Eugene Ionesco, the “Theatre of the Absurd” playwright, could not have written a better play if he tried. If things stand at the present time, Al Gore will have won the popular vote of the country, but lost the election in Electoral College numbers (and the election).

This happened one other time in our country’s history. Few people, however, could tell you who the principals were; herein lies the history lesson.

In 1876, Samuel J. Tilden got 184 electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes’ 185. Like Gore, Tilden won the popular vote 4,300,590 to Hayes’ 4,036,298.

The irony continues. Florida was involved in the final outcome of this 1876 election as well for those wondering. Hayes was a Republican – Tilden a Democrat.

And who says history doesn’t repeat itself? If there had been a serious Nader third party in 1876, it would have been: Eugene Ionesco and Franz Kafka. If you’re a political junkie, Election 2000 doesn’t get any better than this. Paul Crowley Hulls Cove