lection lingo is the language of war. Candidates wage campaigns in battleground states at the direction of their lieutenants to combat the opponent. Usually this language ends when the voting stops, but the Gore camp is back on a war footing. They plan to take Bush territory back, by any means possible. Republicans give little evidence that they appreciate that the other side has declared war. While the Democrats wage skirmishes all over Florida, with a major effort on the propaganda front, Republicans appear willing to rely on the recount procedure and remain above the hand-to-hand combat. Democrats have focused the public's attention on the "disenfranchised" voters in Florida, as though invalidated or confusing ballots are a uniquely Floridian feature of elections.

Republicans must mount a counteroffensive on the public-relations front. How many ballots were invalidated in Florida in 1996 when Clinton carried the state? In 1992, when Dole won? How many invalidated ballots are there in other states with narrow margins of victory?

In Wisconsin, Gore appears to have carried the state by about 6,000 votes out of two-and-a-half million cast. Republicans should know how many ballots were invalidated to underscore the point that voters' mistakes are a feature of all elections. Gore operatives were illegally handing out packs of cigarettes to the homeless to entice them to vote. Will a formal complaint be filed to draw attention to these bribes?

Are there any invalidated ballots or irregularities in Iowa, where Gore won by fewer than 5,000 votes?

Republicans narrowly lost the governor's race in Missouri, where a judge ordered St. Louis polling stations to remain open beyond the scheduled closing time for the convenience of Democratic voters.

The point is that these complaints are a feature of every election. A Pensacola, Fla., newspaper reports that Todd Vinson (a Bush voter) failed to receive the absentee ballot he requested, but the local supervisor of elections has discovered a forged absentee ballot in Vinson's name. Vinson tells the newspaper that he suspects his ballot was hijacked at the post office.

Republicans must explain that in virtually every election there are confusions, irregularities, or hanky-panky. This year, Bush may have been disadvantaged north of Florida. But the public wants closure, and this election is over.

If GOP voters in the Panhandle didn't bother voting because the networks called their state for Gore, before all the Florida polls had closed, why aren't they on TV complaining like the dopey Palm Beach voters who were victims of their own inattention?

There are also GOP rumors that Gore supporters are contacting Republican electors. If this is true, the Republican party ought to have these electors at press conferences, fingering Democrats for this intimidation.