "Good Night, Al. The Party Is Over."

Mr Gore spent last night with his family and advisers at Washington's Naval Observatory, sifting through the 35-page document looking for any last chances. He and running mate Senator Joseph Lieberman were due to make a statement today.

But just hours before the Supreme Court released its ruling after 33 nerve-racking hours of deliberation, Mr Lieberman admitted that a bad outcome would probably end Mr Gore's legal challenges.

But officially the Gore team said it was reviewing the "complex and lengthy" decision, which would take time to analyse.

After winning the popular vote on November 7, the Vice-President had resorted to a barrage of legal challenges in an attempt to overturn Mr Bush's tiny 537-vote lead in the key state of Florida. Both men need the state's 25 Electoral College votes to give them the 270 seats required to win the presidency in America's indirect voting system.

In Texas, cheers erupted at the Bush headquarters as news of the ruling swamped the TV networks. The Texas Governor, who will speak formally today, spent the day at home with his family as a wintry storm closed parts of the state. But his legal advisers said they were delighted with the ruling.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further consideration, but hedged its ruling with so many limitations that it seemed there was no way for Mr Gore to win recounts.

At the same time, the Florida Supreme Court dismissed two appeals brought by Democrats claiming that thousands of absentee ballots in Seminole and Martin counties should be thrown out, effectively clearing the final legal tangles of the election.

Mr Gore had hoped that a recount of several thousand ballots that failed to register a preference when put through counting machines would help him overcome Mr Bush's tiny lead.

But the court split along ideological lines, with the two Democrat-appointed justices opposing the rulings and winning support from two liberal Republican appointees.

In a stinging dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote: "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of law."

Political insiders in Washington predicted that Justice Stevens' dissent would become the rallying cry of the losing side in the 2002 congressional elections and 2004 presidential race.

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