I Love the 2000s...Part 6

Number six on the list of the top 10 events of the 2000s takes us back to the first year. After the fear of Y2K and the new decade and century had subsided, the attention turned toward who would be the next President of the United States. The contest pitted the current Vice President, Al Gore, against the Governor of Texas and son of former president George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush. What would transpire that November has still stood the test of time; nearly a decade later. In what was expected to be a close contest turned into one of the closest ever.

#6: The 2000 Presidential Election

President Bill Clinton was stepping down at the beginning of 2001 as per the two term limit of chief executives and thus we would see the first open election since 1960 (as per the fact that Lyndon Johnson’s name was featured on some ballots in 1968). Al Gore was the current Vice President and George W. Bush had served as the top man in Texas and had his father as an ex-President.

As the nomination season opened up, the Democratic side seemed pretty clear with Gore being the leading candidate. However former basketball player and U.S. Senator from New Jersey, Bill Bradley, entered his name into the fray. During the primaries, Gore easily defeated Bradley in the primaries largely due to having the backing of the Democratic Party. By March 14th, Gore had wrapped up the nomination. To run alongside Gore, Joseph Lieberman, Senator from Connecticut, was chosen and was the first Jewish-American chosen to run for this position of a major party.

Naturally on the Republican side, we saw a wide open field of candidates. Bush became an early front runner due to funds and name recognition. As the Iowa Caucus approached, a bunch of candidates dropped out leaving Bush, Senators John McCain and Orrin Hatch, Alan Keyes, Steve Forbes, and Gary Bauer. Bush would win in Iowa and Hatch would leave the race. McCain became a contrasting character against Bush. In the next primary in New Hampshire, McCain evened up the race with a win. Bauer would leave the race as well and Forbes shortly after. In South Carolina, Bush defeated McCain after using dirty tricks according to many on the McCain side. Bush’s team did “throw dirt” on McCain as they targeted his recent adoptive daughter from Bangladesh and accused him of fathering her out of wedlock. The South Carolina loss was a major setback for McCain. On Super Tuesday in March of 2000, Bush won big states and his success was the final straw for McCain as he was forced to suspend his campaign. Bush would wrap up the party’s nomination a week later. To run alongside him, Bush chose a former member of his father’s White House, Dick Cheney. Cheney was ironically chosen to lead a committee to research a possible running mate for Bush, but was chosen instead.

In the mix was a third party candidate, Ralph Nader. He was the wildcard in the race and was featured on more than 4 out of every 5 states’ ballots.

Domestic issues like the budget, taxes, and Social Security/Medicare/health care as well as social programs in general were at the forefront of the campaign. But of course, foreign policy was not ignored. Certain Clinton administration foreign policy decisions were questioned by Bush as Gore was part of the administration. Somalia and its tactical errors in the early part of the administration was one of key foreign policy targets of the Bush campaign. Ironically, Bush would denounce “nation building” during the campaign to only practice against what he preached. Gore would paint himself as the far more qualified candidate and pointed to the lack of necessary experience that Bush had. Also, Gore had the shadow of President Clinton lurking over him as it was still fresh in many voters’ minds the whole impeachment process and sex scandal of Bill Clinton. Bush and his party would exploit moral weaknesses of Clinton and thus Democrats by default. Because of this, Gore often avoided using President Clinton to his advantage since he carried that immoral baggage. Not using Clinton may have hurt Gore just enough to lose certain support and votes.

On November 7, 2000 we witnessed one of the closest elections as the country’s next president hinged on Florida. Bush held much of the normally Republican southern states with a comfortable margin and also nabbed Ohio among the big states. Gore was able to clean house in the Northeast and most of the Upper Midwest as Pacific states. As the election went into the morning hours, both men had been declared the winner in the Sunshine State, which also happened to be governed by candidate Bush’s younger brother, Jeb. Bush had 246 electoral votes to Gore’s 255. Both were just short of the necessary total. Florida was the biggest state of the handful of undecided at stake and the winner would be the next president. The election and Florida’s 25 votes went into a month tailspin and recounts.

The recount was mostly around four counties that leaned in the Democrats favor. The recounting process and its technicalities forced the U.S. Supreme Court to interject themselves at the end of November. On December 12th, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote that the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling requiring a statewide recount of ballots was unconstitutional and thus the recounts would not be able to be completed by a safe harbor deadline (that day) and cease to be certified. Shortly after the decision, Gore conceded the election to Bush.

At the conclusion, Bush had 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266; 270 is the necessary amount to win. Florida’s 25 electoral votes were truly the difference and their votes would be put through a recount process. Despite winning the popular vote, Gore lost the electoral vote, which is the more important total in an election at the end of the day. It was the closest election for President since Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, edged Samuel Tilden, of New York. The results were eerily similar in the aspect of Tilden also winning the popular vote and losing the general election amidst some controversy. In early 2001, several members of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Congress attempted to object to the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. And Gore, still the President of the U.S. Senate, ruled against each objection made.

In the wake of the election, there were pushes for election reform for the next presidential election. The Florida jumble in terms of ballots had much to do with ballot designs and the “butterfly ballot”. These ballots caused voting irregularities in various forms. To assist with aiding these problems, electronic voting machines were to be installed.

Roughly nine years later, the debate is still out if the election was tinkered with in Florida and how big a role the state Supreme Court of Florida played in the results. There have been movies, documentaries, and discussions that shed light on the multiple issues that emerged from this election especially when pertaining to Florida. Bush went on to have what most historians would view as a less than great 8 years in office while Gore disappeared for a while before reemerging to be the leading voice in global warming and climate change.

Now as we enter the top 5, we start with two wars worthy of two spots. Both started by the man who won this election. Afghanistan and Iraq and the wars there have divided the country and have taken up much of the decade.