Reply #14: It was the worst campaign by a good candidate I ever saw [View All]

[union_maid]

Gore was the epitome of electability. Coming off a successful administration. Clinton's negatives were all about his personal life and Gore seems to be a true family man and had none of that attached to his name. Tipper would have been a classic first lady in the most traditional sense of the word. And Gore is presidential looking and plenty tall enough. :) He had everything going for him...and then he started campaigning. I voted for him, but I cringed during two out of three of the debates and through most of his prepared speeches when he appeared to be reading the words for the first time.

Lieberman was a terrible choice. "Traditional values" are basically a code phrase for wanting to turn back the clock at least to the fifties if not farther. People who care a lot about that don't vote for Orthodox Jews. People who are happy to vote for a Jew, Orthodox or otherwise, don't want religion intruding in secular public life.

Running a positive campaign is just peachy, but it doesn't really work. Negative ads work. You have to get the other guy on the defensive and have a feel for when you should defend yourself and when you should take the position that an attack is beneath your notice. The people in Gore's campaign didn't appear to have a clue.

With all that he still won the elecion and lost the selection, but he should have won with a larger margin.