V.

Presidential Campaign and Election

In the early months of his second term, Bush talked with Republican leaders, consultants, and strategists about the possibility of running for president of the United States. In early 1999, at a highly anticipated appearance in Austin, Texas, Bush announced that he was forming a committee to explore the idea of a presidential campaign. In June Bush announced his candidacy for president.

By the summer of 1999, Bush was actively campaigning for the presidency against a field of fellow Republicans that eventually included businessman Steve Forbes, former Reagan adviser Gary Bauer, Utah senator Orrin Hatch, former vice president Dan Quayle, former Tennessee governor Lamar Alexander, former ambassador Alan Keyes, former head of the Red Cross Elizabeth Dole, and Arizona senator John McCain. In August 1999 Bush emerged victorious in the Iowa Straw Poll, one of the early, preprimary contests to help determine the party frontrunner.

Through the early phases of his campaign, Bush continued to describe himself as a compassionate conservative. Some of his opponents suggested that he was not committed to true conservative principles and that he was using the slogan to lure independent and Democratic voters. Bush repeatedly said that he would make education a centerpiece of his administration and that he would strengthen the military. He also pledged to aid minorities by combating what he called “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” He promised to cut taxes, pointing to the tax cuts in Texas during his administration. By early 2000 the Republican contest increasingly centered on Bush and McCain.

After McCain defeated him in the New Hampshire primary, Bush rebounded with a victory in South Carolina. His win in South Carolina set the stage for an eventual triumph in the final round of primaries. Through the primary season, his mother and father made appearances on his behalf. Critics continued to suggest that he was riding his father’s coattails. Some also contended that he lacked the experience necessary to be president since he had only been in office since 1995. Bush replied that, as governor of Texas, he was overseeing a state whose economy, population, and area were larger than those of many countries. By June the Bush campaign had raised over $85 million, a record-setting amount of money for a presidential race.

In the weeks leading to the Republican National Convention in July, Bush traveled cross-country. Among his travels was a high-profile visit to the convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). His allies lauded him for reaching out to minorities; his critics said that he had not delivered enough specific solutions to minority concerns. Just prior to the Republican National Convention, Bush picked Dick Cheney as his vice-presidential running mate.

Bush had originally chosen Cheney to oversee the selection process for a vice-presidential candidate. Cheney had a lengthy record in elected and appointed offices and had served as chief of staff for President Gerald Ford and as secretary of defense for Bush’s father, President George Bush. Bush’s supporters saw the selection of Cheney as a way to offset accusations that Bush did not have the necessary experience to serve in the White House. Critics of the choice said that Bush was relying on his father’s old advisers and that Cheney’s conservative voting record in Congress would displease minorities and Democrats.

On the final night of the convention, Bush delivered one of the most important speeches of his life, as he formally accepted the Republican nomination for president. Before thousands of supporters, he outlined his basic political philosophy of compassionate conservatism. In his speech he also chided the Clinton-Gore administration, saying it had not lived up to its potential. While supporters applauded Bush’s speech as a call for renewed moral leadership, critics focused on its failure to set forth specific policy proposals. Immediately following the convention Bush and Cheney began a series of train trips across the country to promote their candidacy.

During the campaign, Bush’s main opponents were Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic Party nominee; consumer activist Ralph Nader, the Green Party nominee; and political commentator Pat Buchanan, who ran on the Reform Party ticket. Bush focused on issues such as providing tax cuts and improving education. He also expressed a desire to change social security by letting people invest a portion of their funds in the stock market. Bush participated in three debates with Gore. He also spent time campaigning in states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, and Oregon, which were very closely divided between the two candidates.

On November 7, as election returns came in, Bush won 29 states, primarily in the West and South, including Wyoming, Utah, Georgia, and Alabama. He also won some traditionally Democratic states such as West Virginia and Gore’s home state of Tennessee. However, as the night wore on, it became clear that the presidential race would be extremely close. Both candidates needed to win Florida to receive the 270 electoral votes necessary to become president. When Florida’s vote was counted, Bush had more votes than Gore, but the candidates were separated by less than one-half of one percent of the tally. Florida law dictates that an automatic recount be performed if the candidates are separated by only one-half of one percent.

The next day, Florida began recounting its votes while Bush waited to learn if he would become the president of the United States. The state was also waiting to receive and count overseas absentee ballots. After Florida finished its recount, Bush was still ahead in Florida, but only by about 300 votes.

With the vote so close, Democrats pressed for a manual recount in four heavily Democratic counties, arguing that machine tallies had failed to accurately record all of the votes cast for president. The Bush team went to court to prevent the manual recount, charging that the votes had already been recounted once and that a manual count introduced the possibility of human error. Florida’s secretary of state set a deadline of November 14 for submitting the recounted votes for certification. However, some counties could not finish their manual recounts by the deadline. Gore went to court to seek to have all the manual recounts included in the final tally. The Florida Supreme Court then ordered the secretary of state to delay the certification of votes until it could hear the case.

On November 21 the Florida Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the manual recounts should be included and had to be submitted to the secretary of state by November 26. Bush disagreed with the decision and appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court. On November 26 Florida certified its election results, including its overseas ballots, and Bush won the state by just over 500 votes. Gore, however, still felt that some votes had been excluded, and he contested the certified results in court.

On December 4, after considering arguments from both sides, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the Florida Supreme Court to clarify its ruling. The same day, a Florida circuit court judge ruled against Gore’s request for additional recounts. The ruling was a victory for Bush. However, Gore appealed that case to the Florida Supreme Court.

On December 8 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the additional recounts should be allowed to proceed. Bush then appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also asked the Court to stop the recounts from proceeding until the Court had a chance to hear the case. On December 9 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay, stopping all the recounts until after it heard the case, which it did on December 11. On December 12 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Florida recounts were unconstitutional because the recounts violated the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution. The Court argued that not all votes were being treated equally because there was no clear standard for how to do manual recounts. The decision was a huge victory for Bush. On December 13, five weeks after the election, Gore officially conceded the race to Bush, and Bush became the president-elect of the United States. See also Disputed Presidential Election of 2000.