The Republican Return The Election of 2000

The Clinton Years Longest period of sustained economic growth in American History Dow Jones Industrial Average 1-2-92: 3172.41 Dow Jones Industrial Average 1-14-00: 11,722.98 Low Inflation and Unemployment Whitewater Scandal Fraudulent loans and land deals Abuse of the power of the Governorship Clinton associates were convicted, but no evidence was found linking the President to the crimes

The Clinton Years The Monica Lewinsky Scandal The President was accused of having and extramarital affair with 19 year old White House intern Monica Lewinsky Not the first time he’d been accused of such relationships Denied to Federal prosecutor Kenneth Starr and The Grand Jury that he’d been involved with Lewinsky Eventually the evidence proved otherwise Clinton is impeached by the House of representatives for “High Crimes and Misdemeanors”

The End of the Clinton Era Although Clinton was guilty of being dishonest, the Senate voted to acquit the President on February 12, 1999 Clinton remained popular for the duration of his term The American people were tired of scandal, which would prove difficult for Vice-President Al Gore, who would run to replace Clinton in the 2000 Election

The Election of 2000 - Democrats Vice-President Albert Gore Former Senator Bill Bradley

Election of 2000 - Republicans Dan Quayle Former Vice President of the United States George W. Bush Governor of Texas John McCain Senator from Arizona Steve Forbes Businessman Six other Republican candidates

The Nominees Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) Vice President Albert Gore (D-TN)

The Campaign Bush focused on the negatives of the Clinton foreign policy and scandals Somalia “Nation building” Compassionate Conservatism – tax cuts, returning the surplus Gore focused on Bush lack of experience to be President Speaking gaffes Lack of job experience Use surplus to protect social security and pay down the deficit Gore sought to distance himself from Clinton Bush’s focus was to restore dignity to the White House Clinton did not campaign with Gore

Election night Very close race Counting went late into the evening Florida’s 25 electoral votes would determine the outcome Too close to call Both candidates remained optimistic about the outcome of the election Gore was optimistic that the numbers were trending in his favor Bush was convinced that his brother Jeb Bush, Florida’s Governor, had helped to secure the state with vigorous campaigning

Florida Before the polls closed in Florida, some television networks had declared the Gore had won the state’s electoral votes Exit polling: poll taken of voters immediately after voting Early exit polls favored Gore, so it was determined based on those polls that Gore had won the states The exit polls did not figure in the results from Florida’s panhandle Different time zones Heavily Republicans

Florida by County Florida’s electoral map with a line showing approximately where the time zone difference occurs

Retraction As the votes from Florida’s panhandle came in, it became clear that this race was closer than anyone had imagined News networks all over the country were forced to retract their prediction of a win for Gore and say instead that Florida was “too close to call”. Counting went on through the night, and by morning, no one knew yet who had won

Recount Florida law demands a recount in an election that is close votes of this nature Gore requested hand counts of three large counties Both sides built their legal teams Ballot irregularities Butterfly ballots in some counties may have made it unclear to the voter who they were choosing Punch card ballot machines malfunctioned, creating “hanging chads”

Florida Secretary of State Katharine Harris As per Florida law, Harris was responsible for certifying the election winner Certified Mr. Bush after an initial recount Fought to have that certification upheld Involved in several controversies throughout the recount process Florida Secretary of State Katharine Harris

Additional controversies Scrub list List of eligible voters in the state of Florida Many eligible voters were left off and therefore unable to vote 88% of those left off were African Americans’ who primarily vote Democratic List had recently been updated by Katherine Harris, Florida’s Secretary of State Roadblocks blocking access to polls in heavily Democratic voting counties

Additional Controversies Vote Pairing was suppressed Vote pairing: the exchange of votes for a particular candidate in a “lost cause” state for votes for a legitimate competitor in a swing state Lawsuits against vote pairing web sites, eventually ruled unconstitutional, were instigated by the Florida government The Volusia Error A voting machine in the small precinct malfunctioned Of 412 votes, the machine gave Mr. Bush 2813 votes and Mr. Gore -16,022

The Legal process At the end of the official recount, Mr. Bush led the race by 537 votes (.009%) Gore demanded more hand recounts Several Florida counties sued to have their deadline for official results extended to accommodate the recount Bush sued to stop more recounts The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the recounts should go on

The Supreme Court of the United States George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, petitioners v. Albert Gore, Jr. et al. Bush’s lawsuit to end the Florida recounts appealing to the United States Supreme Court The Court’s ruling would effectively decide the race In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Florida Supreme Court decision violated Mr. Bush’s 14th Amendment Rights Equal protection clause No time to organize a fair and equal recount process This allowed Katharine Harris to certify George Bush as the winner of the Florida electoral votes.

Interesting Recount Statistics Review of all ballots statewide (never undertaken) • Standard as set by each county canvassing board during their survey: Gore by 171 Fully punched chad and limited marks on optical ballots: Gore by 115 Any dimples or optical mark: Gore by 107  One corner of chad detached or optical mark: Gore by 60 Review of limited sets of ballots (initiated but not completed)  Gore request for recounts of all ballots in Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Volusia counties: Bush by 225  Florida Supreme Court of all undervotes statewide: Bush by 430 Florida Supreme Court as being implemented by the counties, some of whom refused and some counted overvotes as well as undervotes: Bush by 493 Unofficial recount totals  Incomplete result when the Supreme Court stayed the recount (December 9, 2000): Bush by 154 Certified Result (official final count)   Recounts included from Volusia and Broward only: Bush by 537