The Presidential Election of 2000

 

Broadcast: Feb 20, 2003
By Jerilyn Watson

VOICE ONE:

This is Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty¹ with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history of the United States. Today we tell about the presidential election of two-thousand. It was an event that few Americans would soon forget.

VOICE ONE:

In the year two-thousand, the United States was preparing to elect a new president. Bill Clinton would finish his second term as president in January, two-thousand-one. The Constitution prevented him from competing for a third term. This meant Mister Clinton's Democratic Party needed to choose a new candidate1 for president.

The Democratic Party2 nominated3 Vice² President Al Gore³. Mister Gore had served almost eight years as vice president under President Clinton. Mister Gore chose Senator Joseph Lieberman of the state of Connecticut to compete for vice president. Mister Lieberman was first elected to the United States Senate in nineteen-eighty-eight. He was the first Jewish person ever nominated for one of America's top positions.

VOICE TWO:

Al Gore was born in Washington, D.C. in nineteen-forty-eight. His father was a United States senator from the state of Tennessee. Young Al Gore grew up in Washington and in Carthage, Tennessee, where his family had a farm.

Al Gore studied government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated in nineteen-sixty-nine. His father opposed American involvement in the war in Vietnam. But Al joined the Army during the war. He spent about six months of his service as a reporter in Vietnam.

VOICE ONE:

Back in civilian⁴ life, Mister Gore again worked as a reporter. Later he studied religion and then law. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in nineteen-seventy-six. He became known for supporting nuclear arms control and protecting the environment.

Mister Gore was elected to the United States Senate in nineteen-eighty-four. He was re-elected six years later. He tried and failed to become the Democratic candidate for president in nineteen-eighty-eight.

Four years later Bill Clinton won the Democratic presidential nomination⁵. Mister Clinton chose Mister Gore as his vice presidential candidate. As vice president, Al Gore was praised for his work on the environment, technology and foreign relations.

VOICE TWO:

The Republican Party4 nominated a son of former President George Bush. They chose Governor George W. Bush of Texas as their candidate for president. Richard Cheney, a former secretary of defense⁶, was chosen to compete for vice president. George W. Bush was born in the state of Texas in nineteen-forty-six. He is the oldest child of former President Bush. The younger Mister Bush is often called "W" because his name is so similar to that of his father.

George W. Bush grew up in the Texas cities of Midland and Houston. He graduated from Yale University in New Haven⁷, Connecticut. He studied business as a graduate student at Harvard University. George W. Bush was a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. Later he worked in the oil and gas industry.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-eighty-eight, Mister Bush worked on his father's successful campaign for president. Later George W. Bush was one of the owners of the Texas Rangers⁸, a professional baseball team. He was elected governor of Texas in nineteen-ninety-four. He was re-elected four years later by a large majority.

At Governor Bush's urging, Texas legislators5 enacted⁹ measures to improve public schools. However, critics charged that public education in Texas was still very poor. And they said the state's criminal justice policies supported by Mister Bush were too severe. For example, Texas executes more criminals than any other state.

VOICE TWO:

Presidential candidates Gore and Bush disagreed on most major issues. For example, Al Gore said women should have the right to end unwanted pregnancies6.   He supported gun control and restrictions7 on tobacco sales. He supported higher wages for the lowest paid workers. Governor Bush opposed him on these issues.

Governor Bush supported a plan to provide public money for students to attend private schools. And he supported investing taxes on government retirement¹⁰ money in private retirement plans. Mister Gore opposed these measures.

VOICE ONE:

Several other candidates also ran for president in the November Seventh election. They represented small political parties. For example, activist¹¹ Ralph Nader was the candidate of the Green Party. He criticized large corporations for having too much influence in America. Conservative Patrick Buchanan ran as the Reform Party candidate.

Opinion studies showed that the race between the Republican and Democratic candidates was extremely close.

VOICE TWO:

On November seventh, two-thousand, more than one-hundred-million people voted for either Mister Gore or Mister Bush. In this popular vote, Al Gore received more votes than George W. Bush. The final vote would show that Mister Gore received about five-hundred-forty-thousand more votes than Mister Bush. But that alone did not make Mister Gore president of the United States.

Americans do not vote directly for their presidents. They vote for electors to represent them in the Electoral College. The Electoral College then elects the president. Each state has at least three electors. The states with the most population have the most electors and the most electoral votes.

In general, the candidate with the most votes in a state wins that state's electoral votes. There are five-hundred-thirty-eight electors in the electoral college. To become president, a candidate must win two-hundred-seventy electoral votes. Neither Mister Gore nor Mister Bush had received that many electoral votes. No winner was declared because of the situation in the state of Florida.

VOICE ONE:

Florida had enough electoral votes to make either candidate the winner. The big southern state counted almost six-million votes on November seventh. Mister Bush had slightly more votes than Mister Gore. But the election was still not over.

Florida State law calls for a recount when the difference in votes between two candidates is less than one-half of one percent of the votes. This meant Florida had to count the votes again. State recounts normally involve the governor. But the Florida governor said he would not be involved. That is because Governor Jeb Bush is a brother of George W. Bush.

VOICE TWO:

The election in Florida involved several problems. Some voting machines counted the votes incorrectly. Some African Americans said election workers prevented them from voting. And, many supporters of Mister Gore in one area believed they had voted for Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan by mistake. The names of Mister Buchanan and Al Gore were next to one another on the ballot¹². Democrats¹³ charged that the ballot design was illegal. But Republicans say Democratic officials never objected.

VOICE ONE:

Almost three weeks after the election, Florida declared Mister Bush the winner of the state's twenty-five electoral votes. Florida election officials said Mister Bush won the popular vote in Florida by five-hundred-thirty-seven votes. That total was out of six-million ballots¹⁴. But the election was still not over. Mister Gore and supporters in Florida protested the results. They asked the courts to reconsider because of what they called the many voting problems.

The Florida Supreme¹⁵ Court ordered the disputed ballots counted again. This could have given Florida's electoral votes to Mister Gore. The votes could have made him president.

VOICE TWO:

Bush campaign officials quickly appealed to the United States Supreme Court. A majority of the high court justices declared the Florida court ruling unconstitutional. They said Florida law did not explain how officials should judge the ballots. They ruled that the disputed ballots should not be re-counted. The Supreme Court justices said not enough time remained to settle the problem before the Electoral College held its required meeting.

On December Eighteenth, two-thousand, Electoral College members met in each state capital. They made the election official. George W. Bush became the forty-third president of the United States.

VOICE ONE:

This program of The Making of a Nation was written by Jerilyn Watson. This is Sarah Long.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of the United States.

1. candidate [5kAndIdIt] n. 候选人，投考者
2. Democratic Party n. 美国民主党
3. nominate [5nCmIneIt] vt. 提名，推荐
4. Republican Party n. 共和党
5. legislator [5ledVIs7leIt[] n. 立法者
6. pregnancy [5pregn[nsI] n. 怀孕
7. restriction [rIs5trIkF[n] n. 限制，约束

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

8 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

10 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。