Tie Between Bush And Gore example essay topic

The 2000 Presidential Election was one of the most suspenseful and unclear presidential elections for more than a century. For weeks after November 7, it had been uncertain to America who had won the presidency. The election's closeness and bitter words between parties over the results will leave controversy for years to come. When the elections began, the Republicans and Democrats chose their candidates. Caucuses were held in each state to choose delegates. It had begun like any other election, and there was a lot of competition in the primaries.

There were six Republicans running for party nominations. As the son of former president George Bush, George Bush Jr. had more money than any other candidate for campaigning. On the other hand, Al Gore had a good reputation, serving two terms as vice president under the Clinton administration. From July 31st to August 3rd, the Republican National Convention was held in Philadelphia. The Republican Party nominated Bush, he chose Dick Cheney for vice president. Under Bush's father's administration, Cheney had been secretary of defense.

The Republican's platform had been made to appeal to conservatives, with set positions on taxes, defense, education, and health care. From August 14th through 17th, the Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles, California. Al Gore was nominated the Democratic candidate for president, with his choice of Joseph Lieberman as vice president. Lieberman was the first Jewish vice presidential candidate of a major party. The Democratic platform outlined the achievements of the Clinton administration. There had been big differences between Gore and Bush on key issues.

For example, Gore proposed a $500 billion tax cut, while Bush proposed $1.3 trillion. Bush was leaning for more defenses, and Gore was going for education. On the other hand, the two candidates had common opinions on issues. Both had supported stronger enforcement on the current gun laws. They both wanted to reform education in public schools. When the campaign had first begun, the polls had shown that the election would be very close.

The candidates appeared on television talk shows, and had visited key states whose electoral votes would be important in the outcome. Gore and Bush's previous positions also played a big role in the campaign. "Third Party" candidates played a role in the 2000 presidential campaign. The strongest of the candidates was Ralph Nader. He is a member of the Green Party, and is a consumer rights activist. Democrats worried that he might draw support from Gore.

On November 7th, 2000, fifty-one percent of eligible voters voted. The outcome was almost a tie between Bush and Gore. Nader had only gotten less than three percent of the votes. Although Bush had the edge in the popular votes, he needed the majority of electoral votes to win. On the night of the election, it was thought that Bush would not win, while the election depended on Florida.

The results of Florida votes were so close that an order for a statewide recount was issued. At first, Bush was leading by a few hundred voters, but that was thought to be inaccurate again. The county of Palm Beach, Florida, had claimed that its voters were been mislead by the ballots, and that the auto-mated vote-counting machine had failed to count many of the votes. Gore refused to accept that Bush had won, and he wanted another recount, by hand. The biggest problem with the Florida ballots was that voters were intended to punch holes next to the names of the candidates they wanted, but sometimes when they went to punch a hole, a flap was left, which kept vote-counting machine from reading the ballot.

Another problem was that the punch didn't go all the way through the ballot. After the second recount, Gore was not satisfied and went to the Supreme Court to contest the accuracy of the recounts. At first, the courts favored Gore, but after an appeal from Bush, the U.S. Justices voted five to four in Bush's favor. The end of the 2000 Presidential election showed that neither Republicans nor Democrats had the majority of votes. It also showed the flaws in the election system, causing the need for updates in the voting system in some states. The most important thing that came out of the election and the confusion was the message that: Every vote counts!

Bibliography

1. The New Book of Knowledge; Annual 2001 a. Grolier Inc., Danbury, Connecticut i. The Battle for the White House, p. 42-47.