Gore and Bush : Policy Versus Personality November 2000

Summary: This News in Review report examines the most recent fight for the most powerful political office in the world, an election race that was the closest in over 50 years. We also look at two distinct and different approaches in this political competition for the hearts and minds of U.S. voters: the policy-centered campaign of Al Gore and the personality approach on which George W. Bush mainly relied. And we assess the impact of the political inheritance of each. While Gore had to deal with the baggage of his predecessor Bill Clinton and Clinton's lack of honesty and integrity, Bush faced a public perception that he did not have the intellectual vigour to be president. The report encourages us to examine how these two approaches, the public perceptions, and the men themselves affected the issues.