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Change Your Life! |
Republican George Bush continues 'bushism' |
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September 17, 2000
SAN DIEGO (AP) - George W. Bush promised U.S. war veterans that as president he would press Vietnam, China and North Korea for information on missing servicemen and then share the information with families awaiting word on loved ones. "I will place this matter high on America's diplomatic agenda, making it clear to all countries concerned that this is a test of good faith in their dealings with the United States of America," the Texas governor said Friday. Bush made his comments at the close of a three-day campaign swing in California. He spoke earlier at a school, moving from education, the issue he calls his top priority, to the military and foreign policy, an area in which he is still trying to prove himself. Bush promised to push the U.S. Congress for more money to pursue missing-in-action cases and to press other nations for "the fullest possible accounting." He named Vietnam, North Korea, Russia, China, Laos and Cambodia. "This duty we owe to the families and to those who served," Bush said. Voters go to the polls in November to select the next president of the United States and in recent weeks the race has become highly competitive. Polls show a remarkable turnaround for Bush's Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, who lagged behind the Texas governor early on. Now, voters appear to have more confidence in Gore than Bush to run the economy. He has erased Bush's lead on personal qualities like trust and likeability; and parents, a majority of whom held President Bill Clinton's impeachment against Gore this summer, are now evenly split between the two candidates. In more than three dozen interviews this week, Democratic, Republican and independent political analysts said Bush must move quickly to keep the Gore from opening a formidable lead. The U.S. presidential election is decided by electoral votes, with each state given a certain number of votes based on its population. Winning a state, even by the smallest of margins, entitles a candidate to all of that state's electoral votes. It takes a majority, or 270 of 538 electoral votes, to win the presidency. Gore currently leads in 15 states plus the District of Columbia for 224 electoral votes - 46 short of the 270 required for victory. If the election were held today, Bush would claim 21 states for 171 electoral votes. Another 14 states and 143 electoral votes are toss ups. Analysts say Gore has momentum in a number of the most competitive states, including Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Washington. In Washington Friday night, a clearly relaxed Gore spent a day pitching his message to blacks, a group of potential voters who already overwhelmingly back him for the presidency. The vice president spoke to an overflow crowd of black appointees of the Clinton administration. "In a lot of previous administrations, they wouldn't have needed a room this big to hold an event like this, you know what I'm saying?" Gore said. The audience erupted into cheers of "Go Al! Go Al!" as the vice president promised to work for hate crimes legislation and to increase federal efforts to end racial profiling - tendencies by law enforcement agents to target people of color. With solid black support, the presidential nominee's focus is boosting turnout among a group that has not gone to the polls as often as whites. About half the black population has voted in recent elections, or 5 percent to 10 percent less than whites, according to the Census Bureau. Earlier Friday, Gore spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of students at Washington's historically black Howard University. "There is still a lower and lower participation in our democracy. Why is that?" Gore asked, addressing some 1,600 students. "Disillusionment. ... Cynicism, disaffection, civic lethargy are the enemies of progress." Cotilya Brown, a Howard freshman who turns 18 on Sunday, has already registered to vote, and plans to cast her first ballot ever for the vice president. "Not even an earthquake could keep me away" from the voting booth, she said.
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