The 2000 Presidential Election Essay Research Paper

Every four years it takes place. Us Americans do it. People fought hard for us to have this right. What is it? It’s the right to vote. This year happens to be the year of the 2000 presidential election. With what could be the closest election in the history of the United States there are many issues that surround the election. Us Americans are going to vote for whomever we think is going to do the best job of solving these issues. However, before we get to the issues we must first get to the two presidential hopefuls that have a chance to win.

The two presidential hopefuls that have a chance to win are Al Gore and George W. Bush. George W. Bush as opposed to Al Gore has an advantage of having experience as the governor of Texas in which he has won four times consecutively. Al Gore has the experience of serving on The United States Senate, The United States Congress, and as being the vice president under the best president in recent years, Bill Clinton. Gore’s work experience will outweigh Bush’s governor ship for the one with the most experience but it should not have a significant effect in the election.

Both presidential hopefuls are well educated. The both have degrees from Harvard. Bush also has a degree from Yale. Who is the most educated of the two is not going to be a deciding factor in the election either.

Politics has run in both of these men’s families. Al Gore was born on March 31, 1948, and is the son of former United States senator Albert Gore Sr. Where as George W. Bush is two years older at the age of 54 and son of former United States President, George W. Bush. Both Candidates are quite comparable with their histories though Al Gore has a slight advantage in experience because he served in the senate the congress and, as vice president, but this will not be the deciding factor in the election. What could help the presidents get more votes, are their running mates.

Joseph Leiberman

Al Gore’s running mate is Joseph Lieberman. Joseph Leiberman has served on the United States Senate for the last twelve years. ” In his twelve years in the senate, Lieberman has fought for working families. He has been a leader in winning passage of landmark environmental protection, welfare reform, and governmental reform laws.”1 Lieberman brings a strong surge with him to the Al Gore campaign because “[he] has been fighting for working families and standing up to special interests through out a 30 year career in public service”.1 This will stand well in the back of voter’s minds when they step into that voter’s booth on November 7. Even though Al Gore did a great job Picking his running mate George Bush didn’t do such a bad job himself.

Dick Cheney

George W. Bush choose Dick Cheney to be his running mate. Cheney has a lot of experience in politics around the White House. He began his public service in 1969 when he became part of the Nixon administration in which he worked at a number of positions from the cost of living council to being with-in the White House. From the Nixon Administration Cheney moved up to be the White House chief of staff when Gerald Ford became president in August of 1974. Cheney held the position of chief of staff until the end of the Ford administration and then moved on to serve as his states only congressmen. Yet he had major accomplishments his greatest accomplishment was when America needed him the most. ?As secretary of defense from March 1989 to January of 1993, Mr. Cheney directed two of the largest campaigns in recent history, Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm which gave him recognition as shaping the future of the United States military in an age profound and rapid change.? 2Though Chaney did a good job as Chief of staff his addition to the Bush campaign nor Al Gore’s Addition of Joseph Lieberman is going to have a traumatic effect in the way voters vote. The things that will have an impact on the way voters vote are the issues that Americans are concerned about.

Though there are many issues that will effect voters reactions. The main issues are social security, abortion and gun control. The first issue that needs to be covered is Social Security. Social Security gets taken out of everyone’s paycheck and there is not anyone who does not want this benefit to be around when they are old enough to retire. Bush and Gore both want to keep Social Security around however they feel different and have different ideas on the topic. ?George Bush has proposed a bold and highly innovative social security reform plan that offers greater freedom and prosperity to the working people of America.” 3 “By expanding the framework of social security to include a central role for personal investment accounts, Bush has developed a means to solve the problems of social security that would substantially improve the future benefits of today’s, workers while securing all promised benefits for today’s retirees.” 4Like Bush Gore believes that social security must remain a fundamental guarantee of retirement security. Gore says ” Bush’s plan could cost a trillion dollars, undermine debt reduction, eliminate guarantee of retirement security, and result in massive government bail outs.” 5Gore’s plan as opposed to Bush’s would keep social security solvent through at least 2050. As president, Gore would continue to balance the budget, pay down the national debt and use the interest saved from debt reduction to shore up the social security trust fund. Both Presidential hopefuls seem to have great social security plans, however this topic would not be the main concern among young voters.

The topic that is going to be the, main concern among young voters is the abortion issue. Unlike George Bush, Al Gore opposes partial birth abortions, but does not want to ban it. Gore thinks the “abortion question is for the women of the country, not the government or the president.”6 Bush on the other hand wants to encourage the women to put the baby up for adoption instead of having an abortion. Al Gore’s plan seems to sound more reasonable. Gore’s plan is more reasonable because he does not want to have, as much power over the issue as Bush seems to want to have. Though Abortion is a main concern among the younger generation, it will have a small effect on the outcome of the election due to the fact that there are not enough younger voters who will give up there time to make a choice that will effect them for the next four years or perhaps the rest of there lives. The issue that is going to have an effect on the election is gun control.

Gun control is every voters concern whether young or old. Gun control is such a concern because guns are the main killers in crimes through out the United States today. After the Columbine High School incident in which many high school students died because of two students who marched into there school and started shooting, a bill was proposed in the senate to require background checks on any individual who wanted to buy a gun. When the bill was voted on the senate was tied. Since there was a tie Al Gore as the Vice President had the responsibility to break the tie. He had two choices, which were to vote for background checks or to vote against background checks. Al Gore “broke the tie to require background checks on people who buy weapons at gun shows” 7by voting for background checks.

Bush believes the background checks are O.K. Bush however has not had the experience of voting on a bill to encourage gun control but he has spent 1.6 million for a Texas campaign that tells people that “gun crime is hard time”8 Both presidents believe in gun control and do not want to totally outlaw them. They both want to “restrict the guns from the wrong hands, not from the sportsmen and homeowners”9 but take them from the criminals. George Bush wants to ban automatic weapons and high capacity ammunition clips, and Gore just wants them to be registered. The gun control issue is a touchy subject among American voters and will have a major impact on the way people vote. The chosen one will be able to determine if a man/women get to do there hobby or protect their home. The choice is ours on November 7, 2000 to make the choice for the person that is going to live up to their end of the bargain.

With the election being very close and neither candidate dominating over the other the thing that may decide who will win is the green party candidate Ralph Nader. “Nader has repeatedly said that neither republican Bush nor Democrat Gore is an acceptable choice for the White House.”10 Many green party supporters say that “Nader, with his track record as a well-known consumer advocate, is a fine alternative to a democratic party that has become too centrist

for their comfort level”10 Nader however has no chance of winning. Many political experts say, “his single-digit poll numbers are only going to detract from Gore’s voter base.”10 This would give more votes to Bush and cause Gore to win by a small margin. Since Nader has no chance of winning he has been repeatedly asked to drop out of the race so that the presidency does not go to the republicans. Nader will not drop out because he has said; “a Bush victory could have an oddly beneficial effect for the green movement, just as James Watts tenure as interior secretary had on the once dormant environmental movement.”10 Though the presence of Nader is not a big factor it could give George Bush just enough leverage to pull off the victory.

The Final question that remains is who is going to be the next president? This question can’t be answered until November 7,2000. With the polls being in Gores favor one week and Bush’s favor the next week this election is going to be a close one. With “Gore [taking] aim at Bush’s Texas record.”8 and Bush taking aim at Gore’s character; the choice to decide who the next president of the United States is going to be lies in the hands of the citizens. I think that Gore is going to win rather the Bush for the simple fact that Gore “seeks to broaden the economies pitch.”5 Gore also has the experience of being the Vice President, which is also going to help him out. Bush seems to be a big spender and I don’t think I could trust his republican government with the money that I put out for taxes. With all of this in mind I guess everyone else and myself will see if my hypothesis is right when voting day comes.

Gore Seeks To Broaden Economy Pitch. Ed. Mike Glover. 21 October 2000

Presidency 2000: Albert ?Al? Gore, Jr. Ed. Ron Gunzburger. 10 October 2000

Presidency 2000: George W. Bush Ed. Ron Gunzburger. 10 October 2000

Al Gore. 5 October 2000

Al Gore: The Road To The White House. 5 October 2000

George W. Bush: Biography. 18 September 2000

GeorgeBush.Com: Dick Chaney Biography. 18 September 2000

Nader Shows No Intention Of Easing Attacks On Gore. Ed. Dana Calvo. 21 October 2000

Gore?s Gun Problem. Ed. Karen Tumulty. 22 October 2000

Issues 2000 22 September 2000

Issues 2000 22 September 2000

Gore, Bush Seek Return To Campaign Themes, But International Policy dominates. Ed. Reuters 13 October 2000