Events over the weekend were a reminder of how we got to the last week of November without having chosen our next president: This election is a tie — and for good reason.

Neither Gov. George Bush nor Vice President Al Gore are exhibiting the dignity we expect in a president. Both have shown a petulance and a sense of entitlement unbecoming the office.

Gore won the popular vote, but his popular vote "victory" provides little endorsement. Nationwide, he beat Bush by a little more than 300,000 votes. That works out to 0.3 percent — three tenths of 1 percent — of the total votes cast, three votes out of every 1,000.

That is a thin reed on which to hang a claim to the presidency, especially in that Gore’s big popular vote totals came in a few states that were not strongly contested. Nonetheless he and his supporters persist in seeing it as a mandate to fight to the last chad.

For his part, George W. Bush acts as if the White House is his birthright and all this business with the voters was an irritating formality. His camp maintains he won the presidency fair and square back on Nov. 7 — and anyone who questions that is trying to steal the election.

That has little to do with the facts. Florida was too close to call on Election Day and it remains so today. All the legal maneuvering on both sides pivots on that simple fact.

Even without questions about miscast ballots and voter intent, the results of the Florida vote may never be known. The vote total certified on Sunday had Bush ahead by 537 votes. That represents 0.009 percent of the votes cast, less than the statistical margin of error.

Bush not only has fewer popular votes nationwide, but without Florida he has fewer electoral votes as well. If he wins Florida, which now seems likely, he will have 271 electoral votes — one more than required. That will be enough to make him president, but not enough to erase the asterisk by his name.

The Bush camp has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gore supporters are contesting the vote in Florida courts. Together they almost guarantee that this will last another week.