2000 United States Presidential Election (ITEOAH)

The **2000 United States presidential election** was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. The Democratic ticket of Incumbent Vice President Al Gore and Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman defeated the Republican ticket of Incumbent Governor of Texas George W. Bush and former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

Incumbent Bill Clinton was ineligible for a third term, and Gore secured the Democratic nomination with relative ease, defeating a challenge by former Senator Bill Bradley. Bush was seen as the early favorite for the Republican nomination and despite a contentious primary battle with Senator John McCain and others, secured the nomination by Super Tuesday. Bush chose former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney as his running mate, while Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman.

With the popularity of Clinton at sky high levels, Gore campaigned frequently with Clinton. Republicans accused Gore of being extremist with his environmental plans, while Gore criticized Bush's lack of experience.

On election night, Gore pulled off key victories in the states of New Hampshire and Florida to narrowly beat Bush. Bush called for recalls in Florida and New Hampshire, but it backfired, as more votes came in for Gore. Afterwards, Bush conceded. The main issues of this election were mainly the environment, and domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal social insurance programs, although foreign policy was not ignored.

## Primaries:

### Democratic Primaries:

Gore faced little opposition in the primaries, only former New Jersey Senator and basketball player Bill Bradley gave serious competition. Gore managed to easily win the primaries, and he then named Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate.

 Al Gore

### Republican Primaries:

The Republican primaries consisted of Texas Governor George W. Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain. In an overall decisive win, Bush won the primaries, and named former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney as his running mate.

 George W. Bush

## Campaign/Issues Unique to the Election:

### Democratic Campaign:

Gore had frequently campaigned with the popular President Bill Clinton to help gain popularity in his own polls, while also declaring that Bush's experience would make him a liability in the White House. He advocated for abortion rights, LGBT rights, along with progressive environmental policies.

### Republican Campaign:

Bush campaigned on the idea of Gore's planned environment policies potentially destroying jobs and called Gore out when he wanted to increase federal spending, while also campaigning to uphold traditional values for their widely Christian audience.

### The Environment:

Gore was planning to pass progressive policies to help the environment, such as reducing pollution from fuel and coal. Bush understood where Gore's heart was but he also knew the effect it could potentially have on jobs, which scared him more than the environment, in his own words.

### Domestic Issues:

Bush was in favor large tax cuts, whereas Gore wanted more federal spending. Gore also advocated expanding Social Security and Medicare. Bush wanted it partially privatized on the other hand, to Gore, the problem was that insufficient money would be available for current benefit levels.

### Foreign Policy:

Gore criticized what Bush could do in foreign policy, as he had only left America three times in his 54 years. Bush meanwhile, declared that Gore's interventionist mindset would be dangerous.

## Results and Aftermath:

Near midnight of November 8th, Gore won the election after narrowly winning New Hampshire and later Florida. Bush requested recounts in those two states, but it backfired, as more votes were added to Gore's tally. Afterwards, Bush conceded, and wished Gore luck in his Presidency.

On January 20, 2001, Gore and Lieberman were sworn in to enormous fanfare, whereas Bush stayed as Governor until 2003, when he won a Senate seat in Texas.