high stakes of Election 2000, The

New Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2000 by Lewis, Ida E

If you believe the coming election is one of the most important in recent memory, you are right. And, it's full of high stakes, so you have even more reason to register and VOTE on November 7, 2000.

Earlier this year, the story developed that Vice-President Al Gore was a foredoomed loser. Pundits pinned the letter "D" for disaster or dead on him, saying that he didn't have a ghost of a chance to defeat the "personality" man of the year, Texas Governor George W. Bush. Gore was not only too stiff, they said, but also unlikable.

But when Gore stood before the Democratic convention with the halo of Joe Lieberman, his historic choice for vice-president, hovering over his head and announced, "I am my own man," those five words torpedoed him to immeasurable heights in the eyes of the American people and demonstrated unquestioned courage. In a fraction of a second Gore sealed the nomination with a kiss and the election became his to lose. The reverberations were so strong that they awakened echoes in every heart that was searching for Al Gore the Man. And the campaign suddenly shifted from personalities to vital issues and specifics: Where are we going from here and what does the future hold for the American people? And, most important, who is the most intelligent and able man to lead us into the new millennium?

Gore and the Democratic Party must be warned not to take the "people's" vote, especially the so-called minority vote, for granted. And I would like George W. to know that shifts, disguises, fakery (as demonstrated at the Republican convention) and evasions are not indicators of leadership and that the right to lead does not automatically spring from privileged birth.

The electorate must know the details of each candidate's blueprint of the future; which candidate understands the plight of the poor and misguided, the longings of the elderly, the complexities of the education, environmental, tax and health issues facing all of us; who recognizes the areas that need reform; and which candidate shares the dreams of the working class and the hopes of the middle class.

In my personal view, it is the misfortune of our time, with its high degree of sound bites and political fluidity, that the Republican Party dared to offer us a man of restricted capacity for the most powerful position in the world. They could have done better.

Notwithstanding, Colin Powell, who we know is fully prepared to draw the sword in the interests of the underprivileged and disadvantaged, a Bush administration will not be led by George W. Leftover conservatives and right-wingers from the former Reagan, and Bush and even Ford administrations are waiting in the wings, people who historically have shown little concern for women and the powerless, people like Bush's vice-presidential candidate, Dick Cheney. People driven by their hatred of Bill Clinton and who believe that they are the chosen ones to restore order and dignity to the White House allegedly damaged by the Clinton scandal.

I suspect that George W's compassionate conservatism would open a vista into a mean and leaner life for most of us. But, if we consider the last eight years as a barometer, an Al Gore administration is not a tough call. For, if Gore can continue to grow the economy and to close the gap between the haves and havenots and if his administration looks even more like "real America" than Clinton's, I believe we will have made a healthy start into the 21st century.