Gore in 2000: A Wikibox TL

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LastKingOfMaryland

This is my first thread. If you've got questions, comments, or concerns, shoot!

Vice-President Al Gore was the front runner for the Democratic primaries of 2000, and he unsurprisingly won every single contest. The Republican primaries also were over fairly quickly.

Following a landslide McCain victory in New Hampshire, the Bush campaign upped the ante in South Carolina, spreading a whisper campaign claiming that John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black child. A furious McCain went on national TV and explained that his daughter had been adopted from Bangladesh, accusing the Bush campaign and Karl Rove of spreading lies about him. The polls were tight up to the Saturday primary.
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By a narrow 5,321 vote margin, McCain won the South Carolina primary and a solid majority of the state's delegates. Bush continued on, carrying North Dakota, Georgia, Missouri, Minnesota, and Washington before dropping out on Super Tuesday.

At the Republican convention, McCain selected a personal friend, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Ridge was a popular moderate, and winning Pennsylvania and her 23 electoral votes was a key part of McCain's strategy for the fall campaign.

At the Democratic convention, Gore selected Florida Senator Bob Graham as his running mate. He hoped his choice of a liberal environmentalist Democrat like Graham could win over potential Nader voters. That Graham was incredibly popular in his pivotal home state was just a perk, Gore said.

Three months of campaigning lay ahead, and this race was sure to be one of the closest in history.
 
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LastKingOfMaryland

That the Republican ticket was as moderate as McCain/Ridge angered a lot of conservatives, particularly right-wing Christians who were incensed by Tom Ridge's pro-choice stances. Support for Pat Buchanan's paleo-conservative Reform candidacy shot up, reaching as high as 9% in one poll, and achieving second place in some Deep South and Mountain West states. Gore's pick of Bob Graham as running mate took a fairly large share out of the Nader vote, and he never broke 3% in the polls post-conventions. Though initially wary, Gore decided to make multiple campaign stops with President Clinton, fairly secure in the belief that he could hold his party's liberal wing, and instead ran to the center to win over moderates attracted to McCain/Ridge.

On September 25th, a Gallup national poll was released.
Al Gore / Bob Graham (D)- 47%
John McCain / Tom Ridge (R)- 42%
Pat Buchanan / Ezola Foster (Ref.)- 6%
Ralph Nader / Winona LaDuke (G)- 2%
Other- 3%

McCain went into damage control, claiming that Gore represented "the failed policies and lack of character typical of the Clinton administration", and trashing Buchanan as "a far-right freak whose protectionist policies would destroy our economy."

At the first debate, McCain appeared jumpy and angry while Gore was calm to the point of woodenness. Gore called out McCain's criticism of him as representing "failed policies", pointing to the booming economy and challenging McCain's right to criticize him, as McCain had earlier voted in favor of NAFTA. However, Gore's promise that he'd be a "staunch defender of free trade" cost him some support among his coalition's left flank. Other than that, it was mostly business as usual. Gore won the debate.

The vice-presidential debate was mostly on the issues, although Graham appeared more personable. When asked about Gore's free trade statement, Graham said "While free trade has cost some American jobs, the numbers don't lie. I encourage free trade and Americans stepping up, getting good educations, and finding good jobs for themselves, which we'll do by investing in public education and keeping our schools accountable." This was seen as a non-answer, but Graham won the debate nonetheless. Tom Ridge was seen as weak, rarely hitting Graham very hard.

In the second debate, McCain was more reserved than in the first. When asked about how his experiences as a POW in the Vietnam War made him better qualified than Gore, McCain responded that "My time as a POW almost made me lose hope. But it taught me the importance of service, how all of us must sacrifice to benefit our society. And that's why I'm running for president. To keep serving the greatest nation on earth." McCain's debate victory was widely lauded, and he received a bump in the polls.

The third debate was also a victory for McCain. When asked about the budget surplus, he claimed that "My father and grandfather were admirals. I was a POW. Both Vice-President Gore and his father were U.S. Senators. My entire family faced an onslaught of violence for the American public. The Gore family has taken the tax dollars of the American public and spent till the cows come home. With this surplus, I will give middle-class Americans, the hard-working taxpayers, a tax cut." Gore's response, that he too had served in the military and would cut taxes for the middle class, mostly fell on deaf ears.

The election's final Gallup poll on November 5 was a dead heat.
John McCain / Tom Ridge (R)- 46.8%
Al Gore / Bob Graham (D)- 46.2%
Pat Buchanan / Ezola Foster (Ref.)- 4.2%
Ralph Nader / Winona LaDuke (G)- 1.7%
Other- 1.1%
 
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LastKingOfMaryland

As of November 5, here are the state polls. Dark blue is >5% Democratic, light blue is 2-5% Democratic, gray is less than a 2-point margin either way, pink is 2-5% Republican, and red is >5% Republican.

Current EV Projections
Safe Gore: 196
Leans Gore: 70
Gore Total: 266
Safe McCain: 170
Leans McCain: 26
McCain Total: 196
Tossup: 76
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  • Index

    • LastKingOfMaryland

    Election Night 2000
    *All time stamps are Eastern Standard Time*

    6:00 PM
    Indiana was immediately called for McCain. Kentucky was too early to call.
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    7:00 PM
    Georgia and South Carolina were immediately called for McCain. Vermont was immediately called for Gore.
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    7:30 PM
    Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia were called for McCain. Florida was called for Gore.
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  • Index

    • LastKingOfMaryland

    8:00 PM
    Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas were immediately called for McCain. Delaware, Washington DC, Illinois, Maryland, and Massachusetts were immediately called for Gore.
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    8:30 PM
    Connecticut and Maine were called for Gore.
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    9:00 PM
    Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island were all called for Gore. Arizona, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming were called for McCain.
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    10:00 PM
    Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and West Virginia were all called for McCain. Minnesota and Wisconsin were called for Gore.
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    LastKingOfMaryland

    11:00 PM
    California, Hawaii, Iowa, Nevada, and New Mexico were called for Gore. North Dakota and Ohio were called for McCain.
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    11:24 PM
    Pennsylvania was called for Gore. He was elected the 43rd President of the United States. McCain called to concede two minutes later.
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    Wednesday Morning
    All of the outstanding states were called except Alaska. With the exception of New Hampshire, they all favored Gore. After nearly six weeks of recounts, Pat Buchanan won an upset victory in Alaska by a margin of 55 votes, becoming the first third-party candidate to carry a state since George Wallace over 30 years earlier.
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    LastKingOfMaryland

    2000 Senate Elections

    • Arizona: Jon Kyl was reelected by a landslide.
    • California: Dianne Feinstein was reelected by a landslide.
    • Connecticut: Joe Lieberman was reelected by a landslide.
    • Delaware: Outgoing Governor Tom Carper crushed Bill Roth in the latter's reelection bid.
    • Florida: Connie Mack retired. Bob Graham's influence propelled Democrat Bill Nelson to a solid 11-point victory.
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    • Georgia: Zell Miller won the special election for the late Paul Coverdell's seat by a landslide.
    • Hawaii: Dan Akaka was reelected by a landslide.
    • Indiana: Dick Lugar was reelected by a landslide.
    • Maine: Olympia Snowe was reelected by a landslide.
    • Maryland: Paul Sarbanes was reelected by a landslide.
    • Massachusetts: Ted Kennedy was reelected by a landslide.
    • Michigan: Spencer Abraham lost reelection to Debbie Stabenow.
    • Minnesota: Rod Grams lost reelection to Mark Dayton.
    • Mississippi: Trent Lott was reelected by a landslide.
    • Missouri: Gov. Mel Carnahan, after missing a flight (that later crashed), was elected to John Ashcroft's seat.
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    • Montana: Conrad Burns narrowly lost reelection to Brian Schweitzer by less than 600 votes.
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    • Nebraska: Bob Kerrey retired, and former Governor Ben Nelson won the open seat.
    • Nevada: National Democrats convinced Richard Bryan to run for reelection, and he trounced John Ensign.
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    • New Jersey: Frank Lautenberg was reelected by a landslide.
    • New Mexico: Jeff Bingaman was reelected by a landslide.
    • New York: Pat Moynihan retired and was replaced by First Lady Hillary Clinton.
    • North Dakota: Kent Conrad was reelected by a landslide.
    • Ohio: After a surprise entry into the race, Ambassador Dick Celeste narrowly beat Mike DeWine.
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    • Pennsylvania: Rick Santorum was narrowly reelected.
    • Rhode Island: Lincoln Chafee was reelected by a landslide.
    • Tennessee: Bill Frist was reelected by a landslide.
    • Texas: Kay Hutchison was reelected by a landslide.
    • Utah: Orrin Hatch was reelected by a landslide.
    • Vermont: Jim Jeffords was reelected by a landslide.
    • Virginia: Chuck Robb was narrowly reelected over former Governor George Allen.
    • Washington: Slade Gorton narrowly lost reelection to Maria Cantwell.
    • West Virginia: Robert Byrd was reelected by a landslide.
    • Wisconsin: Herb Kohl was reelected by a landslide.
    • Wyoming: Craig Thomas was reelected by a landslide.
    All in all, Election Night 2000 was very good for Senate Democrats.
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    The same could not be said four years later.
     
    Oppo

    Oppo

    Great timeline! I really like the unique POD compared to other Gore TLs. One minor thing on the Alaska wiki box, McCain should be listed as nominee 4, and Nader should be nominee 5. That should give you an even 2x2 wikibox. Keep on the good work!
     

    LastKingOfMaryland

    2000 Gubernatorial Elections
    • Delaware: Tom Carper was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner.
    • Indiana: Frank O'Bannon was reelected by a landslide.
    • Missouri: Going against the national tide, Republican Jim Talent was narrowly elected Governor.
    • Montana: Democrat Mark O'Keefe narrowly beat Judy Martz for Mark Racicot's seat.
    • New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen was reelected by a landslide.
    • North Carolina: Jim Hunt was succeeded by Mike Easley.
    • North Dakota: Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp was narrowly elected over businessman John Hoeven.
    upload_2016-12-31_10-38-7.png

    • Utah: Mike Leavitt was reelected by a landslide.
    • Vermont: Howard Dean was reelected by a landslide.
    • Washington: Gary Locke was reelected by a landslide.
    • West Virginia: Cecil Underwood narrowly lost reelection to Bob Wise.
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    As for the House elections, the Democrats picked up 9 seats, giving the Democrats narrow control (221 D, 212 R). Dick Gephardt was elected Speaker.
     

    LastKingOfMaryland

    Oppo said:
    Great timeline! I really like the unique POD compared to other Gore TLs. One minor thing on the Alaska wiki box, McCain should be listed as nominee 4, and Nader should be nominee 5. That should give you an even 2x2 wikibox. Keep on the good work!
    Click to expand...
    Thanks! I was wondering how to get the candidates evenly spaced.
     

    LastKingOfMaryland

    The Gore Cabinet

    Al Gore was nothing if not a gracious winner. During his victory speech, as per usual, he reached out to John McCain, but when the president-elect made an announcement on December 14, the entire country was stunned.

    John McCain would be Secretary of State.

    It made sense, McCain had the foreign policy chops, but after a rough campaign no one expected Gore to reward his opponent. McCain was confirmed on January 22, 2001 by a vote of 97 to 3 (The only nay votes were left-wing Democrats Paul Wellstone, Paul Sarbanes, and Russ Feingold). Governor Jane Dee Hull of Arizona appointed Rep. Matt Salmon to fill McCain's Senate seat.

    The other cabinet members were:
    • Vice President Bob Graham (D-FL)
    • Secretary of Defense Wesley Clark (D-AR)
    • Attorney General Deval Patrick (D-MA)
    • Treasury Secretary John Kasich (R-OH)
    • Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt (Retained from Clinton administration) (D-AZ)
    • Secretary of Agriculture Bob Kerrey (D-NE)
    • Secretary of Commerce Michael Dukakis (D-MA)
    • Secretary of Labor James Traficant (D-OH)
    • Secretary of HHS Donna Shalala (Retained from Clinton administration) (D-FL)
    • Secretary of HUD Richard Daley (D-IL)
    • Secretary of Transportation Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)
    • Secretary of Energy Ann Richards (D-TX)
    • Secretary of Education Joe Harris (D-GA)
    • Secretary of VA Max Cleland (D-GA)
    • Chief of Staff Barack Obama (D-IL)
    • Director of the Office of Management and the Budget Warren Rudman (R-NH)
    • EPA Administrator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
    • Trade Representative Bill Richardson (D-NM)
    • Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke (Retained from Clinton administration) (D-NY)
    • Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Janet Yellen (Retained from Clinton administration) (D-CA)
    • Administrator of the SBA Aida Alvarez (Retained from Clinton administration) (D-NY)
    The Gore cabinet was praised for its experience and most nominations received bipartisan support.

    Florida Governor Jeb Bush appointed Secretary of State Katherine Harris (R) to fill Bob Graham's Senate seat.
    Georgia Governor Roy Barnes appointed State Senator Nathan Dean (D) to fill Max Cleland's Senate seat.
    California Governor Gray Davis appointed Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D) to fill Barbara Boxer's Senate seat. She became the first Latina Senator.

    Of particular note was Chief of Staff Barack Obama, who was almost unknown outside of Chicago. He was selected because he was a good public speaker, a strong supporter of the Gore campaign, and was recommended by both Senator Dick Durbin and Mayor/HUD Secretary Richard Daley.
     
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