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[[Image:00-main.jpg|right|thumb|300px|George W. Bush and Al Gore]] In 2000, the United States presidential election was one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history. A month of recounts and court challenges followed, culminating in the Supreme Court case ''[[Bush v. Gore]]''. Following the court's 5-4 decision, [[George W. Bush]] was declared the winner over [[Vice President]] [[Al Gore]] by 537 votes in the state of [[Florida]]. Domestic issues as opposed to [[foreign policy]] dominated the campaign. Key issues were prescription drug prices, campaign finance reform, [[Social Security]], and [[education]]. Each candidate claimed their economic plan would reduce the deficit. Bush parodied himself as a "compassionate conservative." The Bush campaign did not make an issue over the sex scandal and impeachment of [[Bill Clinton]]'s Presidency less then two years ago.

[[Image:00-main.jpg|right|thumb|300px|George W. Bush and Al Gore]] In 2000, the United States presidential election was one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history. A month of recounts and court challenges followed, culminating in the Supreme Court case ''[[Bush v. Gore]]''. Following the court's 5-4 decision, [[George W. Bush]] was declared the winner over [[Vice President]] [[Al Gore]] by 537 votes in the state of [[Florida]]. Domestic issues as opposed to [[foreign policy]] dominated the campaign. Key issues were prescription drug prices, campaign finance reform, [[Social Security]], and [[education]]. Each candidate claimed their economic plan would reduce the deficit. Bush parodied himself as a "compassionate conservative." The Bush campaign did not make an issue over the sex scandal and impeachment of [[Bill Clinton]]'s Presidency less then two years ago. Gore refused to allow Clinton to campaign and did not himself campaign on the Administration's record of peace and prosperity, and disappointed Democrats by his lackluster performance.

 

In an interesting twist, based upon what was to occur, a few days before the election polls were suggesting that Bush would win the popular vote by a small margin come election day, but that Gore could win the electoral college.  The Bush campaign floated the idea of the unfairness of such a situation occurring and it the Gore camp that strongly reiterated that the popular vote didn't matter -- it was the electoral college that determined the rightful President.

==Primaries==

==Primaries==

The contest for the Republican nomination came down to two men: Governor George W. Bush and [[Arizona]] Senator [[John McCain]], an ex-POW in [[North Vietnam]]. Most Republican leaders endorsed Bush, who was popular with [[social conservative]]s. Despite early victories for McCain in the [[New Hampshire]] and [[Michigan]] primaries, Bush went on to win [[South Carolina]] and 9 out of 13 super Tuesday states. McCain dropped out in March after a bitter primary.

The contest for the Republican nomination came down to two men: Texas Governor George W. Bush and Arizona Senator [[John McCain]], an ex-POW in North Vietnam. Most Republican leaders endorsed Bush, who was popular with [[social conservative]]s. Despite early victories for McCain in the [[New Hampshire]] and [[Michigan]] primaries, Bush went on to win [[South Carolina]] and 9 out of 13 super Tuesday states. McCain dropped out in March after a bitter primary.

Incumbent Vice President Al Gore faced a challenge from former [[New Jersey]] Senator [[Bill Bradley]]. Bradly ran to left of Gore on universal [[health care]], [[gun control]], and campaign finance reform. Gore eventually trumped Bradly, winning all 50 primary states.   

Incumbent Vice President Al Gore faced a challenge from former New Jersey Senator [[Bill Bradley]]. Bradly ran to left of Gore on universal [[health care]], [[gun control]], and campaign finance reform. Gore eventually trumped Bradly, winning all 50 primary states.   

    

    

==Campaign==

==Campaign==

As a Vice President for eight years to a popular President during a time when the economy was still believed to be doing well, Gore appeared to have some strong starting plusses.  Indeed, he easily won the Democratic primary.  But due to Clinton's scandal and [[impeach]]ment near the end of his term, Gore sought to distance himself from the sitting President.  Clinton, for his part, did little to help Gore.  Indeed, when Clinton gave his big speech where he was supposed to pass the baton to Gore, he could never quite do so - instead talking about his own accomplishments and saying little more than 'and Al Gore was there too'.  During the campaign political pundits stressed the need of Gore to show that he was the 'alpha dog', but he never quite achieved that breakthrough and it would 'dog' him throughout his campaign.  Gore tried to find a balance between adopting the economy and yet steering clear of Clinton's moral failings, but could never quite find the right mix.  He was also hampered by the public perception that the economy under Clinton was due more to good fortune than any Clinton initiatives.  With Republicans controlling Congress for the last 6 years of Clinton's terms, there was a view that Clinton's role was one of not doing anything to stop the expansion more than doing something to cause it.

As a Vice President for eight years to a popular President during a time when the economy was still believed to be doing well, Gore appeared to have some strong starting advantages.  Indeed, he easily won the Democratic primary.  But due to Clinton's scandal and impeachment in 1998, Gore sought to distance himself from the sitting President.  Clinton, for his part, did little to help Gore.  Indeed, when Clinton gave his big speech where he was supposed to pass the baton to Gore, he could never quite do so - instead talking about his own accomplishments and saying little more than 'and Al Gore was there too'.  During the campaign political pundits stressed the need of Gore to show that he was the 'alpha dog', but he never quite achieved that breakthrough and it would 'dog' him throughout his campaign.  Gore tried to find a balance between adopting the economy and yet steering clear of Clinton's moral failings, but could never quite find the right mix.  He was also hampered by the public perception that the economy under Clinton was due more to good fortune than any Clinton initiatives.  With Republicans controlling Congress for the last 6 years of Clinton's terms, there was a view that Clinton's role was one of not doing anything to stop the expansion more than doing something to cause it.  

 

Bush also came out of the Republican primary relatively unscathed, and had a 'pedigree' of being the son of a previous President and a strong record as governor of Texas and being well liked by the hispanic populace, a group that Republicans had struggled to vote their way.  The press began to attack Bush and his speaking style where he had a tendency to sometimes mispronounce or garble words.  Indeed, going into the debates there was even mention of the idea that Bush was a "moron", a contention that the Gore camp quitely Chuckled along with.

==Debates==

==Debates==

== The Networks rush to be wrong ==

== The Networks rush to be wrong ==

The networks, in a rush to be the first station to present results, began to call the election for Gore while voting was still going on in most of the country.  As it turned out afterwards, the networks were all using the same polling data, which made a math error in their presentation of the results in the state of Florida.  As was shown in the Carter-Reagan election in 1980, the belief your candidate has been defeated has a tendency to demoralize the voters for that candidate and make them less likely to come out to vote.  Pat Buchanan pointed out afterwards that voters in western Florida, which is prime Republican territory, heard that Florida had gone for Gore and that Gore had won while they were still voting.  Many got out of line and went home without casting their ballots.  By the time the networks realized their error as the Florida numbers kept coming in showing Bush as leading, voting across the country had already shut down.  The networks then called the state for Bush, which turned out to compound their error when a sudden influx of Gore votes from Democratic precincts made the state too close to call at the end of the evening. Indeed, the seeds of [[Bush v. Gore]] had been sown.  

The networks, in a rush to be the first to present results, made false calls in Florida. Each network used the same exit poll data, which contained a small math error for Florida.  The networks first called Florida for Gore, then for Bush. They should have said it was too close to call.  

 

In a rare situation in Presidential elections, Al Gore lost his home state of [[Tennessee]] to George Bush. Had he carried that state, the whole question of how Florida voted would have been moot.

 

 

==Recount==

==Recount==

This was the 16th time in history that a candidate won the [[Electoral College]] vote without receiving the majority of the nation's popular vote.<ref>It also happened in 1844, 1856, 1860, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1912, 1916, 1948, 1960, 1968, 1992, and 1996. It was the first time since [[United States presidential election%2C 2000|Kennedy in 1960]] that the presidential winner failed to win a plurality of the popular vote. </ref>

This was the 16th time in history that a candidate won the [[Electoral College]] vote without receiving the majority of the nation's popular vote.<ref>It also happened in 1844, 1856, 1860, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, 1912, 1916, 1948, 1960, 1968, 1992, and 1996. It was the first time since [[United States presidential election%2C 2000|Kennedy in 1960]] that the presidential winner failed to win a plurality of the popular vote. </ref>

The campaigns of both [[Ralph Nader]] on the [[Green Party]] ticket and [[Pat Buchanan]] on the [[Reform Party]] ticket gained major media attention during the campaign. Although this failed to translate into any electoral votes for either, with the final margin of victory being so small, the role of both and what impact they had on the election received prominence during the time when neither major party candidate would concede.

The final official recount showed Bush ahead by 537 votes.  Gore supporters asked the Supreme Court to recount votes in some counties where they thought Gore might add votes, but to ignore counties where they thought Bush would gain.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this strategy illegal, and the result was accepted by Gore, who indeed announced the Florida vote for Bush in his role as Vice President.

There has also been much speculation on what might have happened if there had been additional recounts. A consortium of newspapers did an investigation, and concluded that Bush would have won under the recounts that Gore had proposed. However, the Florida supreme court had attempted a closed-door recount using unspecified procedures, and no one knows how it might have manipulated the outcome.

[[File:2000b.jpg|thumb|300px]]

The campaigns of both [[Ralph Nader]] on the [[Green Party]] ticket and [[Pat Buchanan]] on the [[Reform Party]] ticket gained some media attention during the campaign. With the election so close people speculated that they had "caused" the result. Democrats never forgave Nader.

In a rare situation in Presidential elections, Al Gore lost his home state of [[Tennessee]] to George Bush.  Had he carried that state, the whole question of how Florida voted would have been moot.

There has also been much speculation on what might have happened if there had been recounts under different rules. A consortium of newspapers did an investigation of multiple scenarios. They concluded Gore would have won in some versions and Bush in other versions; Bush would have won under the recounts that Gore had proposed.  

The Election Results eventually showed<ref>Leip, Dave.  [http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections].  Retrieved 7/1/2007</ref>

The Election Results eventually showed<ref>Leip, Dave.  [http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/ Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections].  Retrieved 7/1/2007</ref>