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Dream Big, Dream High
With a close shave in November, Al Gore knew that the only way he could be reelected was to be an ambitious president; stand on his own two feet. Bush Sr. fulfilled Reagan's "third term", and Gore, having defeated a Bush, did not want to become one.

Reinstating former Clinton Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, President Gore emphasized his new grand mission; developing an economy that produced wealth efficiently while benefited all of it's members.


"There is no reason why the United States of America, the greatest nation on the face of the Earth, entering the 21st century, cannot create a productive economy that lifts up all. Secretary Rubin and I will work hard for that, and there are three main goals we have for this ambitious project, lowering corporate taxes so that American companies can compete right at home, raising income taxes to make up for lost revenue from lowered corporate taxes for both purposes relating to social welfare and the national debt, and finally instituting economic reforms that remove corruption from the process and promote honest trade over cronyism." - President Al Gore's economic reform speech, 2001.





(President Al Gore at a press conference, Washington D.C., 2001)

While the speech had varying responses depending on the audience (raising taxes was not music to most American's ears), in general the idea of promoting American business and at the same time protecting the little guy garnered appeal across the board. However, the shift in economic policy scared many insiders, including long-time Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens.

"He's after guys like me." thought the Alaskan leader. Having a political career spanning more than four decades, Senator Stevens had done much for the development of Alaska, however some of the deals involved were not the most honest in spirit. Pork and Barrel politics were common, but Stevens calmed himself with the known fact that this sort of politics was the usual within the Last Frontier state. "He's power hungry that Gore. He wants all of those who built this country in the previous generation, the greatest generation, dead and gone."

Senator Stevens knew that Gore was his greatest threat yet, and that for the sake of his political survival he had to defeat the man from Tennessee in any way he could.

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