Gore campaign focuses on Bush's inexperience
By TARA MAHNESMITH
News Writer
With much at stake in one of the closest presidential races the country has seen in nearly 40 years, the Gore campaign is using this time to convince voters that Bush does not have the level of experience it takes to lead the country.
According to the CNN/USA Today Gallup Poll, Bush has 47 percent of the vote, while Gore has 44.
With only five days remaining, campaign strategists are hard at work trying to persuade undecided voters in swing states to vote for their candidate.
Gore's campaign is using this last week to focus voters on Bush's lack of experience.
Tad Devine, a top Gore strategist, said the campaign intended to capitalize on the "tremendous sense of unease" that voters feel over Bush's inexperience, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The campaign has certainly focused on this issue, even if Gore will not contribute directly.
"I don't think Governor Bush is ready — based on his experience, his record, his proposals in this campaign — to be the kind of president that the American people need at this point in our history," said Senator Joe Lieberman.
But even people outside the campaign recognize Bush's inexperience.
"For some people, the governor's lack of governmental experience is an enormous concern. He is governor of a state that does not have a very strong role for the governor, and the state legislature only meets every other year. As a result, it's difficult to make broadly-gauged judgements on what he might do as president," said Robert Schmuhl, professor of American studies and director of the program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy.
Experts have questioned Gore's effectiveness in targeting Bush's inexperience.
"I don't know if it's really going to hurt Bush in the election. Twenty years ago, people made the same charges against Reagan," said Sean Savage, associate professor political science at Saint Mary's. "From Bush's perspective, Reagan still made an effective president. Also, Reagan was elected by a comfortable margin."
Reagan was not the only "inexperienced" president; John F. Kennedy was charged with inexperience because of his age, and even Bill Clinton was considered unqualified, especially in comparison with both the elder George Bush and Bob Dole, Savage said.
"Clinton had no foreign policy experience in 1992, but the election was decided almost entirely on economic and domestic issues," he added.
One of the supposed goals of Gore's campaign will be to get voters to focus on issues not necessarily at the forefront in the election, thus stressing Bush's lack of experience.
"As governor, he has not been exposed to a number of subjects that a president needs to know about," said Schmuhl.
"I think it's better to have someone who knows something about these issues, but Bill Clinton did okay," said Michael Francis, assistant provost of Campus International Development and professor of government. But he suggested a difference between Clinton and George W. Bush: Clinton is more intelligent, whereas Bush may require excellent advisors.
Bush will rely on people's confidence in both his experience and his character to get him through such charges. Ryan Duffy, vice president of College Republicans, said "It's valid. Bush doesn't have as much experience. But I trust him. The people he chooses to work for him are smart people."
"But President of the United States is the most important, complicated, demanding job in the world. And when you look at the relative experience of these two candidates and how they've handled what their record is, how they handle the experience, I just think that Al Gore is so much more ready to be a great president," Lieberman said Tuesday on the Larry King Live show.
The Gore campaign's argument is valid, and the ability of Bush is questionable, said Jeff Stuffings, President of College Democrats.
"Does it matter that Bush lacks experience? Absolutely," he said.
However, Stuffings questions the affect this tactic will have on voters,
"It probably won't make much of a difference in the election," he said. "But every vote counts. Whatever he can get with this final campaign, it's worth it."
All News Stories for Thursday, November 2, 2000
