2008 vs… 2000
June 20th, 2008, 10:11 am · Post a Comment · posted by Dan Lehr
This is a continuation of our series comparing & contrasting this campaign & ones from years past.
(Click here for our look at 2008 vs 2004).
The similarities with the 2000 campaign are, quite frankly, few. The biggest is the fact that this is an election that comes after a full 2-term presidency. Counting this year, there have been only 4 since 1950 & 6 since 1900.
One could argue that this was the first election where the internet started coming into play. Here’s a link to a site with a look at all the presidential campaign websites of that year.
To make 2008 look more like 2000, we’d have to put Dick Cheney in Al Gore’s position, & for the challenger candidate on the other side.. hmm.. it’d have to be a charismatic governor from the southwest…
how ’bout Bill Richardson. Golly. Now there’s an interesting matchup.
Were people paying as close attention in 2000? No. Check this article out from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, from the 4th of July, 2000:
“Even though Al Gore and George W. Bush have spent $129.7 million in their quest for the presidency, most of the people who could put them in the Oval Office are paying little or no attention to the longest and most expensive presidential race in history.
A continuing survey of the nation’s electorate shows that only about one in four potential voters say they are meaningfully involved in the presidential campaign.
The director of the Vanishing Voter Project at Harvard University says the campaign has been a “political Silent Spring.” Weekly polls conducted by the Kennedy School of Government’s project show that most voters are ignorant of the candidates’ positions.“
Ha! My, how times have changed. That number is higher this year, though I’ve not been able to find any data to back that up.
But the two candidates - Bush & Gore, were, quite frankly very much alike in a generational sense. (Obviously they differed in many ways, but many voters had trouble making distinctions between the two).
Al Gore became the first presidential candidate since George McGovern in 1972 to lose his home state. There is little chance that either Obama or McCain will lose Illinois or Arizona, respectively.
In addition to the perils of working under the umbrella of Bill Clinton’s 8-years, Gore also had an “image” problem. He was considered a “beta” male & infamously got consultation on how to change that to “alpha.” Didn’t help. Check out what is arguably Gore’s most laughable moment.. Chris Matthews of MSNBC recently revisited it when Gore appeared at the White House (the ‘moment’ hits at about 52 seconds in):
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What. the. heck.
Bush also had an infamous debate moment, when he was asked about “nation building:”
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President Bush has long been using terrorism as a way to advance his agenda.. that’s why it’s interesting to see what his “top priorities” were as a candidate in 1999, in this ad:
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As you know, the election ended up coming down to one key state. Take it away, Mr. Russert:
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Might that happen again this year? Read this article from the Huffington Post that examines a 269-269 electoral tie scenario. One shudders to think.
& what were the current 2008 candidates doing in 2000?
Well, John McCain started the year out running against Bush, & cleaned his clock in the New Hampshire primary. Here’s an ad he ran attacking the future president:
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Bush ultimately prevailed, mainly after the South Carolina primary, & McCain endorsed him in May:
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& Obama? He was running for Congress in Illinois, a race in which he lost badly, mainly because he was enormously outspent. Here are some of his radio ads from 8 years ago:
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What do you think 2000 has in common with 2008? How do you think they differ? Weigh in! Post a comment!
