the 2000 presidential election, the race with the most contentious, and unusual and in fact, unprecedented result in modern history. george w. bush versus al gore, the recount, and the hanging chads and the halted recount, the supreme court, full contact politics. those who were in the middle of it, they knew that whatever happened, whatever the outcome, they would be accused of stealing the election. >> chief political analyst gloria borger takes a revealing look behind the scenes of the 36-day florida recount battle. from those who live and breathed every grueling moment, and here is one look at bush versus gore, tendless election. >> reporter: a well respected tallahassee lobbyist with ties to jeb bush, and a long history in republican politics max steponovich.