Clinton vs Bush 2000: No term limits AU

The 2000 presidential election was contested by two term incumbent Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican challenger George W. Bush. Clinton entered the election season as a wdiely popular president, while Bush was the popular governor of Texas. The Bush campaign had high hopes of defeating Clinton, Republicam strategists predicted emphasizing the Monica Lewinsky scandal would convince moderate Democrats who were more socially conservative to vote for Bush. This strategy backfired however, in the same way it backfired om congreasional Republicans after the failed impeachment proceedings. Most of those voters sided with Clinton or preferred his policies to those of Bush. Analysts predicted a close race, but ultimately the Clinton/Gore ticket won overwhelmingly for a third consecutive time.

''' Democratic primary ''' The Democratic nomination for 2000 looked to be an open race in 1998 as president Clinton faced potential impeachment. Vice president Al Gore's name was tossed around, as were otbers such as John Kerry. It seemed likely at this point that whoever won the nomination would need to separate themselves as much as possible from the Clintons to have any chance of being elected. As the impeachment proceedings broke down however, president Clinton's supporters rallied around him and congressional Republicans were criticized for overreaching and being led by political motives. This, in combination with a prosperous economy, resulted in the president's approval ratings rising steadily. In the 1998 midterms, the Democrats gained seats, the first time an incumbent's party had gained seats in a midterm election since World War II. This fueled speculation about whether Clinton would seek a third term in office. In late 1999, the president announced he did indeed intend to run for a third term. Subsequently, all potential challengers dropped out of the race. There were some rumors that Vice President Gore might run against his current boss, but he quickly put those rumors to bed, touting his "full and unqualified support for Bill Clinton in this historic bid." By 2000, with the president's apporval ratings well above 60% and rising, the Democratic party all but unanimously nominated Clinton for the third consecutive time. Clinton chose Al Gore once again as his vice presidential running mate.

Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States and Democratic nominee

Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States

Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States and Democratic VP nominee

Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore, Second Lady of the United States

'''Republican primary ''' George W. Bush had been the presumptive favorite to win the nomination of the RNC since the mid 90s. With the backing of the party establishment and a conservative coalition of evangwlical Christians, Bush was expected to cruise to the nomination. Furthermore, with Bill Clinton's prospects looking anything but certain and the Democratic party on the verge of collapse with its leader's reputation tarnished, analysts were quick to prognosticate a Bush win in 2000. Things started going awry as time went on however. First, Clinton not only survived being impeached, but his popularity inexplicably grew in the aftermath, leading to a disasterous midterm for the Republicans, in which they failed to capitalize on what should have been a devastatung blow to Democrats. Secondly, Bush's nomination was no longer a given once Arizona senator John McCain emerged as a serious challenger as the primary season began. Although he entered the race as a relative unknown, McCain, who was a Vietnam veteran, quickly built a following of veterans and moderate Republicans, as well as independents who admired his "maverick" brand of politics. McCain won a number of key primary states, including New Hampshire, Michigan, and his home state of Arizona. Ultimately however, Bush's connections were too much for McCain to overcome, as well as his views being considered too far out of the mainstream for a Republican. The Bush campaign attacked McCain relentlessly with negativs ads, and in the end, Bush managed to carry the day with a coaliton of evangelicals, conservatives, and establishment Republicans. The wounds of the bitter primary fight were not totally healed however. Some McCain supporters vowed that they would not vote for Bush, opting instead to stay home or vote for a third party candidate

George W. Bush, Governor of Texas and Republican presidential nominee

Dick Cheney, fmr. Secretary of State and Republican vice presidential nominee

'''General Election Season ''' As fall began, Bill Clinton was widely viewed as the favorite due to the booming economy, policies that were popular with both the moderate and left-leaning wings of his party, and his personal popularity. Bush's path to victory was extremely complicated. He needed to break the Democratic coalition by winning over cultural conservatives in the south who liked Clinton's economic policies. He also needed to coax back McCain supporters who were unethusisatic about his candidacy. Bush's campaign decided their best chance was to attack Clinton on moral grounds. In a series of highly publicized ads, Bush repeatedly went after Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bush came back to this point often in his rallies, also accusing Vice President Gore of being complicit in "immoral and illegal" behavior. Some analysts believed this could be a winning strategy; the Lewinsky scandal was a chink in Clinton's broad popularity. Others, however, saw this as a misstep. They noted that the failed impeachment of Clinton had only served to make Republicans look petty and politically motivated and ultimately made him a more popular president, amd therefore few Democrats were likely to be swayed by this line of attack.

For his part, President Clinton chose to run a campaign that focused on his accomplishments in office and the prosperity that the US had enjoyed throughout the 1990s. Clinton's ads primarily used this theme and contrasted it with Bush's conservative ideas, which, the ads claimed, would be a disaster for the economy. Clinton's challenge was keeping his coalition of liberal and moderate Democrats together. To this end, Clinton, who was still popular in the south, held many joint rallies with Al Gore in which the duo, who hailed from Arkansas and Tennessee respectively, asserted that they, not Bush, were truly in touch with the desires of southern Democrats, who Bush was trying to woo over to the GOP. At the same time, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton toured extensively through the northeast and west coast to shore up liberal support against a challenge from Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Hillary promised that the administration would renew its efforts in passimg a comprehensive health care act if reelected along with a Democratic congress.

'''Build up to the election ''' In the final weeks leading up to the election, most pollsters gave Clinton a small edge, noting that Bush had narrowed the gap in many of the soithern states. The Bush campaign was confident that their extensive efforts in this region would pay off on election night. President Clinton was equally confident that he would hold these states. Polling continued to show Clinton was more popular than his Republican opponent, and it was at this late stage that Bush decided to drop his earlier attacks on the president in favor of his original strategy of running as a "compassionate conservative". In the penultimate week of the election cycle, polls showed Bush's popularity slowly rising, but it was still well below Clinton, and many observers speculated his sudden about face was too little too late.

On the eve of the election, Bush held a rally in his home state of Texas, in which he reaffirmed his commitment to be a "reformer with results" and pledged to "restore honor and dignity to the White House" if elected the next day. Meanwhile, president Clinton, first lady Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and second lady Tipper Gore appeared at a rally in Little Rock, Arkansas. All expressed their comfidence in victory the next day, and president Clinton closed with a sincere hope that "the next time I see you, it will be, once again, as president of this great nation!"

'''November 7th, 2000 Election Night'''

As the early returns came in, it quickly became apparent that the battleground states would be in the south and Florida, with Clinton expected to do very well in the northeast. west coast, and midwest, while Bush would likely hold Republican strongholds in the Plains states and the mid-Atlantic region. Initial projections showed that many of these critical races were too close to call, though Clinton held leads in most of them.

As the night wore on, the Bush campaign continued to hold out hope that the southern states would swing their way, but the margins held and even grew in some cases. Soon, news stations began to call battleground states for Clinton, and, as further word came in that the midwest had gone solidly blue once again, it became increasingly likely that president Clinton would indeed be reelected to a third term, the first three term president since FDR. A late call of Florida for Clinton by a narrow margin ended all doubt.

When the final returns came in, Clinton had won in an electoral landslide, earning 375 electoral votes to George W. Bush's 163. It was a smaller total than his 379 electoral votes from four years earlier, but greater than the 370 electoral votes he won in his first election. The popular vote was closer, with Bush coming close in many of the coveted southern states. In the end however, Clinton's popularity was simply too much to overcome. In other Democratic strongholds, such as the midwest, Clinton won rather comfortably.

Electoral map for the year 2000, Bill Clinton won 375 electoral college votes, while George W. Bush won just 163

Aftermath

Once it was clear that Bill Clinton would be reelected to another term in office, the president, first lady, vice president and second lady left their campaign headquarters to attend a nearby victory rally. Amid jubilant cheers, Clinton restated his determination to "lead America into the 21st century" and to "build upon our great prosperity, with eyes firmly set upon the future."

In his concession speech, Bush expressed dissapointment, and notably quipped that "perhaps if we had faced Gore rather than Clinton, we would have won." Bush did not make any comment on whether he would run for president again in the future, but did insist that America had "not seen the last of the Bushes" (perhaps hinting at a Jeb Bush run as early as 2004).

The Clintons and Gores, reelected in 2000