Similarly, if Bush seems to have the more innovative policy ideas, it shouldn't be surprising. The Clinton-Gore team has had eight years to do, or try to do, much of what it hoped. A certain incrementalism for a Gore campaign is inevitable. Clinton promised to put 100,000 policemen on neighborhood streets. Gore now promises 50,000 more.
Voters react to that.
All things being equal, there's something attractive about that. And on those popular initiatives, the Republicans have versions of their own. This isn't the whole picture, of course. But in many respects, Gore is running as the preserver, the conserver, the ant, not the grasshopper, who would pay down debt to prepare for inevitable harder times ahead. In his acceptance speech, Gore sought to motivate Democratic troops with some old-fashioned populism.