Al Gore To Win 2000 Election

Al Gore: The Man to Beat in 2000

An Analysis of the 2000 Presidential Election

Introduction

As the 2000 presidential elections come near, there are two candidates vowing for the “big spot” as President of the United States. These two men are Vice President, Al Gore and current Governor of Texas, George W. Bush. Both of these candidates have many issues that they are focusing on which also brings out their strengths and weaknesses. But one man who has enough charisma and strength to win this election is Al Gore.

Strengths and Weaknesses

As with any candidate in any election, they tend to have certain strengths and weaknesses that help and hurt them in the campaign when running for a certain office. Both Al Gore and George W. Bush have certain strengths and weaknesses that may affect them later on as the election comes near.

Al Gore: Strengths and Weaknesses

Al Gore’s most favorable strength would be his current and past political experience. Gore was a Congressman in Tennessee in 1976 and was reelected three times. After serving in Congress Gore was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and re-elected in 1990. But his most known and current office in politics is as vice President of the United States. He has been called one of the most active Vice President to date. He has been in this office since 1992. Even Bob Dole has acknowledged that. It was Al Gore’s strategy to have Clinton veto republican bills in 1994 and let the republicans take the rap. “For almost seven years, Al Gore has been a central member of President Clinton’s economic team” (www.debateusa.com). Al Gore has proved to change the economy in the past 8 years while in office. He helped lead us into a stronger economy, which we did not have before and also he made the tie-breaking Senate vote “for the plan in 1993, that passed the first balanced budget in 30 years,” (www.debateusa.com). Al Gore is highly noted for his leadership skills. He is known to get things done and get them done right. He has changed much in the way of technology, created a federal government that works better and costs less, and helped with environmental issues, which has been unparallel then anyone else.

I believe that Gore’s biggest weakness that affects Gore greatly is his personality and how he portrays himself in the public eye.

While hammering Mr. Bush on policy matters, he is still struggling to overcome a problem that has dogged him since early in the campaign: how to demonstrate that he has a warm and human side, a passion for the presidency and ideals that are not tossed by political winds (Seelye).

Basically saying is that Gore has not made the voters see him as a “real person.” To get his image back on track, Gore has been doing a lot such as “spending days in schools, staying overnight with families, and visiting them in their workplace” (Seelye).

Another weakness of Al Gore would be current President Bill Clinton. Although it is not a major weakness it might still affect him. Most Americans want a change from the current era because people have been greatly uncomfortable with him in the nation's highest office. Because many people feel that there is a need for change from the Clinton Era, Americans will tend to avoid voting for Gore

Religion has also been a factor in the election. The following survey from Business Wire, taken between April 4th вЂ" 10th, shows the results:

Religion Gore % Bush %

All Registered Voters 47 48

Protestant/Christians 40 55

Episcopalian 39 59

Presbyterian 36 57

Lutheran 46 50

Methodist 45 49

Southern Baptist 30 68

Other Baptist 53 42

Other Denominations 40 56

Non Denominational 33 63

Mormon 34 65

Catholic 48 48

Jewish 71 23

Atheist/Agnostic 62 30

This survey concludes that Bush has a likely chance of getting votes with most protestant denominations, and Gore getting both Jewish and secular votes. The main key that Gore has to focus on now is to get more Catholic votes as that is basically tied between him and Bush. Gore must try to get the upper hand on Bush by getting more issues that Catholics focus on.

George W. Bush: Strengths and Weaknesses

George W. Bush started this campaign as a frontrunner selected by political commentators who gave him the most media of any 2000 GOP hopeful. Since then, Bush has taken a series of calculated steps to solidify that position.

His landslide re-election victory in a large state and significant numbers of Hispanic supporters gave his frontrunner status credibility on the surface. Behind the scenes, Bush used knowledge from his father's campaigns to develop a wide range of contacts and a solid fundraising network. Having his brother serve, as the governor of Florida was another way that Bush can get enough votes to win.

George Bush’s biggest strength would be his current status as Governor of Texas. He has been in office since 1994 and has been reelected twice. Another strength of Bush would be being a son of a Former president. As he is the son of George Bush who was the President of the United States from 1988-1992. With his father’s backing and support George Bush Jr. as a key advantage in this year’s campaign.

According to the Los Angeles Times most recent political survey Bush is leading Gore 44%-37%. But the major part of this percentage is that Bush is leading amongst women as a more favorable candidate, 41% against Gore’s 39%. Bush’s main assets include leadership and trust and the desire for a change at the presidential level. “When voters were asked what was more important, a presidential candidate’s ideas and policies or leadership style and trustworthiness, they opted for leadership and trustworthiness by a margin of 57%-32%”(DiVall). According to this article in the Los Angeles Times many