Gina Glantz and Rick Davis, the campaign managers for Bradley and McCain, respectively, touched on the difficulties in their respective campaigns of challenging the perceived inevitability of Bush's and Gore's nominations.

Their remarks were lighthearted, despite their clear disappointment at the outcome of the election.

The lost-cause nostalgia was almost palpable as the panelists played to the audience's Democratic leanings, while Bush chief strategist Karl Rove remained silent during the first few minutes of the panel.

Although Rove's introduction and initial comments were greeted with hissing and boos from several audience members, he received hearty applause at several points, particularly when he spoke about the Republicans' need to expand beyond its traditional WASP constituency.

Although there were some bitter jokes about counting all votes and letting everyone vote, all of the managers agreed on the need to reinvigorate the political process and expand the electorate.

"We modeled this campaign on McKinley's 1896 campaign," Rove said. "America was out of the 'vote as you fought' era, and the two parties were exhausted. He tried to reach out to new groups like Catholics and immigrants, and believed the Republican Party should not be just a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant party. He established a new Republican Party that would last until the '30s, and that's what we wanted to do."

Theresa A. Amato '86, Nader's campaign manager, called for a more open election system that excites more voters and includes third parties.