TOO CLOSE TO CALL.(MAIN)

For months before Tuesday's presidential election, the polls had predicted a race so close that it would rival the razor-thin margin of 40 years ago, when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon. In one sense, that turned out to be true, as the final outcome still remains uncertain. It will take a recount of Florida's votes to determine whether Texas Gov. George Bush or Vice President Al Gore will occupy the White House in January.

But in another sense, the pollsters are likely to be viewed by the public in another context -- not the era of the 1960s but an earlier one, when President Harry Truman emerged as the victor over New York Gov. Thomas E. Dewey in 1948. The one riveting image of that election has become a part of Americana. It is a photo of Mr. Truman, grinning widely, as he holds up a copy …