The Clinton Years were GREAT but why did people vote Bush in 2000?

[quantass]

I did not follow the 2000 U.S. Presedential Elections but from what i recall when Clinton left office the economy and world view of the U.S. was pretty good. With that in mind why did so many not elect another democrat in to office so as to continue prosperity? What was so appealing of George Bush?

[EastTennesseeDem]

1. We did elect a Democrat

[NoSheep]

74. I can't believe we have to constantly remind people of this.

[firedupdem]

2. This one was stolen...bush didn't win it. n/t

[Eric J in MN]

3. Al Gore won the popular vote.

In Florida, citizens were told they couldn't vote because they were "suspected felons."

[BrklynLiberal]

14. and don't forget about all those old Jewish people who "voted for" Pat Buchanan..

The infamous "Butterfly Ballot"

[styersc]

78. To always be remembered. The people chose Gore.

The electroral college and the courts chose Bush.

[dascientist]

4. define "elect"

[oviedodem]

5. B/C Bill could not keep his zipper up and then stupidly let it happen in the oval office IF

this did not happen Gore would have won handily without having to deal with all the BS

[grace0418]

28. Agree completely.

I hope to heaven that, for his family's sake and the country's sake, Barack can avoid that pitfall. I think he can.

[progressivebydesign]

41. actually Clinton's approval ratings were thru the roof even after the scandal.

Gore or his advisors decided not to use Clinton in their campaign, which was a mistake. Clinton is still wildly popular.

[EFerrari]

6. They didn't vote him in. Bush was selected by the Supreme Court. n/t

[Cali_Democrat]

7. Al Gore won.

Americans wanted Gore in the White House.

[Essene]

72. im as angry as anybody else about 2000... but gore would not have won

if he had won those court rulings.

why?

because he didnt ask for a COMPLETE recount in florida. he wouldnt have won based on the requested recounts that he did.

[quantass]

8. You guys are CORRECT. I was under the impression of a FAIR ELECTION

[PretzelWarrior]

9. Stolen, Ralph Nader, not great campaigning by Gore and.....

the nonstop 24/7 demonization of Clinton by a true and proveable "RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY" made up of Richard Mellon Scaife, Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch many media outlets, fuckface special prosecutor, etc. etc.

[Democat]

15. That about covers it!

Gore let the Republicans run him over in Florida too.

[riqster]

69. Crap

Gore fought tooth and nail, right up to the Supreme Court. He could maybe have fought smarter, but not harder.

[Essene]

73. he never asked for a COMPLETE recount... and his campaign was not great

He blew the debates, never really took Bush seriously.

and last i checked... the final independent recount indicated that gore only won if there was a COMPLETE recount across all of florida.

that's not what gore asked for.

i believe the most objective analysis indicates he still would have lost with a complete recount in those 4 counties.

[riqster]

77. Like I said, he could have fought smarter

...but Gore did fight hard. As opposed to Kerry, who didn't fight at all.

[VADem11]

10. As I remember

A whole lot of people complained that there wasn't any real differences between the two parties. I think that's one reason why Nader got so much of the vote. Gore also did not run the best campaign. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" and focus on social issues fooled a lot of people

[BrklynLiberal]

11. All of the above....and some outrageous voter suppression.

[oviedodem]

12. You can also make the argument that b/c of Bill's transgressions, the religous value

RW was truly born and bred. Which is at the core of our problems now.

[cemaphonic]

17. nah, they've been brewing for decades now

[slinkerwink]

13. Monica Lewinsky

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. Well, other than the Supreme Court, Jeb Bush & Katherine Harris HANDING the presidency to him...

...this was his sales pitch:

Special Event
George W. Bush Speaks at Send-Off in Orlando
Aired September 23, 2000 - 10:02 a.m. ET

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0009/23/se.02.html

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to quickly, before we stay goodbye, go to a Bush event in Orlando.

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I tell you one thing, it's got to be refreshing for the people of Florida to have a chief executive officer who has done in office exactly what he told the people of Florida that we would do.

I know Jeb is an inspiration for many of the young Floridians, because they're hearing something different in Tallahassee than that which they're hearing in Washington. In Tallahassee, you have leadership that says what they mean and mean what they says, and that's what we need in Washington, D.C.

I am so proud to be campaigning with George P., the man who evokes many a squeal. He's a good man, a man that's willing to take time to fight for his uncle, because he knows what many younger Americans know. We can do better in Washington D.C. We can have new leadership in Washington D.C., leadership that will lift this country's spirits and raise our sights. George P. knows what thousands of other youngsters know, that just because the White House has let us done in the past, that doesn't mean it's going to happen in the future. George P. joins us in a campaign that's going to restore honor and dignity to the White House.

...meaning, of course, that he'd lie in order to take us into war in Iraq (4189 Military deaths as of today, http://icasualties.org/oif/), but he would not be receiving blow jobs in the Oval Office.

[cemaphonic]

18. Gore kind of caught it on both ends WRT Clinton.

He was Clinton's VP, so he was never going to get enough distance from Clinton's baggage for the *I'M OUTRAGED* folks, but the distance that he did put between them probably hurt him with the more reasonable people that were disappointed in Clinton, but liked his policies and administration.

Plus, as many have pointed out, Gore would have won, were it not for all of the shenanigans in Florida and the Supreme Court.

Also, Bush ran as a moderate conservative, with a stable of experienced advisers to temper his thin resume. I sure didn't vote for him, but I figured he would be much like his father - a mediocre caretaker President with a bunch of bad ideas, but not enough clout to actually do much with them. I had no idea the kind of damage he was capable of, and I doubt many others did, outside of Texas Democrats and hardcore politics junkies.

[rucky]

62. Yep. Then add Nader to the mix...

[4lbs]

19. I think it's gets more to the heart of the matter of why, if the Clinton years were so good for so

many people, and Gore was positioned as a continuation of that, why didn't Gore win a large margin of the popular vote, say, 54% to 45%? Why was it essentially tied at say, 50.1% to 49.9%?

Why didn't people vote in overwhelming numbers to continue the success of the Clinton economy with Gore?

Clinton's impeachment, the Monica Lewinsky affair, and even Gore's "tea meetings" with various Chinese dignities opened the doors for the Republicans to campaign on the issues of ethics and morality, family values and such. Half the country agreed and wanted a change from Clinton, to one that promised to be a "uniter, not a divider". A "compassionate conservative", not a "corrupt and immoral liberal like Clinton".

[anigbrowl]

44. A lot of people assumed their economic success was entirely their own achievment

and that growth was inevitable etc. - remember this daft belief in the 90s that thanks to technology, the business cycle had been abolished and we faced an eternity of profitability. I don't think anyone expected that a few years later Bush would have brought us back into a deep deficit and increased the national debt so radically.

Plus back then, Gore was anything but charismatic - indeed, he was dull and ponderous. Remember when his advisers told him to show more passion and he ended up making out with his wife for the cameras? Hopeless. The Gore we know now is a whole different animal - one who would have had cpersonality conflicts with Clinton if he had allowed himself to develop that way as Vice President.

[rebel with a cause]

46. there was also the joe lieberman pick for VP.

Not a wise move. There was the distance kept between Clinton and Gore, so those that still liked Clinton didn't think Gore liked him, and was insulted by his coolness to the ex-president. There was the rove slime machine, and there was the Gore dullness as mentioned. There was the Gore invented the internet line, and another one that I can't remember that they used to make him seem a liar and a little silly.

I thought bush was evil the first time I saw and heard him and could not watch him on tv because I would get sick, literally. I tried to warn people about him but no one was really listening in 2000. There was Nader who a lot of people voted for. And then there was just too much apathy. People didn't vote because they thought it just didn't matter who was president. Illinois went for Gore anyway, but not around here, not even in the counties that are usually deep blue. :shrug:

[Cosmocat]

56. This post is the closest - and it is IMPORTANT ...

people tend to forget things over time ...

The right spent Clinton's ENTIRE 8 years CREATING "controversy" after "controversy" ... Yes, the BJ gave them the target to zero in on, but how did they find out about the BJ? The accidentily stumbled on it after yet another tax payer funded fishing expidition into Clinton's affairs. These tools freakin investigated the white house about the god darned fan mail to socks the cat for christ sakes.

Bottom line is this. Thing were good, real good. The country was prosperous, the overall standard of living had increased for most everyone, so people got complacent. With Complacency, people were left to hear the right with their NEVER ENDING stream of garbage, being packaged as "CLINTON" scandals. They created the crape and made it about Clinton - and the media carried that water big time.

This all led to the country basically just throwing it's arms up and saying "if it shuts up these conservatives, we will vote for their guy this time, what can it hurt."

The rest of it is just the subtext of that - gore a "geek" Bush a "guy you would have a beer with" ... All of it, just the right channeling through the MSM.

And, this is important, cause just as Reagen broke through in 1980, and Bushco broke through in 2000, these pukebags are VERY likely to once again crawl out of their hole in 10-20 years if somehow BO and the dems get things going good again - people in american as a whole ARE that stupid, sorry to say.

[4lbs]

49. In addition, Gore's sighs and body language during the debates were damaging like

McCain's body language, weird facial expressions, and aimless wandering.

[mwei924]

20. Blowjob.

[Drunken Irishman]

21. Fatigue. The Eisenhower years were great, why did they vote Kennedy in 1960?

They felt the country was in good shape, but they wanted change. Plus, Clinton was really damaged by the whole Lewinsky bullshit.

[The Traveler]

22. You want the bottom line?

Truth ... Bill couldn't keep it in his pants. The man did a fantastic job of easing us into a post Cold War era that could have and should have grown into a generation's worth of peace and prosperity but the stupid fuck could not keep it in his pants.

Americans are weird about that sort of thing, and so when George Bush promised a return of "adulthood" to the White House enough people bought into that line of crap to make it possible to squeak out a victory with the Supreme Court's help.

Stan Lee observed "With great power comes great responsibility." Clinton exercised his power well, but failed in this one regard. Bill is a good man, but has his flaws, as do us all. Regrettably, too many have payed the price for his few minutes of pleasure. But, ya know, that ain't ALL his fault. The American people, too, are to blame. We must as a people learn better judgment and discernment. Because, let us face it, while Bill did lie, no one died ... George W. Bush will go to his grave trying to deny both his lies and all those uncounted consequences.

I don't blame Bill as such ... but I do believe had he kept it zipped, the Gore/Bush race in 2000 would have never been close. And we would be oh so much better off today.

Trav

[FlyingSquirrel]

29. Partly. Also it was personality.

Stupid reason to vote one way or another, but there it is. Gore looked like a clown, changing his image daily based on SNL or whatever else he heard or saw. Hate to say it but he did not look authentic. He should've kept the "lockbox" personality instead of trying to be someone he wasn't.

In the end Bush snowed a lot of people. Hell, I even came close to voting for him (at the time I was a lot more independent than I am now).

Ya don't know what ya got till it's gone, basically. People had no idea Bush could screw things up this completely.

And in 2004, they got out the base and slimed Kerry and Bin Laden showed up just in time to give 'em the final push.

And of course the vote suppression and everything else.

End of story. I'm ready to move on.

[The Traveler]

34. All of that ... we're moving on ...

And hopefully, all a little wiser. Gore has certainly grown ... he has become the epitome of gravitas and committed personal and intellectual power, and it may come to be seen 100 years from now that losing the Presidency liberated him in a way that allowed him to convince the world to save itself from environmental catastrophe.

But ... damn! I wish he had taken the office (and not just won) in 2000!

Thanks for the words once again, F.S. You have a way of soothing the mad Irishman in me ...

Trav

[Clio the Leo]

23. It had something to do with beer and.....

.... while I totally agree that the election was stolen, the fact of the matter is, if we had turned out votes in 2000 like we will turn out votes in two days we would not have had to worry about hanging chads.

We got screwed, sure enough, but we have some culpability in the matter as well.

[democracy1st]

24. The Rightwing Propaganda Machine creates chaos in order to demonize the left & people bought it

[npk]

25. Define "People"

The god fearing, neo-con, zealots of the republican party were able to portray Al Gore as a devil who wanted to eat their babies. Meanwhile Bush was seen as a drunk, I uh, mean somebody who you would like to have a beer with. Two different sets of people in 2000, yet Gore won the popular vote. Unfortunately Dumbya's brother Jeb, "The Guvner" of the state of Flurida, was able to help "guarantee" that victory Bush promised on TeeVee.

[JFN1]

26. Bush was able to get the election close enough to steal because

Rove ignited the culture war Republicans had been trying to start since before they impeached Clinton. That's all it took to get the vote close enough to steal - and even then, they had to call in SCOTUS to do it. They tricked a large portion of the public into believing "values" were more meaningful than Bush's obvious lack of intelligence and qualifications, and they were able to do this mostly because of the Clinton impeachment, which they used as the "values" wedge.

Just my two cents...

[Swamp Rat]

27. The American People did NOT "vote Bush in 2000"

[anigbrowl]

36. Quite a lot of them did, though

Gore ought to have won, but there were millions out there who actually cast ballots for Bush.

[Swamp Rat]

38. Besides the point, and now you have angered LiteByte Bandit

:D

[anigbrowl]

43. The OP asked 'why did PEOPLE vote for Bush', not 'the country'

I took it as a question about what motivated Bush voters, not whether Bush was the legitimate winner. A major reason for Obama's success is that he's given thought to where Republicans are coming from to begin with; a good third of them are irredeemable authoritarians, but a good many more are convertible rather than being ideologues.

[Mariana]

30. Lots of people allowed themselves to be convinced

that Bush was smart and had been very successful as governor of Texas. They wanted so badly for this to be so that flatly refused to believe any of the abundant evidence to the contrary.

This happened to people within my family, otherwise intelligent people, and it continues today with some of them. They still make excuses for his failures and they are among the 20-whatever percent that still approve of the asshole. It's frankly terrifying to find out that people you love and respect are so susceptible to propaganda (from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, et al.), to the point that they lose their ability to reason.

[Uzybone]

31. The election was stolen, but Media Bias

was the second main reason we "lost". The MSM completely savaged Gore at every turn. Lieberman was worthless (I'm convinced he was a GOP plant already), and we unilaterally disarmed ourselves by taking matching funds.

Oh and I cant forget to mention Clinton fatigue. His reckless behavior and the many many scandals that the GOP invented made lost of people tired of anything to do with Clinton; which included electing his VP.

[Thrill]

32. The media was determined to get Bush Elected

and then it was also stolen

[TheDonkey]

33. Clinton fatigue from the Lewinsky disaster. Economy was strong so some voted for personality

and low-info voters liked Bush's folksy dumb act compared to a more professorial Gore.

[WinkyDink]

70. Yeah, the "personality" of a giggling, bald-head-obsessive, psychopathic drunk.

[Metric System]

35. All I remember hearing in 2000 was that Bush and Gore two sides of the same coin. That's why the

support for Nader was so much stronger back then. Celebs like Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon (who are both now backing Obama) were big Nader supporters. Basically, both candidates were viewed as centrist and Bush was seen to have the better personality (ugh).

[anigbrowl]

37. Gore was boring then, and few realised just how awful Bush would be

Granted, W in 2000 was an annoying goof, but then a lot of people thought the same of Clinton in 92 and he turned out OK, so I think people who voted for Bush assumed they would get someone who was basically competent as opposed to a disaster on wheels.

[pop goes the weasel]

39. Lieberman

Not the man himself, so much, since most people didn't recognize him for the slimeball he is back in the day. But he represents all that was wrong with the Democratic Party in 2000. As the saying goes, given the choice between a Republican and a Republican, people will vote for the Republican every time.

I am so glad, this time around, we have a Democrat running for the presidency and are fighting in every state. Things will turn around now, thanks to Obama and Dean.

[progressivebydesign]

40. Several things.

1 - Gore did win, but it was far too close to make sense. Lots of disenfranchising went on, and downright theft. But it was a new thing for us, so a lot of it went unchallenged. We're smarter now (I HOPE!)

2- Gore's advisors really seemed to have sucked all the life out of him. He's a warm and funny person, but they wanted him to act like some senior statesman, against a faux cowboy.

3- the Media really had it out for Gore. Bush was more popular with the press (especially the AP who were particularly vile toward Al)

4- Gore did not use Clinton for any campaign help Even tho Bill had had that scandal, he was still widely popular. Gore or his advisors wanted to distance him from Bill, which I think was a mistake.

5-People believed the Bush hype that he was a regular ol' fellow, with a ranch, and an aw shucks persona.

[krawhitham]

42. because of a blowjob

[mwooldri]

45. I was hoping for a Bush win in 2000...

... I just came to the States and was naive about US politics. I lived through the UK political scandals of the mid 1990s where everyone was in bed with anyone - even John Major had an affair. I viewed Clinton because all I heard of him was about Monica Lewinsky and sex scandal and since Gore was his VP I associated Gore with Clinton's sexual indiscretions. Of course I couldn't vote so I had no say in the matter. However what was telling was that a co-worker told me that if Bush got in that there would be another war in Iraq, that he would be a war-monger. That was back in 2000. I guess I should have listened to my co-worker.

2004 was a different story. Again I was more politically neutral, and just merely hoped for a Kerry win. My wife knew that Bush would win big here in NC, so she voted Libertarian so that they could get some ballots so they could get on to the ticket automatically next time.

This year, she voted Obama.

Mark.

[DFW]

47. Nothing was appealing about Bush

But Karl Rove was a far more sophisticated political operative than
Donna Brazile, and Frank Luntz was better with words than any of Gore's
opinion-shapers. Not to mention that in spite of all that, Gore did win
the election, he was just cheated out of taking office. The consequences
of that need no repetition unless it has been a long time since you last ate.


When it appeared that Gore would win Florida, Supreme Court Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor, who would cast one of the votes handing the election to Bush
a month later, was heard to spontaneously comment, "this is terrible!"

I'd love to pump her full of truth serum and find out if she thought the
Bush years have been less than "terrible."

[951-Riverside]

48. Monica Lewinsky

If Clinton actually had respect for women, Bush wouldn't have had a platform to run on and we wouldn't be in the mess we are today.

[Awsi Dooger]

50. The nation was lulled into a belief anyone could manage similar

Budget surpluses were projected for years to come. States were awash with cash. Consequently, Bush got away with bullshit like, "They have not led. We will."

2000 always figured to be very close. The Lewinsky scandal, and Bush considered more likable than Gore, gave away our rightful generic edge based on the Clinton economy.

Debate #1 was the disaster, Gore's sighing. He had a foundational lead of several points until that masochism. Women left him after the rude display and not all of them returned. I hosted a debate party that night, and young women literally were calling their mothers in the middle of the debate, exclaiming that they couldn't believe they had planned to vote for Gore. Don't let anyone tell you the sighs weren't a major factor in that race.

[Raine]

51. Bill got a blow-job and Gore paid the price for it

not to mention it was stolen out from under us by the cheating rePUKES.

[workinclasszero]

52. A combination of things..

People bought the lies of the right wing, massive vote fraud by the republicans, Bush was selected, not elected.

And yeah Bill Clinton's failings hurt the Dem's chances I think.

Hopefully after the last disastrous 8 years of rethuglian rule, the American people have learned something about the lies of the reich wing.

NEVER vote for a republican..NEVER, NEVER, N E V E R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mollymongold]

53. Gore "lost" because he acted ashamed of Bill and his legacy imo.

Even if he didn't really lose, it shouldn't have been that close.

[No Elephants]

54. People wanted to have a beer with Bush. I wonder how they enjoyed it.

[uponit7771]

55. Gore had enept campaign management who wouldn't call Bush stupid or make a joke out of his Palin...

...like unawareness. They also thought reThugs would be honest with elections, I still think Gore won in Florida and the USSC stopped the count.

[Frumious B]

57. Bush ran as far more of a centrist/moderate than he turned out to be.

To my eternal regret I voted for Bush in 2000. "Clinton fatigue" was a contributing factor. The media was also strongly peddling the idea that there really wouldn't be that much difference between a Bush or Gore Presidency and I bought into that to a certain degree figuring that we had eight years of Clinton so why not give the other guy a shot.

[LeftishBrit]

58. They didn't; little brother Jeb and 5 Supreme Court judges did.

But there are indeed always people who like the simple-seeming solutions offered by the Right. We put Maggie Thatcher in for three terms (though never with an absolute majority of the votes; our electoral system gives disproportionate power to the leader of the winning party).

[renie408]

59. That is why. Among other things, the country was in great shape.

One of the factors involved in producing enough votes for Bush to get him close enough to steal the election was the great shape the country was in. I don't think people felt the pressure to vote in their best interests. They could vote for stupid reasons like the fact that Bush seemed like the kind of guy you wanted to have a beer with and that he might do something about abortion and that he represented conservative values which looked good to some people after the blow job scandal.

[Vinca]

60. Lewinski. The right was just as shocked as they could be

since we know none of them ever get involved in sex-related escapades.
:sarcasm:

[quickesst]

61. Easy...

Completely distancing himself from a president who enjoyed a sixty-five percent approval rating leaving office, and the eight years of proserity enjoyed under that former president. Bursts a few bubbles here, but reality can sometimes be a difficult thing to face. Thanks.
quickesst

[RFKHumphreyObama]

63. Several reasons (not necessarily in this order)

1. Obviously the Supreme Court and the Jebbie-Kathy Florida disenfranchisement/vote rigging show was the most important factor

2. Clinton's ethical problems stemming from Monica-gate and the like ensured that Gore was placed between a rock and a hard place during his campaign. He couldn't campaign extensively on Clinton's excellent domestic and foreign policy legacy because he would then risk also being to closely aligned to the alleged scandals of the Clinton era which were unfortunately the downside to Clinton's legacy. Conversely he couldn't effectively distance himself from the legacy of the Clinton years becaus he had played an important role in them in his capacity as Vice President and also because he was really left without an effective foundation for his campaign without emphasizing his role in the domestic and foreign policy successes of the last eight years

3. Gore ran a lacklustre campaign for much of the election. His campaign strategy was being devised by the likes of Bob Shrum, who has played a role in several losing Democratic presidential campaigns and -like Kerry but thankfully unlike Obama -he failed to aggressively counter the myths and misinformation that was being spread about him by the MSM and the Republican smear machine. For example, most people still believe that Gore claimed to have invented the Internet to the extent that the quote is now even included in otherwise very credible biographies about him. Effectively Gore allowed himself to be defined by his opponents throughout much of the campaign. To his great credit, he was able to turn around his campaign during the final weeks and that is probably what got him as close as he was to the White House

4. Clinton gave America and the world eight years of peace and prosperity. It is quite easy during a time of peace ad prosperity to become complacent about how good things are and to take them for granted. It is also quite easy for political opportunists such as Ralph Nader to flourish in times of peace and prosperity because people don't appreciate the differences between the two major parties as much as they do when the choice between the two major parties is as stark and evident as it is during this election. Sadly -and perversely -for Gore, the domestic and foreign policy successes that he helped accomplish may have worked against him during this election

5. W ran a savvy campaign projecting the image of being a moderate "compassionate" conservative seeking to promote an emphasis on "prosperity with purpose" and he was never seriously challenged on this myth by the MSM, most of whom instead spent every waking hour seeking to tear Gore apart with false stories about him. This image resonated with many American voters. Furthermore KKKarl Rove invested efforts into winning traditionally solid Democratic states such as West Virginia and this paid dividends in an extremely close race.

7. Ralph Nader -the ultimate craven political opportunist -played a huge role in influencing the dyamics of the election. Not only did he help * steal Florida but he forced the Gore camp to invest funding and resources into states which the Democratic Party should have had comfortable leads in if not for the Nader factor. This in turn diverted funding and resources fom key swing states and forced Gore to campaign in states which he shouldn't have had to

[SoCalDem]

64. Because Gore was not Mr Excitement and people gravitate to "bad boys"

and the press gave Bush a pass....in fact they LOVED him and covered up for him..

even with all that, if the butterfly ballot had been a NORMAL ballot, Gros would have still been pres..

[FloridaGrl]

65. Monica Lewinsky and SCOTUS

Remember Dems have no morals. "Moral high ground" and "Restoring morals to the whitehouse". :puke:

Edit to add: That brought out their voters but when that was proven not to be enough and Gore won FL, the Supreme court stepped in.

[WinkyDink]

66. Gore won. The SCOTUS illegally stopped the FL recount and then illegally gave Bush the election.

It was, by any definition, a coup d'etat.

[spanone]

67. bu$h* was APPOINTED in 2000, he DID NOT WIN

there was or is nothing appealing about george bu$h*

[wishlist]

68. Bush ran as a moderate bipartisan who would unite, not divide the country

Gore was held up as an object of ridicule with false claims by Repubs and media that he was a liar/exaggerater. Bush image was whitewashed so that he was presented as being an honest 'straight shooting' moderate who could work with both parties and would be competent and bring 'family values' back to the White House. Don't forget, the Repub's relentless attacks on the Clintons for 8 years and impeachment attempts took its toll on public sentiment, so many were looking for a new bipartisan positive direction for the country, not realizing how partisan and incompetent and unethical Bush would turn out to be. Even many of us who did not trust Bush were shocked and knew the country was in trouble after we saw how the Florida elections were handled and the ruthless way Repubs stopped the vote counting in Florida to steal the election from Gore.

[Essene]

75. yep... compassionate conservative wanting ed reform for urban youth, etc

& wouldnt engage in "nation building."

amazing.

[Essene]

71. Clinton burn-out. Bush ran as a moderate. Nader screwed us. Youth vote didnt show up.

A lot of people loved clinton but were ready to try something new.

Gore was just too passive and self-absorbed in the minds of many americans. Buah ran as a fresh new face with a traditional political name. He ran as a moderate and ironically... humble.

As we know, Gore would have won if every vote had been counted in florida. However, Gore never requested that so it's a semi-fake argument to say "he really won."

The real truth is that the youth vote didnt show up... and too many of them voted Nader.

[moondust]

76. Foolish gambling on a political name. n/t

[ramapo]

79. Because there are millions of idiots

And Gore ran a lousy campaign. Gore made the same mistake as John McCain. He ran as somebody other than Al Gore. He was not an especially likable figure. He sighed and rolled his eyes during the debate (not that I blame him), but people didn't like it. Bush came across as just a likable guy and he spouted that compassionate conservative bullshit. Then there were the thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of Florida voters who were too inept to vote properly. Put all these factors together and you had the makings of a disaster. Like McCain said, elections do have consequences.

[TragedyandHope]

80. Slime, bad judgement, Nader and the cyclical nature of politics

The election was stolen, but all those things brought it close enough to be stolen.