2000 United States Presidential Election (The New Millennium)

The 2000 United States Presidential Election was the 54th quadrennial United States presidential election held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. The incumbent Vice-President Al Gore defeated the Repoublican candidate, Texas Governor George W. Bush, the son of 41st president, George H.W. Bush. It is considered one of the closest United States presidential elections, with controversy surrounding the results in the state of Florida.

Incumbent President Bill Clinton was ineligible for a third term, and Gore managed to secure the Democratic nomination with ease, his only challenge being former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. Bush was seen as the favorite for the Republican nomination and secured the nomination by Super Tuesday after a tough primary battle against U.S. Senator John McCain. Gore chose U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, while Bush chose former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

During the election season, Gore and Bush focused on domestic issues, such as the budget, tax relief, and reforms for federal social insurance programs. Gore distanced himself from Clinton as a result of the fallout from the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal and subsequent impeachment. Republicans tied Gore to Clinton's scandals while Gore attacked Bush's lack of experience.

On election night, it was unclear who had won, with Florida being too close to call. Initial returns showed Bush had won by only a couple hundred votes. Following a month of state-wide recounts and legal battles, Gore was declared the winner by only 477 votes, a margin of 0.008%. The recount and lawsuits sparked significant controversy, with many Republicans and right-wing pundits falsely alleging voter fraud had swayed the results of the election. After the recount, Gore won 291 electoral votes to Bush's 246, more than the 270 needed to win. Gore also won 48.4% of the popular vote to Bush's 47.9%, a narrow margin of only 0.5%, making it the closest election since 1960. Bush managed to flip 10 states that voted for Clinton in 1996: Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Primary
Al Gore from Tennessee, the incumbent Vice-President, was the front-runner for the nomination. Several other Democrats, including Bob Kerrey, Missouri Representative Dick Gephardt, Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone, and actor and director Warren Beatty were mentioned as possible contenders, but only Wellstone formed an exploratory committee.

Bradley ran an underdog campaign, positioning himself as the liberal alternative to Gore, promoting a plan to spend the record-breaking surplus on social welfare programs to help lower and middle class workers, campaign finance reform, and gun control policies. Former basketball star Michael Jordan helped campaign for him in early primary states, but still ultimately came up short to Gore, losing the Iowa caucus to Gore and narrowly losing the New Hampshire primary 50%-46%. On March 14, Gore secured the Democratic nomination.

Gore won the nomination unanimously at the 2000 Democratic National Convention since none of Bradley's delegates were allowed to vote for him. Joe Lieberman became the first Jewish American to be nominated for Vice-President by a major party. Gore chose Lieberman over five other potential candidates: Senators Evan Bayh, John Edwards, and John Kerry, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, and New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen.

Delegate Totals:
 * Vice President Albert Gore Jr. – 4,328
 * Abstentions – 9

Primaries
Bush was the early favorite, having raised unprecedented funds and significant establishment support from his tenure as Governor of Texas and his family's recognition and long-standing connections. Several other prominent candidates withdrew before the Iowa Caucus from lack of funding and support including Elizabeth Dole, Dan Quayle, Lamar Alexander, and Bob Smith. Pat Buchanan dropped out of the race and ran for the Reform Party nomination leaving Bush, John McCain, Alan Keyes, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, and Orrin Hatch still in the race.

On January 24, Bush won the Iowa Caucus with 41% of the vote and two days later, Hatch dropped out and endorsed Bush. McCain stayed in the race and portrayed himself as a maverick insurgent who focused on electoral and campaign reform. On February 1, McCain's campaign was boosted by his victory in the New Hampshire Primary, 49%-30%, but was severely damaged after decisively losing the South Carolina Primary. Bush was accused of mudslinging and implying McCain's adopted daughter was a child he fathered out of wedlock. Afterwards, McCain would go on to win primaries in Michigan and his home state of Arizona. McCain attacked Bush for accepting Bob Jones University's endorsement despite its ban on interracial dating. After only winning Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, McCain would drop out of the race. On March 14, Bush secured the Republican nomination after winning Florida and Texas.

Bush eventually selected former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to be his running mate. Cheney changed his voter registration to Utah in order for Bush and Cheney to be eligible to receive the electoral votes from Texas.


 * Delegate Totals
 * Governor George W. Bush – 1,526
 * Senator John McCain – 275
 * Ambassador Alan Keyes – 23
 * Businessman Steve Forbes – 10
 * Gary Bauer – 2
 * None of the names shown – 2
 * Uncommitted – 1

Reform Party Nomination

 * Reform Party Candidates
 * Pat Buchanan from Virginia, former speechwriter and senior advisor to President Richard Nixon
 * John Hagelin from Iowa, Ph.D., past and then-current Natural Law Party candidate
 * Donald Trump from New York, prominent businessman who had left the Republican Party in 1999 due to conflicting ideas on key issues

The nomination eventually went to Path Buchanan and Ezola Foster after a bitter, drawn out conflict with Ross Perot and Josh Hagelin who nominated Hagelin in a rump convention. The Federal Election Commission sided with Buchanan, resulting in his ticket appearing on all ballots except for Michigan and Washington D.C..

Association of State Green Parties Nomination

 * Green Party Candidates:
 * Ralph Nader from Connecticut – 295
 * Jello Biafra from California – 10
 * Stephen Gaskin from Tennessee – 11
 * Joel Kovel from New York – 3
 * Abstain – 1

Libertarian Party Nomination

 * Libertarian Party Candidates:
 * Harry Browne from Tennessee – 493
 * Don Gorman from New Hampshire – 166
 * Jacob Hornberger from Virginia – 120
 * Barry Hess from Arizona – 53
 * None of the Above – 23
 * other write-ins – 15
 * David Hollist from California – 8

Constitution Party Nomination
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from NH-01 (1985-1990) Withdrew: August 17, 1999
 * Constitution Party Candidates:
 * Howard Phillips
 * Herb Titus
 * Mathew Zupan
 * Bob Smith, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (1990-2003)

The Constitution Party nominated Howard Phillips from Virginia and Curtis Frazier from Missouri.

Natural Law Party Nomination
The Natural Law Party nominated Josh Hagelin from Iowa and Nat Goldhaber from California.

Independents
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from NH-01 (1985-1990) Withdrew: October 28, 1999
 * Bob Smith, U.S. Senator from New Hampshire (1990-2003)

General Election Campaign
The campaign season was dominated by discussion of domestic issues, mainly talk of plans for the budget surplus, including Social Security and Medicare reforms, increased spending for healthcare, and tax relief. Foreign policy also played a role in the election season as Bush attacked the Clinton Administration's policies in Somalia and the Balkans, rebuking the notion of nation-building. Gore attacked Bush's fitness for the role, criticizing his lack of experience and numerous gaffes on the campaign trail. Bill Clinton's scandal with Monica Lewinsky and his impeachment became a major talking point for Bush and Republicans while Gore sought to distance himself from the scandals, avoiding publicly appearing with Clinton.

Ralph Nader, a third-party candidate, held massive "super-rallies" in sports arenas in order to get mainstream coverage. Gore sought to play up his liberal ideas in the closing weeks of the campaign to help lock down voters possibly swayed by Nader's campaign. The Republican Leadership Council ran pro-Nader ads to attempt to split the liberal vote in key states.

Results
On election night, Bush managed to carry the Southern states by decisive margins, including Clinton's home state of Arkansas, with the exception of Florida, Maryland, Missouri, and Gore's home state of Tennessee. Bush also won Ohio, Indiana, and much of the Midwestern and Rocky Mountains states and Alaska while Gore decisively won the Northeast (Except for New Hampshire), the Pacific Coast, and the Upper Midwest.

Several smaller states, including Wisconsin, Iowa, Oregon, and New Mexico, were very close, but the entire election hinged on Florida, which remained too close to call. In the early morning, Bush had won 246 electoral votes while Gore had won 250, neither candidate had the 270 needed to win. The election's outcome would not be known for nearly a month when finally Gore was declared the winner in Florida, giving him a total of 291 electoral votes.

National Results
While Gore won both the electoral and popular vote, he failed to win his home state, Tennessee, which both he and his father represented in the Senate, marking the first time a presidential candidate has lost their home state since George McGovern failed to win South Dakota in 1972. This election also marked the first time since 1928 that a non-incumbent Republican won West Virginia. The Electoral College results were the closest since 1976, and the popular vote results were the third-closest in American history. There were two counties that voted Republican in 1996 but voted Democratic in 2000: Charles County, Maryland, and Orange County, Florida, two counties that were rapidly diversifying in their demographics. This election is also the last time a Republican won a number of population urban counties that have become Democratic stronghold since.