What did Bush-Cheney '00 do wrong that the election was so close?

[Calthrina950]

- 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.

[Calthrina950]

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.