What if Al Gore had lost the popular vote while trailing Bush by a narrow margin in Florida? Would he still have pushed for a recount? How would such a request be perceived?
If Florida wins the electoral college, Gore absolutely fights for a recount.
His supporters wouldn't be quite as vocal, but he still fights.
Afterwards he gets painted as a sore loser by late night hosts and the average joe in the street.
Hm, does he lose in a way that makes it certain he lost Florida("even if you recount the disputed votes and they all go our way we still lose") or that he would lose even if Florida got flipped, or is the outcome still uncertain?
If Gore loses the popular vote Florida almost certainly won't decide the election. There were a number of states that went for the Gore/Lieberman ticket by narrow margins. Flip almost any of those states to Bush and Florida isn't enough to push Gore past the 270 mark. In that case there's no reason for Gore to contest the results in Florida. If Bush wins the popular vote overall-most if not all of the close Gore states will vote Bush instead. He might even officially be President-Elect before Florida is even called.