What did Bush-Cheney '00 do wrong that the election was so close?
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  What did Bush-Cheney '00 do wrong that the election was so close?
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Author Topic: What did Bush-Cheney '00 do wrong that the election was so close?  (Read 2118 times)
Suburbia
bronz4141
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« on: August 02, 2021, 11:58:24 AM »

Was the Cheney-Lieberman debate too much of a snoozefest?

Bush too dumb or anti-intellectual?

A lot of people still think that the 2000 election was stolen or illegitimate....
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OSR stands with Israel
Computer89
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« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2021, 12:02:00 PM »

Picking Cheney was a mistake for Bush and he really should have picked Danforth who would have increased the appeal Bush had in the midwest
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darklordoftech
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« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2021, 09:45:10 PM »

- Cheney was from a safe state and wasn’t charismatic. If Gore won Florida and therefore the election, Cheney would be seen the way Tim Kaine has been seen since election night 2016.

- Many feared that Bush was theocratic. Bush opposed hate crime laws for hate crimes against gay people.

- Bush’s DUI hurt him.

- Bush lacked foreign policy experience.

- Cheney had supported Apartheid South Africa.

- Cheney had been CEO of Halliburton (an obvious conflict of interest).

- Bush’s record as Governor was too right-wing for some people’s liking.

- The economy was good, the budget was balanced, and there were no wars, so why change things?

- Elderly voters who remembered the Great Depression.

- Lieberman helped with Jewish and Cuban voters.
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MT Treasurer
IndyRep
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« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2021, 10:05:27 PM »

Picking Cheney, equivocating on abortion/barely making it an issue, being too miliquetoast on social issues in general (lots of Evangelicals and social conservatives who voted for him in 2004 did not participate in 2000), too overconfident about his EC prospects (taking FL for granted for a long time, competing in CA, appearances in NJ days before the election, etc.), continually reinforcing the perception of Gore being the knowledgeable issue-based candidate who cares about you (he could have closed the gap on that question while still branding himself as the outsider/character- and integrity-driven candidate, etc.), being outhustled on the ground (Democrats had one of the most impressive ground operations that year), arguably not confrontational enough in his attacks on Clinton and in drawing a contrast between the two parties as well as himself and his opponent, etc.
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Chips
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« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2021, 10:25:12 PM »

Bush should've picked Ridge if he wanted to improve his chances in my opinion.
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South Dakota Democrat
jrk26
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« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2021, 11:26:15 PM »

The question should be flipped.  It should be, what did Gore/Lieberman do to make the election so close, since the fundamentals really favored Democrats.

However, given the premise of the thread, it would be Bush not campaigning the weekend before the election.
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Schiff for Senate
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« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2021, 01:53:40 PM »

- Cheney was from a safe state and wasn’t charismatic. If Gore won Florida and therefore the election, Cheney would be seen the way Tim Kaine has been seen since election night 2016.

- Many feared that Bush was theocratic. Bush opposed hate crime laws for hate crimes against gay people.

- Bush’s DUI hurt him.

- Bush lacked foreign policy experience.

- Cheney had supported Apartheid South Africa.

- Cheney had been CEO of Halliburton (an obvious conflict of interest).

- Bush’s record as Governor was too right-wing for some people’s liking.

- The economy was good, the budget was balanced, and there were no wars, so why change things?

- Elderly voters who remembered the Great Depression.

- Lieberman helped with Jewish and Cuban voters.

All of these make sense, but that second last one just seems totally random and unrelated. How would the Great Depression help Al Gore 70 years after it happened?
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Calthrina950
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« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2021, 10:09:27 AM »

- Cheney was from a safe state and wasn’t charismatic. If Gore won Florida and therefore the election, Cheney would be seen the way Tim Kaine has been seen since election night 2016.

- Many feared that Bush was theocratic. Bush opposed hate crime laws for hate crimes against gay people.

- Bush’s DUI hurt him.

- Bush lacked foreign policy experience.

- Cheney had supported Apartheid South Africa.

- Cheney had been CEO of Halliburton (an obvious conflict of interest).

- Bush’s record as Governor was too right-wing for some people’s liking.

- The economy was good, the budget was balanced, and there were no wars, so why change things?

- Elderly voters who remembered the Great Depression.

- Lieberman helped with Jewish and Cuban voters.

All of these make sense, but that second last one just seems totally random and unrelated. How would the Great Depression help Al Gore 70 years after it happened?

The senior vote still leaned Democratic as late as 2000, being comprised largely of members of the Greatest Generation who had come of age during Roosevelt's Presidency and were shaped by their experiences under the Great Depression and World War II. Seniors actually backed Bill Clinton over Bob Dole (a member of the Greatest Generation himself) in 1996, and helped Clinton carry Arizona and Florida. Gore maintained much of this support, helping to explain why he did relatively well in Appalachia and why Florida was as close as it was.
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Vice President Christian Man
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« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2021, 10:59:08 AM »

I think Bush spent too much time in the states he wasn't going to win but were previously competitive and not enough time in the "swing" states.
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Calthrina950
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« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2021, 11:00:11 AM »

I think Bush spent too much time in the states he wasn't going to win but were previously competitive and not enough time in the "swing" states.

Bush spent time campaigning in California, which was already a Likely D state by 2000 but was not as Democratic as it is now, was still competitive at the statewide level, and was not viewed as a lost cause.
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One Term Floridian
swamiG
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« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2022, 03:24:26 PM »

- Cheney was from a safe state and wasn’t charismatic. If Gore won Florida and therefore the election, Cheney would be seen the way Tim Kaine has been seen since election night 2016.

- Many feared that Bush was theocratic. Bush opposed hate crime laws for hate crimes against gay people.

- Bush’s DUI hurt him.

- Bush lacked foreign policy experience.

- Cheney had supported Apartheid South Africa.

- Cheney had been CEO of Halliburton (an obvious conflict of interest).

- Bush’s record as Governor was too right-wing for some people’s liking.

- The economy was good, the budget was balanced, and there were no wars, so why change things?

- Elderly voters who remembered the Great Depression.

- Lieberman helped with Jewish and Cuban voters.

All of these make sense, but that second last one just seems totally random and unrelated. How would the Great Depression help Al Gore 70 years after it happened?

The senior vote still leaned Democratic as late as 2000, being comprised largely of members of the Greatest Generation who had come of age during Roosevelt's Presidency and were shaped by their experiences under the Great Depression and World War II. Seniors actually backed Bill Clinton over Bob Dole (a member of the Greatest Generation himself) in 1996, and helped Clinton carry Arizona and Florida. Gore maintained much of this support, helping to explain why he did relatively well in Appalachia and why Florida was as close as it was.

Yes 2000 was the last hurrah of the GI Dems. It contributed to the closeness of the election both because of the Democratic lean of that generation & Al Gore's stances on social security and medicare
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RRusso1982
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« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2022, 10:02:32 AM »

For one thing, the DWI revelation coming out 10 days before the election hurt Bush.  It threw the campaign off stride.  Remember, Bush had a pretty consistent 2 or 3 point lead over Gore in most national polls from the last debate to when the DWI story broke.  Also, the Bush campaign finished badly.  They got a little cocky in the end.  They acted like they had it.  They wasted time and money campaigning in California and New Jersey.  They basically took the last weekend off, while Gore campaigned nonstop the last week.  I remember the speculation was that Bush would win the popular vote but Gore may win the electoral, which is the opposite of what happened.
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