Al Gore was in a quandary. Does he use Bill Clinton to help his campaign or does he run and hide from the president? Clinton was popular amongst Democrats and was seen as the savior of the party. On the other hand, Republicans and Independents viewed him as a self indulgent man child. After easily defeating Bill Bradley for the Democratic nomination, Gore decided to turn his back on his president.
George W. Bush had problems of his own. He had the pesky John McCain to deal with. After a bitter campaign that left wounds that still exist today, Bush beat “The Straight Talk Express.” Bush campaigned as a “Compassionate Conservative.” The moniker was designed to draw a contrast between himself and the Newt Gingrich wing of the party. The term reinforced his conservative credentials and his reform message. Bush promised to restore dignity to the White House. Meanwhile, Gore was running from Monica’s messy dress. Gore decided to make a hard left. He ran a populist campaign. The Veep bragged he was for the people and not the powerful at the same time Bush promised to lead and make hard decisions as opposed to dodging them. Both campaigns were taking swipes at Clinton.
Each man made interesting choices for Vice President. Gore chose moderate Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut. Lieberman was well respected and liked by both sides. Bush selected the then-well respected Dick Cheney for his #2. Cheney served as the Defense Secretary under Bush 41 and had loads of experience. Lieberman would balance Gore’s liberalism while Cheney would balance Bush’s lack of foreign policy and Washington experience.
The two Vice Presidential candidates performed well on the stump and during the debates. Meanwhile, the Presidential debates opened a gash Gore could not patch up. During the first debate, he sighed impatiently whenever Governor Bush spoke. During another debate, Gore wore so much make-up, he looked like a drag queen.
Gore’s populist message combined with his debate performances and occasional delusional gaffe (I took the initiative and created the internet) cost Gore the election, but it was close. Bush held a 5 point lead going into the final weekend when word of a DUI back in the 1970s came out. On election day, Bush won 30 states, but Gore won the popular vote by a smidge. Had Gore run a better campaign, he could have won a triumph similar to George HW Bush’s in 1988. Instead, the election was a draw that came down to Florida.
The media declared Florida for Gore and then retracted when they discovered the panhandle was still voting. Then, they declared for Bush. Then, they undeclared everything. Gore conceded at first. Then, he changed his mind and un-conceded. This led to a recount.
After the recount, Bush won, but the Democrats wanted another one. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris tried to certify for Bush, but the case ended up in court. The Florida Supreme Court ignored election law and ordered another recount. Bush continually won the recounts being held in Democratic precincts. For some reason, the recounts only occurred in Democratic precincts and not all of Florida. Eventually, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 5-4 decision, the Supremes ordered an end to the recount. Bush won and Gore conceded again.
The Democrats could not win in 2000. The Florida Legislature was going to send results for Bush to the US Congress. If the Democrats had cast enough votes for Gore after the fact, the US Congress would have had two sets of returns. The Republicans controlled the House of Representatives and would have certified for Bush. The only reason for the Democrats to contest Florida and demand recounts in Democratic only areas was to injure Bush before he assumed office in the hopes of creating a lame duck. They failed. After the election, Gore would become the world’s savior. John McCain would finally become the GOP nominee for president. Joe Lieberman was expelled from the Democratic Party for making too much sense. Dick Cheney became the most unpopular governmental figure ever...at least until Nancy Pelosi became speaker!
