"This is what happens when for the first time in modern history and a candidate resorts to lawsuits to try to overturn the outcome of an election for president," he said, knowing Gore has now come perilously close to doing just that.
But Baker has prepared for this moment. He quietly built alliances with the legislature, advising Republican lawmakers about how the US Constitution might enable them to deliver the presidency to Bush.
The legislature convened a historic special session Friday to appoint a slate of electors, saying the action was required to ensure that Florida is represented in the Dec. 18 meeting of the Electoral College. Gore's lawyers are preparing to challenge the legislature's slate.
If the Democrat tops Bush in the vote count, it is possible Florida will have two competing slates -- one for each candidate -- and the dispute would spill into the Congress.
Republicans hold a slight edge in the US House and the Senate is split 50-50, but the vice president could break a tie on his own behalf. That would mean deadlock in Congress and massive uncertainty as the Jan. 20 inauguration day fast approaches.
A number of senior advisers to both Bush and Gore predicted political warfare lasting for weeks and ending with a divided nation.
Others, less pessimistic, argued that nothing about this topsy-turvy election is predictable.
"This is just another dip in the roller coaster," said Juleanna Glover Weiss, spokeswoman for GOP vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney.
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