Most Controversial Presidential Election

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In the year 2000, the United States presidential election was and still is known as one of the closest, most controversial presidential elections in history. The men that it all came down to that took part in this infamous election include two Republican nominees: former Texas Governor George W. Bush and former Arizona Senator John McCain. On the Democratic side the two main nominees going head to head were former Vice President Al Gore and former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. Ultimately we know that George W. Bush reigned victorious for winning the Republican primaries, and likewise with Al Gore winning the Democratic primaries. Taking a look at this election years later knowing the outcome of it all, we have the advantage of going back …show more content…
They believe that the federal government should not play a big role in people's lives.They believe in less government intervention in business and the economy, and its demographic consists primarily of older, wealthy, or caucasian individuals. In this particular election, the Republican Party turned out to be victorious when George W. Bush won the presidency and became our 43rd President of the United States of America. Unfortunately, John McCain who was also running for the Republican party was left behind in the primaries when he lost to George W. Bush. What did Bush have that McCain didn’t, some might ask. Bush was many things during this election such as: determined, respectful, persuasive, kind, confident and surprisingly even conniving. He did anything at all costs in order to ensure his spot in the White House. His strategist, Karl Rove, formulated a plan to get the Republican demographic to question the image they had of John McCain. He did so by asking voters "Would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain…if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" McCain was at the time campaigning with his daughter , Bridget, adopted from Bangladesh. Unfortunately this sinister plan worked. Bush prevailed in South Carolina and secured the Republican nomination. The rest is history–too shaken to defend himself, McCain emerged from the defeating episode and accepted his fate so instead of being the political crusader he started out as, he settled by being an obedient conformist. Yet one thing McCain held on to was his morals, as he stated “I will continue to keep fighting clean and fair”. Bush's support was still wide and deep; he captured the majority of nearly every demographic group. “Voters told pollsters today that they liked Mr. Bush's reform message and they suggested that Mr. McCain was too