Gore and Bush rushed eagerly toward the center, homing in on issues of taxes, Social Security, and education that appeal to an economically comfortable but worried group of voters. Rachel Gorlin is a political strategist and Democratic political consultant who has seen image building from the inside. She said Gore and Bush had tremendous ground to make up in establishing themselves with skeptical voters and that they weren't particularly effective. Gorlin says voters have such limited time that the campaigns have to stretch mightily for issues that will get attention. Everybody went to school.
Education has staying power.
People get it. Despite the effort, neither candidate sparked much passion among voters. Bush was rejected by African-American voters nine to one, according to exit polls. Gore lost his native state, Tennessee. No one knows how difficult it is to run for president until they've done it.