why isnt gore the president today?

[corporatewhore]

edit clarity

[GreenArrow]

1. 4 and 5

combo, primarily. The media and the Republicans also lied relentlessly about Gore, and he was not able to counteract it.

[GreenArrow]

18. should have been 2 and 3.

Don't know how I got four and five.

[waylon]

2. Electoral count ?

Someone explain to me how that system works. Is it representative, ie... each million voters = 1 electoral vote?

I thought I understood it, but i guess i dont. How, if the electoral college represents the voters, can you win the popular but lose the electoral?

danka

[nayt]

19. i think

number of electors = size of the state's congressional delegation.

[0rganism]

21. It's a sop to the smaller states, really

State by state, winning party gets to appoint all the electoral voters, which equal the size of the congressional delegation -- except in Maine, where the electors are appointed proportional to the vote. Then the electoral college votes for the president, usually straight down party lines. There was some effort by Dems in 2000 to get a couple of Florida electors to defect, but it didn't pan out. The electors are typically tight with the party machinery.

The net effect is smaller states get over-represented by population.

Hope that helps.

[bushwakker]

3. Media trashed him

actually amazing that he still won. the dc press corps is now subjecting awol to the kind of scrutiny he should have gotten four years ago.

[Mattforclark]

4. All of the above except God

You can't just find one reason for an event in a complex system such as an election.

[NashVegas]

5. None of the Above

Answer: because our corporate masters didn't want him.

Interesting you didn't give that option, considering your nick.

[AmericanErrorist]

20. That's Ridiculous

The corporate elite didn't really care.

[Goldberg]

6. He is the President...

he was screwed out of Florida...remember? Oh, and the Supreme Court selected Bush president, too. :grr:

[WiseMen]

7. Democrats Kept Hammering Him and Supporting Repub Personal Slams

The usual --

Unprincipled! Both Sides of issues
Wooden.
Preoccupied with wardrobe

No different than Bush

Etc.

[goobergunch]

10. Got a link to back that up? (n/t)

[CalebHayes]

8. 1,2,3,5 And JL

[vi5]

9. A combination of things but he ran a crappy campaign I thought...

Yes, the supreme court made a bad decision and their were numerous shady circumstances. But it shouldn't have been close enough ANYWHERE for them to have had that option.

1)He distanced himself from a popular and succesful president. The fact is only repukes HATED Clinton and they weren't going to vote for Gore no matter what.
2)He chose a lackluster, boring running mate who although helping in Florida, did nothing to calm people who saw Gore as a panderer to the anti-Clinton feelings.
3)Every time there was a criticism of him he reacted in a way that made it seem like he was changing in order to address the criticisms, no matter how stupid they may have been.
4)He never once bothered to correct the many false stories about his so-called lies.

In short, he didn't put up a fight and allowed not only the right to dictate his candidacy but also the left in the form of the Naderites.

[andym]

11. Other

1) He was a poor media candidate, he did not come across consistently well on TV.

----------
2) His populist message should have been combined with taking credit for his contributions to the "Clinton/Gore" economy and promising more of the same.

[bread_and_roses]

12. I voted for weak campaign

but would add the Supreme Court, dirty tricks in Fla, and the failure to support the Black Caucus if we could vote more than once. But a better campaign might have given him the votes to surmount all that. If he had sounded in the campaign more like he sounds lately, he might have won by a margin large enough to be beyond dirty tricks.

[bloom]

13. All but the God answer.

[patricia92243]

14. He didn't use the Big Dog.

[Zhade]

15. 2,3, 4, and 6.

Plus: the american people mostly sat around while a coup was underway.

Our Founding Fathers would be ashamed of most of us.

[Leilani]

16. All of the above except God

& the Dem Party failed to come through & fight like the Repugs did.

Maybe people thought Bush was too stupid to be taken seriously.

[Crunchy Frog]

17. I would say 1, 2, and 3

But I chose 1 because I believe that to be the most important reason. If he had run a truly strong campaign, I believe it would not have gotten close enough for Bush to steal.

[NV1962]

22. 1, 2, 3, and 4

5 is, well, absurd - and 6 (media) aren't and weren't helpful ever, in the last 25 years.

[gauguin57]

23. a combination of

1, 2, 3, 5 and 7

[NV1962]

25. OMG - I lost count myself... It's 1, 2, 3, 4, *and* 5

6 is absurd ("because God wants it") and 7 is the media thing.

Oops!

That's what quick typing gets me... :cry:

[youngred]

24. 1,2,3,7

combination of them

[Hippo_Tron]

26. You forgot Clinton's Penis n/t

[MurikanDemocrat]

27. Several of the above

campaign mistakes

the supreme court

Nader


The MOST responsible being Kathrine Harris/dirty voting tactics and the media

[HuskerDem]

28. Running AWAY from Clinton, boring boring boring

He spent 8 years in one of the most successful administrations in history and he chose not to capitalize on it.

He delivery was stiff and condescending. That was no media creation, it was fact. He sounded like my mom's doctor, whom I cannot stand because he is so damn stiff and condescending.

[VelmaD]

29. Because we didn't take to the streets

and fucking RIOT when the Supreme Court decision came down.

[0rganism]

30. Classic case of an overdetermined phenomenon

Several of the choices would be, by themselves, sufficient reason for Al Gore to lose. Taken together, one can almost give credence to the wingnut "God wanted bush", because the deck was certainly stacked against Gore.