A Nation Transfixed ... by Politics? ; High Ratings for News Coverage of Election 2000 Belie Claims That Americans Aren't Interested in Politics

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Network news executives must be scratching their heads.

Their ratings are doubling - in some cases tripling - and there's not a scent of scandal, sex, or celebrity chatter issuing forth from their news desks.

What's got Americans riveted is just plain, old-fashioned hard news - the story of an election too tight to call, and the accompanying, complicated legal wrangling.

And the country can't seem to get enough. On Monday, the major networks even broke into their afternoon soaps to bring the live drama unfolding at the Florida State Supreme Court. Media critics were delighted.

While coverage of the ongoing Election 2000 has been praised …