John Sasso, whose job it is to make the bland more interesting, gave the Harvard class a warning:

"I've got to talk about some pretty dry procedures and terms and statistics," the Democratic media consultant said.

Fortunately, this was a Kennedy School of Government (KSG) class and not a College lecture. Political wonks don't snooze when they get the chance to quiz three men caught up in the ballot maelstrom of South Florida.

Yesterday, as lawyers for Vice President Al Gore '69 girded for what may be their final appeal before the Florida Supreme Court, Sasso and political consultants Charles "Chuck" M. Campion and lawyer Charles "Charley" Baker '80 gave the KSG students in Maxine Isaacs's Campaign 2000 course a veritable post-mortem.

Sasso passed around a handful of ballot cards--"not from Florida," he assured. Using a paper clip--the same he said was sent in the mail to absentee voters using punch cards--he urged his audience to vote. "Look at them, hold them up," he said, running his finger along the crisp side. "Do you see light?"

One student tried to punch a hole--twice--partially detaching the centerpiece. Two sides flapped like a screen door. Should the vote count?

"I'll try to be objective," Sasso said, as he began to explain what he thought of recount procedures. "I'm not in the political bunker [anymore]."

For weeks, he was at the center, serving as a top Democratic operative in Broward County, working with lawyers there to oversee manual recounts.