No, Republican spokesmen often implied, on talk shows and the like, that it was only the unfairness of the Al Gore recounts they objected to, they would have acceeded to fair recounts. But their actions showed clearly that their real strategy was "no recounts, no where".
The organized chorus about how unfair, subjective, chaotic, impossible recounts were began before any recount started, so it was not the conduct of any actual recount that they objected to. (The selective nature of the recounts was a strategic mistake for Gore, but legal, and the Republicans could have responded with their own requests for recounts in Republican strongholds. It was a level playing field.) Not coincidentally, they were trying to delay and prevent as many recounts as they could. Katherine Harris was very helpful there, as of course was her ruling that recounts would be accepted (after the 7 day certification) only in case of voting machine malfunction.
The Palm Beach Post ran an article called How Gore Lost the Presidency. It gives a good flavor of life at ground zero of the recount.
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