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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

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Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Election 2000: Presidential candidate profiles

Al GoreDemocratic Party

Vice President Al Gore served in Congress for 24 years before entering the White House with President Bill Clinton in 1992. He is in favor of setting aside the entire projected Social Security surplus to ensure the program stays solvent and said he will eliminate the national debt be 2012. Gore proposes $480 billion in targeted tax cuts over 10 years. He supports a Patients Bill of Rights, including direct access to specialists for HMO clients. He supports an increase in defense spending and extending permanent normal trade relations to China. Regarding the environment, Gore supports spending $2 billion over 10 years to create new parks. He opposes school vouchers for private and home schooling. He supports abortion rights and opposes parental notification. He is running with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), the first Jewish vice presidential candidate of a major party.

George W. BushRepublican Party

Bush is serving in his second term as Texas governor. Bush favors setting aside the entire projected Social Security surplus to shore up the program and said he would eliminate the national debt by 2016. Bush proposes a $1.3 trillion across-the-board tax cut over 10 years. He pledges to veto any income tax increase and supports cutting the minimum tax rate. Bush supports private-sector-based prescription drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries. He supports reducing the U.S. nuclear stockpile without affecting military readiness. Bush supports increasing state control over environmental policies. He supports school vouchers and mandatory testing for teachers. Bush opposes abortion – except in the case of rape, incest or the endangerment of a woman’s life. His running mate is Dick Cheney, former Secretary of Defense in George Bush Sr.’s cabinet.

Ralph NaderGreen Party

The 2000 election is Nader’s third bid for president. He ran as a write-in candidate in 1992 and for the Green Party in 1996. He opposes the privatization of Social Security and said tax breaks for big businesses hurt families. Nader believes that every person should be included in a single, comprehensive, publically financed medical plan, covering all necessary medical services. He supports abortion rights. He said the U.S. military needs a 20 percent cut in the budget and needs to practice peacekeeping rather than preparing for war. Nader believes immediate action must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supports launching a solar energy program. He opposes school vouchers and federally mandated standardized tests. He is running with Winona LaDuke.

Pat BuchananReform Party

Buchanan, a former Republican, is in his third run for the presidency. He favors a trillion-dollar tax cut, a 16 percent flat-tax rate on earnings over $35,000 and a per-child tax credit. Buchanan wants to redesign Medicare by allowing workers to invest Medicare taxes in personal and insurance accounts. He opposes abortion and euthanasia. He favors a limited American role in international affairs. Buchanan says the country has a Biblically based obligation to protect the environment, and he says this should be done by abolishing the Bureau of Land Management and requiring Congress to compensate property owners whose land is converted to protect habitat. He wants to abolish the Department of Education, supports school vouchers and a constitutional amendment in favor of voluntary school prayer. He is running with Ezola Foster.

Harry BrowneLibertarian Party

Presidential candidate Browne said he sees that downsizing the government as the key to his platform, according to his Web site. This is his second run for president, although he has never held a public office. His proposals include eliminating income taxes, abolishing Social Security, decriminalizing nonviolent drug offenses, repealing gun laws and withdrawing from all international organizations and mutual-defense treaties. In 1996, Browne finished the election with less than half a million votes. Art Olivier is his running mate.

John HagelinNatural Law Party

Hagelin has never held public office, but this is his third attempt at running for president. His goal is to address national issues that are not being addressed by mainstream politicians, he said during his nomination acceptance speech in August. The only way we can overcome these problems is through the expansion of consciousness — education that actualizes the full potential of the brain, he said on his Web site. According to his Web site, Hagelin has pledged to create a prevention-oriented health care system, and promote a nonpolluting energy source. He favors the decriminalization of drug offenses and a low flat tax. In the 1996 election, Hagelin received less than one half percent of the popular vote. Nat Goldhaber is his vice presidential candidate.

Howard PhillipsConstitution Party

Phillips founded the party in 1992, then known as the U.S. Taxpayers Party, and has run in three straight presidential elections. The party was formed under the premise that the United States should be run under strict interpretation of the Constitution. Phillips left the Republican Party in 1974 and said in his 2000 nomination acceptance speech that he feels some Republicans have betrayed their conservative roots. He believes that abortion is unconstitutional, the Department of Education is a violation of the First Amendment and has vowed that if president, he would shut down the National Endowment for the Arts and end the safe sodomy of AIDS education. In the 1996 election, he earned about 0.19 percent of the popular vote. His running mate for the 2000 election is Curt Frazier.

source: CNN and candidate Web sites

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