Al, take the high road and concede defeat. It’ll be better for thecountry. It’ll be better for you personally.

Listento your fellow Democrats. Former Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.) has saidthat if the disputed election drags on much longer, a nationwidefeeling of disgust will accompany it. Sen. Bob Kerry (D-Neb.) saidthat even though one of the candidates will harbor serious doubtsabout the election, one of them should concede defeat for the sake ofthe country.

Be that candidate, Al. Call off the dogs. Don’t back the lawsuitsspreading throughout Florida like a plague of boll weevils. Standbefore the American people and gracefully accept the election resultswithout challenging them. Your stature will grow. You’ll gain morefrom losing with grace than you will from winning through the courts.

I know it will be hard to concede defeat. The presidency was yourlife-long dream and you may never get another shot at it. Althoughambition and I waved good-bye to each other a long time ago, Iimagine to give up now must be heart wrenching. It’s especially toughknowing that things might have gone your way if not for some quirksin the Florida voting system.

Your opponent came away with a 327-vote lead out of sixmillion-plus votes cast in Florida. A confusing butterfly ballotdisoriented the citizens of Palm Beach County so much that 19,000 ofthem nullified their votes by voting for two candidates.

Moreover, some of the citizens who actually managed to restrainthemselves from punching holes all over their ballots accidentallycast their votes for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan. Youropponents have downplayed the Florida anomalies saying, in effect,there isn’t a discernible difference between the voting patternsthere from the last election to this election, so it doesn’t matter.

But you know it does matter. If only a few hundred votes willdecide the presidency, then the thousands of questioned votes mattera lot. Buchanan, the beneficiary of the Palm Beach votes, concededthat the ballot was very confusing and he believes he received votesmeant for you.

That alone could have cost you the presidency!

I can see why you want to fight it Al, but it’s a losing battle.If you fight and lose, you lose not only the election but also yourpolitical future. Learn from Richard Nixon’s experience. Nixon lostthe 1960 election by a mere 118,000 votes. He had a strong reason tosuspect voting fraud occurred in Texas, the home state of Kennedy’svice-presidential candidate, and Illinois, the stronghold ofpolitical boss Richard Daley. He chose not to contest the election.In his memoirs, Nixon stated that a challenge would have taken toolong and it would have hurt his political career because he wouldhave been tagged “a sore loser.”

Don’t be that sore loser, Al.

If you fight and win, you will still lose. It will be a Pyrrhicvictory. The majority of the people will not support you. Sen. ChuckHagel (R-Neb.) was right when he told reporters that the nextpresident is going to come into office under a very, very large darkcloud.

Think about the situation, Al. The Republican majority wasnarrowed in both the Senate and the House. The next president willcome into office without a clear mandate from the people. This is arecipe for a one-term administration bound to mired in politicalgridlock.

Don’t play the game, Al. Stand above it. Both Democrats andRepublicans have looked petty when haggling over the legitimacy ofthe contested votes. Republicans are now threatening to demandrecounts in New Mexico and Iowa. While the Democrats are highlightingthe improprieties of the Florida contest, the Republicans areengaging in massive spin control.

Meanwhile, citizens are becoming increasingly turned off by theunfolding events.

See the big picture, Al. Take the time off to refine your programand reach out to the American people. Be gracious and respectful. Youwill gain so much more support simply by being humble and dignified.Humility in politics, like in professional sports, is rapidlydisappearing. People will respond positively to you if you genuinelyreach out to them.

Let the people know how much it meant to you to be president, butthat you will back down because the interests of your country comefirst. Praise your opponent for running a hard, clean race. Speakpositively about the election. Save the bitterness for privatemoments. Just because you concede the presidency doesn’t mean yourdream is dead. Nixon came back to win in 1968.

You can come back too.

The good book says that the meek shall inherit the Earth. Al, ifyou play your cards right, the humble might eventually inherit theWhite House.

–Michael Graffman is a graduate student in the historydepartment. Send e-mail to daletter2000@hotmail.com.

–This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec.