This is a case of being hung for a lamb. The GOP strategy from the start was to go to court. Their smokescreen was that it was the Democrats who were tying it up in courts, but the first shot was fired by the Bush campaign.
http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/ARTICLES/pe2000timeline.php2000 Events Timeline - Post-Election
November 7, 2000 - Election Day
7:50 pm The Associated Press declares Vice President Al Gore the victor in Florida, based on Voter News Service projections from exit polls. The major TV networks call Florida for Gore between 7:50 and 8:00pm.
9:30 pm Florida begins to look more uncertain as the vote totals accumulate more in favor of Texas Gov. George Bush. Bush, talking with reporters, says "The networks called this thing awfully early, but the people actually counting the votes are coming up with a different perspective. So we're pretty darn upbeat about things."
10 pm Networks begin retracting the projection that Gore wins Florida; the state reverts to too close to call.
November 8, 2000
2:15 am Bush appears to take a decisive lead in Florida. Some estimates have Bush leading Gore by 50,000 votes. Networks project Bush to be the winner of Florida and the Presidency between 2:16 and 2:20 am.
2:30 am Gore calls Bush to concede the election.
3:00 am Gore leaves the hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. His motorcade heads to the War Memorial Plaza, where he plans to address supporters.
3:15 am Gore advisers call the vice president to tell him Bush's lead in Florida has diminished dramatically. He returns to his hotel without addressing his supporters. Reports show that less than 1,000 votes separates Bush and Gore in the state of Florida.
3:30 am Gore calls Bush back to retract his concession. Networks retract the projection that Bush wins Florida between 3:57 and 4:15 am. The state reverts to too close to call. The Presidency is once again undecided.
Morning The final margin of the Florida vote is reported to be 1,784 votes; Bush leads Gore 2,909,135 (48.8%) to 2,907,351 (48.8%) with other candidates receiving 139,616 votes (2.4%).
• Some voting irregularities are alleged, especially in Palm Beach County where voters complain that their punch card ballots were configured in a manner that was confusing.
• A full machine recount of votes is ordered in Florida - this is due to Florida Election Code 102.141 that requires a recount of ballots if the margin of victory is 0.5% or less.
• Florida Governor Jeb Bush officially recuses himself from the process.
November 9, 2000
• The preliminary nationwide popular vote numbers are: Gore 48,976,148 votes and Bush 48,783,510 votes. Bush has won 29 states with 246 electoral votes. Gore has won 18 states plus the District of Columbia for a total of 260 electoral votes. Neither candidate has enough electoral votes to claim victory.
• Pat Buchanan agrees with the Gore campaign that the Palm Beach County ballot was confusing and says he believes many of his votes there were meant for Gore.
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Gore's team requests a hand count of presidential ballots in four Florida counties (allowed under Florida Election Code 102.166), Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Volusia. These four counties are strong Democratic areas and had a total of about 1.8 million votes cast.
• Vice President Al Gore returns to Washington, where he will spend most of the month.
• Bush meets with advisers and potential members of a Bush administration. Aides say announcements of Cabinet appointments could be made within a week.
• Sixty-four of Florida's 67 counties have recounted their votes, Bush leads Gore by 362 votes in an unofficial tally by the Associated Press.
5 p.m. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris says official results from the recount may not be completed until the following Tuesday, November 14.
November 10, 2000
• New Mexico, with five electoral votes, is retracted from Gore; the state reverts to too close to call.
• Oregon is called for Gore.
November 11, 2000
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The Bush camp seeks a federal injunction to stop hand recounts of ballots in several Florida counties because of alleged equal protection and other constitutional violations. • George W. Bush heads to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he will spend most of the month.