Election 2000

Today we are going to look back in history at the 2000 election. The 2000 election was a very controversial election, where the new president was held in the balance. Albert Gore announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in June 1999. A moderate Democrat, his campaign focused on the economy, health care, and education. On issues that were controversial in the United states, Gore generally supported the Democratic Party’s platform, favoring abortion rights for woman and greater restrictions on guns, but he broke with the party’s traditional stance on the death penalty, which he supported. Gore favored strong measures to protect the environment; his ideas on this issue were set out in his book Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit(1992).

Campaign finance reform also became a prominent issue following allegations that Gore conducted illegal fund-raising activities during Clinton’s 1996 reelection bid. Although Gore denied knowing at the time that he was committing any wrongdoing, Republicans repeatedly called for an independent counsel to investigate the matter. After easily winning the Democratic presidential nomination, Gore trailed in most public opinion polls until his selection of a vice presidential running mate, Senator Joseph Lieberman, who became the first Jewish American on a national presidential ticket. As the campaign progressed, the polls remained close. When the votes were counted on election night, it became clear that the election would turn on the outcome in Florida, whose 25 electoral votes would give the winner of that state a narrow majority in the electoral college. After the television networks declared Bush the winner in Florida and president -elect, Gore called Bush to concede . Later that evening , however, as continuing returns from Florida showed Gore closing the gap with Bush, Gore decided to cancel a public concession speech and called Bush to withdraw his concession. Trailing in Florida after a mandatory recount by fewer than 1,000 voted, Gore sought a manual recount of ballots in heavily Democratic counties in southern Florida.

For five weeks, the election remained unresolved as Florida state courts and federal courts weighed arguments by the Bush and Gore campaigns. Eventually, Gore won a controversial 4-3 victory in Florida Supreme Court, which ordered a statewide manual recount of the approximately 45,000 “undervotes” The Bush campaign quickly filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Concluding (7-2) that a quick statewide recount could not perform fairly unless elaborate ground rules were established, the court issues a controversial 5-4 decision to reverse the Florida Supreme Court’s recount order, effectively awarding the presidency to Bush. In a speech watched by more than 65 million Americans the following evening, Gore conceded defeat, saying that “while I strongly disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it.” He also pledged to “honor the new president -elect and do everything possible to help him bring Americans together in fulfillment of the great vision that our Declaration of Independence defines and that our Constitution affirms and defends.” ( Encycopaedia Britannica Library: Gore, Albert)

After Gore conceded defeat, Bush struck a conciliatory tone, promising to reach out to Democrats and declaring that “I was not elected to serve one party but to serve one nation. Whether you voted for me or not, I will do my best to serve your interests. “With his inauguration, Bush became only the second son of a president to assume the nation’s highest office; the other was John Quincy Adams (1825-29), the son of John Adams (1797-1801). (Encyclopaedia Britannica Library: Bush, George W.) We will see if the 2008 election turns out the same.