I don't understand. Clinton had higher approval ratings than Reagan. Gore should have won solidly

[Ardent15]

The 2000 presidential election still angers me. How the hell did Bush come close enough to steal it? Clinton had higher approval ratings than Reagan. Gore should have rode Clinton's popularity to the White House.

Was Gore's campaign really that terrible?

[blueclown]

1. The corporate media did a terrific job of making the election close enough for * to steal it.

[zbdent]

4. and they painted anybody who questioned the legality of it

(despite the fact that Rush Limbaugh, in October 2000, had said that Bush could take legal steps if he "won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote" ... another video that the MSM decided not to allow ever to be shown again, like Bush saying that he really wasn't that concerned about Osama bin Laden)

as a sore loser, and trying to steal the election ...

[Zynx]

2. Gore actually entered that election at a huge deficit to Bush.

He was down 15-16 points before the campaign got going. Arguably his campaign did well.

[Ardent15]

3. Why was that? Why he was down so much?

Did people just not like Gore?

[Zynx]

28. He was a running national joke for eight years.

He got smeared as being a geeky hippie who was as boring as Nebraska.

[norepubsin08]

31. Clinto getting his ass impeached didn't help either

yes it was bullshit and yes most people that it was crap, but it still left a sour taste in people's mouth's towards Democrats

[Jackpine Radical]

It was a real uphill battle against the media.

Earthtone Al, Love Canal, invented the Internet, sighed in the debate, Boooooooring, Lockbox (I winder if they're still laughing about that one), Buddhist nuns, not really a hunter, etc.

[Hokie]

5. Monica Lewinsky

The damn President was impeached less than two years before. I think that might have played a wee role.

[Ardent15]

9. And the majority of Americans didn't care about that partisan impeachment

[Buzz Clik]

6. I love Al Gore. I love his environmental policies and his stand on global warming. But...

... he was as stiff as a board and a horrible campaigner. He allowed Rove et al. to concoct endless bullshit about his "lies" and he played into it endlessly.

[leftstreet]

7. "The people who cast the votes decide nothing.

The people who count the votes decide everything."

:hi:

[Wapsie B]

8. Part of it was the sense of desparation on the part of the gop to get Bush in there

no matter what. When the Florida debacle was going on we had James Baker on TV pleading the gop's case. They simply had to get W in to further their plans.

[Binka]

19. BINGO!

President Cheney and the Licans HAD to have the WH in order to rape the treasury, and get their war in the ME, and TAX CUTS for all their buddies who ponied up the cash to make it possible. Cheney had been plotting this for YEARS! The Media Whores wrapped it up for them with a kiss and a big FUCK YOU to the rest of America.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. The media really fucked Gore over; plus his campaign handlers messed up

trying to make him look casual and "not so wooden" didn't work to his advantage at all. It cost him, because he looked utterly fake.

But the media - frakking hell. They really screwed him over.

[lordcommander]

11. Why Gore lose NH?

That always struck me why he lost New Hampshire with 4 electoral votes?? Had he won NH in 2000 there would be no *

[Ardent15]

13. because they thought Bush would lower their taxes, and NH residents HATE taxes

New Hampshire is the Libertarian capitol of America.

[lordcommander]

24. Had Gore Won NH with 4 EVs

Gore-271
Bush-267
I got it from here
http://uselectionatlas.org/TOOLS/evcalc_sm.php?year=2000
that's without FL and TN

[steelmania75]

39. Gore should've won his home state though...

[Ardent15]

43. He wasn't "Southern" enough in attitude

Also, Gore the presidential candidate was a lot different from Gore the congressional candidate.

[Resuscitated Ethics]

12. IIRC Gore's campaign WAY distanced the VP from the P

some quaint little sex scandal that nobody really minded or cared about but caused a conversation stealing diversion nonetheless.

I remember wishing Gore had used the popular president more but they really seemed to not share much stage.

Goddam Brooks Bros riot and the MSM ate it up. Internets were full-on live too! I didn't think the shameless repukes could get away with crap that obvious but when they own the four teevee networks....

[Ardent15]

15. If he wanted to distance himself from Clinton, he should have moved to the left

Joe Lieberman was a terrible VP pick. He should have picked Wellstone or Feingold.

[autorank]

14. Gore won n/t

[Ardent15]

16. Yeah, but it was so close. It shouldn't have been close.

[autorank]

32. Here's a hint

Your argument is logical and is the type of question lots of people have asked. The answer lies in rejecting
the presumption of accuracy for the official vote count

In 2004, unadjusted exit polls for urban areas were expanded to show more urban votes and those votes showed
a huge increase for bush in 2004 over 2000.

In 2000, unadjusted exit polls from urban areas were contracted to show fewer urban voters, thus reducing the
impact of the huge winning margin for Gore.

There's no real reason to trust the reported vote count in either election.
(http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0706/S00165.htm)

Also keep in mind that in many states ballots don't get counted, as many as 2 million in 2000.
http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/electoral_reform/ResidualBallot.pdf

These are consistently ballots in minority precincts, typically Republican ruled. In Florida specifically,
a disproportionate number of ballots were thrown out in precincts that fit this pattern. It was
convincingly demonstrated by the excellent study http://www.hamilton.edu/news/florida/

That's all before any fiddling around with voting machines or tabulation fraud takes place.

Gore probably won by 3-4 million votes but the fix was in.

Here's a good bibliography.
http://electionfraudnews.com/RedPill/Resources/2000Evidence.htm

[Cleita]

17. He did win, as a recount after the US Supreme Court crowned King George IV

shown. If they hadn't stopped the recount, Gore would have won after a recount of the State of Florida, which the Florida Supreme Court had ordered. The Supremes were out of their jurisdiction some believe and probably some of those justices should be impeached.

[earth mom]

18. News Flash for ya: Gore won.

They were going to unveil the results of Gore's win in Florida right when 9/11 happened.

Mighty convenient for the GOP-ain't that special-NOT. :puke:

[Ardent15]

20. Read the whole thread, I know he won, but not by much

It shouldn't have been close enough to steal

[mwb970]

21. Apparently the people just couldn't see what we saw so clearly in bush.

I don't know about you, but I saw a totally worthless jerk. Now, eight years later, the public finally agrees.

[Ardent15]

22. "Compassionate conservative" my ass

What a sick joke.

[MarjorieG]

23. Media, Nader, painted Bush as compassionate conservative and similar.

When painted as capable, likable, people chose diferent, like a new date without risk.

[Initech]

25. What *IS* a compassionate conservative exactly?

I've never been able to get a clear definition on what that is my entire life.

[Binka]

35. It Is An Asshole That Manages To Cover It's Stink n/t

[ananda]

26. Gore DID win!

nt

[Initech]

27. Gore won. W and his band of assholes still managed to steal it anyways.

That's still trying to happen now. See Franken v. Coleman.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. Gore ran a tepid campaign

He wasn't as bad as Dukakis (a really lousy campaigner), but he didn't establish a strong identity in the minds of the average uninformed voters.

His "debates" with Bush were pathetic. Most of the time, he appeared to be afraid to contradict Bush. "Yes, I'm for a strong defense, too. Yes, I'm for capital punishment, too. Yes, I'm friendly to business..."

That's why 1/3 of voters were "undecided" just a few days before the election.

Political junkies knew the difference between the two candidates, but to your average American, who wakes up to politics once every four years and who had only a vague notion of Gore and little knowledge of Bush's disastrous history, they looked very similar.

Rule #!: You have to define yourself on your own terms, not as an echo of the other guy.

[Ardent15]

33. Makes sense

[stillcool]

30. The Supreme Court selected Bush..

[Cirque du So-What]

34. Another factor: the American public got complacent

America was just starting to ride the downward slope of the dot.com bubble, the RW bogeyman of terrorism was a year away, no costly invasions of sovereign nations were sapping our resources, and the government was actually operating in the black. People got careless and apathetic, thinking that it really didn't matter who got elected president - that things would take care of themselves regardless.

Despite the election getting stolen in 2000, enough people had swallowed BushCo's lies to make the election close enough to steal again in 2004. By the end of Chimpolini's second term, however, there's no way in pluperfect hell that the 'pugs could have stolen it again without tipping their hand.

[MO_Dem]

36. Lieberman was a real drag

and I think he's half responsible for the loss (Fat Tony bears the other half!)

[Ardent15]

37. Agreed

[steelmania75]

38. It's the Clinton scandals that got people to vote for Bush...and a little help from Jeb...

If Bill just would've kept his dick in his pants, we'd be looking good right now.

Deep down you knew that Bush was gonna win Florida in that recount since his brother was the governor. There was no way the GOP was gonna play fair and count those 170,000 ballots that were susposed to be Democratic.

[NNN0LHI]

40. Gore was advised not to make appearances with Clinton

Gore received bad advice. Clinton left office with about a 70% approval rating. If Gore would have wrapped his arms around Clinton and never let go he would have won handily. Nader or no Nader. He would have won his own sate for sure if he had done that.

Don

[MasonJar]

41. Gore is a patrician statesman; the great unwashed do not understand

true patriotism and humanitarianism. Al Gore is one of the greatest men of our time. The public chose to listen to the corporate media, which had every intention of getting every little thing that they did in fact get from the shady, phony Texan. Rove and Jim Baker of course, along with the neocons and Jeb Bush, cheated us out of the man who won despite the 80,000+ erroneously disenfranchised Floridians and all the bogus etcs., such as the FELONIOUS FIVE. My one hope is that due to his brother's untold crimes and boondoggles Jeb Bush will never be allowed to hold office again.

[HughBeaumont]

42. Yes, I mean, the guy picked LIEBERMAN as his VP.

If you're a member of the opposition party and take no strong progressive STANDS, you ain't a'gonna win. People will always choose the Republican over someone who comes off as Republican Lite. Gore moved away from the positive contributions and aspects of the Clinton presidency and instead came off as right of center. Obviously he's not that way now, but the campaign he ran came off as more "at least I'm not Bewsh' and less like 'I'm a leader who will steer this ship right'.

Plus people tend to underestimate the power of a name brand among those who pass the same brain around at dinnertime. Bewsh was a known name despite how much of a schmuck his old man was.

[JI7]

44. Nader told voters that Bush wasn't that bad

since he was the same as Gore.

so people thought they could get Al Gore but with a fresh start after the Clinton administration .