2000 Presidential Election (Ann's Land)

The 1996 United States presidential election was the 54th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 2000. Incumbent Vice President Bill Clinton and his running mate New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen defeated the ticket of Texas Governor George Bush and former Secretary Dick Cheney.

The Primaries
Vice President Clinton faced no serious opposition in the 2000 Democratic Primary, He won every single contest which gave him a leg up on the Republicans. He focused his attention on states that would emerge as battleground. On the other hand, Governor Bush had faced a challenge from Arizona Senator John McCain but in the end, he was not phased by it. McCain did pick up a few states but in the end George Bush won the nomination.

Running Mates
George Bush conducted a extensive VP review in which, the man he would eventually pick Dick Cheney was the leader of. George Bush would pick Dick Cheney due to his extensive foreign policy connections and insider knowledge of Washington.

Bill Clinton chose Jeanne Shaheen as his running mate. The Clinton campaign casted a wide net to vet candidates. The finalist came down to Tennessee Senator Al Gore and Governor Shaheen. In the end, Clinton personally liked Gore and later offered him Secretary of State. But he felt to win this election, against a formidable opponent such as Bush, he needed to recreate the coalition from 4 years earlier. Governor Shaheen would be the key to that.

General Election
The media had been conducting polling of a Bill Clinton vs George Bush race since 1997 to be precise. This was the match up that America had been dying to see. At first Governor Bush had a lead over Clinton in polling until the general election kicked off. Thats when many Americans started paying attention to the race. Republicans took nothing for advantage, they worked hard to court white voters in particular white voters. White voters had ensured a Republican realignment that was only had one hiccup from 1969 to 1993. Vice President Bill Clinton challenged that formula, Clinton could appeal to black voters and both white voters which would make him a real threat.

Both tickets traveled all across the country, Republicans campaigned in places such as California, and the Democrats were campaigning in Tennessee. No one party, had a true idea of how the electoral map would shake out. In a close campaign, Vice President Bill beat Governor Bush, making him the 43rd President. The state of Florida was particularly close, but the Clinton campaign already the winner, did not feel the need to contest it.