Weaknesses plaguing the Gore campaign have been the subject of a great deal of discussion in the press recently. In recent weeks, Gore has made a determined effort to change coarse and revitalize his campaign he is showing signs of a rebound. Senator McCain, on the Republican side, has emerged in recent weeks to be Texas Governor George W. Bush s number one challenger for the 2000 presidential nomination. McCain is not a typical politician. For Republicans and independents who do not feel that Bush is ready for the presidency, or who resent the establishment s view that Bush is the unquestioned favorite McCain has become an alternative.
Some analysts now view both the Democratic and Republican contests to be quite close.
Therefore, having two of the top four candidates address our Arab American conference was an important political event. It should be noted that the other two candidates, Bradley and Bush, sent surrogates to represent their campaigns. Gore, characteristically was well prepared and somewhat scripted. Because the Vice President has met on a number of occasions with Arab Americans, he was more familiar with the community and its concerns. It is interesting to note that in the Vice-President s three most recent speeches before Jewish American audiences, he also struck the same moderate tone reflected in the remarks noted below.