The election was one of those occasions that come along a few times in a decade and their effects linger for years.

The “Battle for the White House (as MSNBC has sensationally titled it)” brought suspense, intrigue and enough media flubs to make George W. Bush look like Dick Cheney.

Gore vs. Bush was the perfect sordid saga for TV-viewing. It had the courtroom drama of the O. J. Simpson case without the gruesome double murders. It had the inflamed partisanship of the presidency at stake like the Monica Lewinsky scandal minus the sex. It centered around Florida, like the Elian Gonzalez trauma, but didn’t have the cute Cuban kid.

The parallels between Election 2000 and other dramas go deeper:

Judge Ito

Many judges had chances to step up to the plate for this award, from judges Nikki Clark and Terry Lewis to the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court justices. But only one judge had what it takes to make it in the public eye like Lance Ito. That Judge was N. Sanders Sauls.

Sauls managed to be the only judge not accused of partisanship, possibly because he wasn’t a major contributor to either candidate’s campaign. TV newscasters compared him to “Matlock.”

Sauls never ceased rocking back and forth in his leather judge’s chair during the election contest hearing, and he dealt Gore a harsh blow. He found for Bush’s side on all counts, from the untallied Palm Beach ballots to the rejected machine count ballots in Nassau County to the 10,000 uncounted undervotes in Miami-Dade County.

The Florida Supreme Court reversed Sauls’ decision 4-3, but for a couple of days it looked like the election was over.

Linda Tripp

The appearance-based ridicule Secretary of State Katherine Harris received reminds us of Tripp, the phone-tapping tipster in the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The difference is Harris is not ugly. She’s not photogenic and had makeup issues in the early days of the election, but she’s not bad-looking. Compared to former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Bush campaign manager Karen Hughes, Harris may actually be the MOST attractive person involved.

When people run for prominent office, they set themselves up for public, appearance-based ridicule. When Harris ran for the minor, local office of Florida Secretary of State, she didn’t know she’d end up being called ugly by Jay Leno. The late shows should stick to criticizing private citizens on their actions, not on their looks.

Marisleysis Gonzalez

For those of you who don’t remember Marisleysis, she was Elian Gonzalez’s cousin. She was never photographed or televised with dry eyes. Each side of the aisle has a Marisleysis:

From the Democrats, Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore, who designed the Palm Beach ballots that allegedly led elderly Jews to vote for Pat Buchanan and may have single-handedly cost Gore this close election. LePore looks close to suicide every time she’s on television, clearly feeling the entire turmoil surrounding the election is all her fault.

From the Republicans, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Dubya’s younger brother. Jeb (John Ellis Bush) burst into tears when the TV networks called Florida’s electoral votes for Gore on Election Day. Jeb was promised to be met by a “chilly Thanksgiving” with the Bush family if he didn’t deliver the state to his brother. Instead, I’m sure, there was only a very confused Thanksgiving, if the presidential candidate and his family had time to celebrate the holiday at all.

Best Use of 15 Minutes of Fame

Palm Beach County Canvassing Board chairman Judge Charles Burton wins this one. Burton was praised by Democrats, Republicans and newscasters as “my personal hero” and called “a great American” by Sauls.

Burton invented the Palm Beach standard for counting dimpled ballots.

By his standard, a dimple is only a vote if the person dimpled candidates in congressional and lower races, proving the voter had trouble with the ballot.

With all the other offices punched straight through and just a dimple for the presidency, Burton concluded the person had no trouble punching out chad and just didn’t want to vote for Gore or Bush.

Worst Use of 15 Minutes of Fame

Due to Burton’s press conferences, court and TV appearances, the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board finished its hand count two hours too late to be added to the original certified total.