October 2000

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In Gore, Business Sees a Bit Less to Like 10/31/2000 4:16 PM Virgil R. Williams did more than just support Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992. He was a Democratic elector from Georgia, meaning he actually cast the electoral votes that helped bring Clinton and Gore to power. But now Williams, chief executive of Williams Group International, a major industrial maintenance concern, is backing Gov. George W. Bush for president, even though he still supports the Democrat running in Georgia for the Senate. Williams likes Bush's personal values and principles, and he doesn't like what he hears from Gore. Read the article Lazio Is Pulling Ahead in New York Senate Race 10/31/2000 4:15 PM Rick Lazio has stretched his lead over Hillary Rodham Clinton in their U.S. Senate race and is ahead by 5 points, the New York Post-Fox 5 tracking poll shows. The rolling, three-day statewide poll of 694 likely New York voters shows the Long Island congressman leading Clinton 47.8 percent to 42.9 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 points. Read the article Clinton Miffed Remarks Released before Election 10/31/2000 4:13 PM President Clinton yesterday complained that his demand for an apology from Republicans who impeached him was not meant to be published until after the election, when he calculated that it could do no harm to Al Gore's presidential campaign. But the president's discussion of impeachment in an interview with Esquire magazine was distributed over the weekend, infuriating both the Clinton and Gore camps because it reminded voters of Clinton scandals in the final days of the vice president's struggling campaign. Read the article Dick Cheney Speaks to Kansas City Crowd 10/31/2000 4:03 PM Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney, responding to attacks on Texas Gov. George W. Bush's experience to lead the nation, asked a Kansas City audience Tuesday to stand with a team that "knows not all wisdom resides in Washington, D.C.." Delivering a characteristically low-key address one week before Election Day, Cheney told about 250 supporters at the Salvation Army's Linwood Center that "to understand America, (it's important) to step outside that bubble" of federal politics. "I'm reminded of another governor of the West, who had no experience in Washington," Cheney said about Ronald Reagan. "And he turned out to be a pretty fine" commander-in-chief. Read the article Ashcroft Will Focus on Experience, Leadership 10/31/2000 3:59 PM Sen. John Ashcroft swept across Missouri Monday, kicking off the homestretch of one of the most unusual campaigns in the nation. Ashcroft, R-Mo., met with older people from Springfield to St. Louis as Jean Carnahan announced that she would accept an appointment to the U.S. Senate if her husband, the deceased Gov. Mel Carnahan, wins the election on Nov. 7. Read the article Tracking poll: Bush Holds Narrow Edge 10/31/2000 3:23 PM Monday's CNN/USA Today/Gallup three-daytracking poll shows Texas Gov. George W. Bush continuing to hold a narrow edge over Vice President Al Gore. With no significant change in today's results, Bush currently is garnering support from 47 percent of all likely voters surveyed and Gore is drawing 44 percent. That represents a shift of just two points from Sunday's figures, which had the Republican ahead 49 percent to 42 percent. The survey of 2,207 likely voters was conducted October 26-28 and has a 2 point margin of error. Read the article Nixon Hears a Familiar Attack from AG Opponent Sam Jones 10/30/2000 6:45 PM Most Missourians won't see Sam Jones' TV ad blasting the legal fees private lawyers will get from the tobacco settlement. Jones, a Republican, is running a shoestring campaign for attorney general against incumbent Jay Nixon, a Democrat. The ad is effective in hitting the central issue of the campaign: hiring outside attorneys. And the political irony is that Nixon pressed the same issue in 1992 to get elected attorney general. Read the article NRA Woos Unionists in Push for GOP 10/30/2000 6:43 PM The conservative National Rifle Association is trying to make inroads for Republicans in a constituency Democrats need: union members. The NRA, which has endorsed Republican George W. Bush for president, is running a $25 million ''Vote Freedom First'' campaign that suggests Democrat Al Gore wants to take away people's guns. Union members, heavily concentrated in 10 states where the election is close, are coming in for special attention. About one in five union households belong to the NRA and receive its magazine. A recent article said Democrats take union members' votes for granted and played down differences between the parties on workplace issues. Read the article State Department Told to Turn Over Data on Gore/Chernomyrdin Deal 10/30/2000 5:16 PM Ten senior U.S. Republican senators have ordered the State Department to turn over "all the relevant documents" relating to a secret deal Vice President Al Gore made with Russia on arms sales to Iran by noon today. f they don't, the Senate will subpoena the documents. The senators sent the letter to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright on Thursday. The documents they demand are about a 1995 agreement Mr. Gore made with Viktor S. Chernomyrdin, who was prime minister of Russia, in which the vice president exempted Russia from a law requiring that economic sanctions be imposed on countries that sell arms to nations that sponsor terrorism, including Iran. Read the article Most in Military Plan to Vote for Bush-Cheney Ticket 10/30/2000 5:11 PM The 1.4 million members of the armed forces are expected to vote in large numbers in the Nov. 7 presidential election, and indications are a majority will A recent study by two Duke University professors found 64 percent of officers describing themselves as Republicans and just 8 percent as Democrats. Read the article Clinton Wants Apology From Congress 10/30/2000 5:00 PM President Clinton says congressional Republicans owe the nation an apology for his impeachment, and despite their statements that the matter is over, "They haven't necessarily put their abuse of power behind them." In an interview in Esquire magazine's December issue, Clinton said the investigation into his affair with Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment was not about pursuing the truth or the best interests of the American people. It was about politics, power, "the Republicans and their welfare," he said. Read the article Bush Makes Final Play for Electoral Grand Prize 10/30/2000 4:01 PM Suddenly, after months of receiving only fleeting political attention, California is about to get a full blast of the deadlocked presidential race. News that recent polls show Vice President Gore's longstanding double-digit lead over Texas Gov. George W. Bush here in the nation's most populous state has dwindled to no more than seven points is keeping Republican hopes of a miracle comeback alive. And Democrats are taking aggressive new steps to rouse their faithful out of complacency or away from Green Party nominee Ralph Nader. Read the article Analyst Quits, Says Threat Reports Unheeded 10/26/2000 12:14 AM A Pentagon intelligence specialist on terrorism in the Persian Gulf resigned in protest one day after the bombing of the USS Cole because his superiors had ignored his warnings of terrorist threats in the region this summer, senators disclosed Wednesday. The warnings by a mid-level, civilian Defense Intelligence Agency official, whose identity was withheld, were not passed on to military commanders in the region, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., said at an Armed Services Committee hearing. Read the article Republicans Blast Arms Agreement Between Gore, Ex-Russian Premier 10/26/2000 12:12 AM Senate Republicans on Wednesday accused Vice President Al Gore of concealing a 1995 U.S.-Russian agreement on arms sales to Iran and grilled State Department officials about the probe as Russia's former premier defended the deal. The United States reportedly dropped objections to a transfer of sophisticated weapons to Iran and promised not to impose legal sanctions as a response. In return, under an agreement worked out between Gore and then-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russia agreed to end arms sales to Iran after 1999. Read the article Ashcroft Resumes Campaigning with Appearance at Grade School 10/26/2000 12:07 AM Sen. John Ashcroft formally relaunched his re-election campaign Wednesday with a speech promoting his education proposals to more than 300 youngsters at Keysor Elementary School in Kirkwood. The political nature of Ashcroft's speech surprised the principal, Bryan Painter, who said he'd agreed to the visit because "we were told that he would be teaching a civics lesson." Read the article Bushes, McCain Try to Shore Up Florida 10/26/2000 12:04 AM Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Arizona Sen. John McCain thundered down Interstate 4 today in a bus with Tennessee license plates, two former foes joined in a mission to rescue a presidential campaign in a state where a loss would embarrass the Bush family and potentially cost him the presidency. "Let it be said when your friends and neighbors ask you about today," Bush told a packed gymnasium here, "that I came and asked for the vote." With Bush's younger brother, Jeb, as governor, Florida was to be the foundation of a Bush win, and was one of the states GOP strategists colored in for him when they drew their first electoral maps. Vice President Gore made a play for the state, partly to distract Bush, whom he portrayed as a threat to the survival of Social Security. To the surprise even of Gore advisers, he wound up forcing Bush into a dogfight. Read the article Enthusiasm for Gore Lags Bush Zeal 10/26/2000 12:01 AM Enthusiasm for Al Gore is significantly lower among his supporters two weeks before the election than the zeal for George W. Bush among his backers, new polls suggest. Bush has enjoyed higher levels of enthusiasm among his base supporters for months as Republicans hungry to regain the White House united behind the Texas governor. Democrat Gore had closed the enthusiasm gap after a successful Democratic convention. But the gap reappeared soon after the first presidential debate, when Gore was criticized for his sighing, interruptions and misstatements. He still has an advantage on top issues and experience, but lost ground on several personal measures -- notably on trust and speaking his mind. Read the article U.S. Muslim Coalition Endorses Bush 10/24/2000 5:02 PM A new national Muslim coalition is endorsing George W. Bush for president, citing the Texas governor's openness to American Muslims' concerns. "The main factor was the governor's accessibility to Muslim leaders. He has promised to address American Muslim concerns when and if he goes into office," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the American Muslim Political Coordination Council, a political action committee that made the endorsement Monday. Read the article GOP Wives Plane Makes Unplanned Stop 10/24/2000 5:02 PM Problems with cabin pressure forced a plane carrying Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney and Cindy McCain to make an unscheduled stop here Monday, a spokesman for George W. Bush's presidential campaign said. The women were en route to Wisconsin for "W Stands for Women" rallies as part of Bush's campaign. "The oxygen masks dropped down, which was a little bit of a sign," Laura Bush said. "We really weren't frightened at all. We used the oxygen a little bit at one point. We all decided we thought it was psychological that we were having trouble breathing, but we weren't." Read the article Washington Times: George W. Bush for President 10/22/2000 9:19 PM On Nov. 7, more than 100 million Americans will cast their ballots for president of the United States. The man they elect will not only be the commander-in-chief of the world's only superpower, he will also become the leader of the strongest military alliance in history. Americans will elect the leader of the world's most powerful economy in an era of rapid technological and financial innovations that have linked nearly all of the world's economies. In sum, the presidency brings with it responsibilities awesome in their power. Read the article Bush Accuses Gore of Using Fear Tactics 10/22/2000 9:17 PM George W. Bush said yesterday that Al Gore and Democratic leaders are conducting a "campaign of fear" on Social Security that pits grandparents against grandchildren in a push for bigger government and for continued control of the retirement system. "It is irresponsible for the chairman of the Democratic Party and for Vice President Gore to stoke the fears of seniors while ignoring the hopes of younger workers," Mr. Bush said in Macomb County, Mich., home of Reagan Democrats. Read the article Presidential Race Employs New Rules 10/22/2000 9:14 PM Al Gore and George W. Bush are carving up the political map and framing issues in ways unseen before this presidential campaign. Seventeen days before Election Day, polls show the Texas governor opening a lead over the vice president with a large bloc of voters undecided about a race that has defied conventional wisdom on a number of fronts. Read the article Bush Touring With GOP Governors 10/22/2000 9:13 PM George W. Bush was kicking off a barnstorming tour by fellow Republican governors. With just over two weeks until the Nov. 7 election, 28 GOP governors were joining Gov. Bush in Austin to begin a national tour of battleground states. Read the article Bush Exhorts Supporters to 'Sweep the West Coast' 10/22/2000 9:10 PM Reflecting the growing confidence of his campaign, Texas Gov. George W. Bush said today that he has "a solid chance to sweep the West Coast," a Democratic stronghold in the last two presidential elections. But he cautioned his supporters in Washington state that the Nov. 7 election will be close and that it will be determined "precinct by precinct." Read the article Springfield News Leader: Jim Talent for Missouri Governor 10/22/2000 9:04 PM The governor's race between state Treasurer Bob Holden and U.S. Rep. Jim Talent is close for a good reason. Two highly qualified men are running on intelligent, credible campaign platforms. We'll have a good governor no matter who wins. But our endorsement goes to Jim Talent. We believe he'll be more aggressive and creative in addressing Missouri's challenges. Read the article Women, Governors To Stump for Bush 10/16/2000 9:49 PM The Bush campaign's "W stands for Women" tour begins Wednesday, featuring his wife, mother, foreign policy adviser Condoleezza Rice and Lynne Cheney, wife of GOP running mate Dick Cheney, spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said. Together, split into teams and joined the following week by Cindy McCain, the women are to tour Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania touting Bush's record on such issues as education reform and tax cuts. Not expected is any mention of his opposition to abortion. And next Sunday, all but one the nation's 30 Republican governors are to visit 24 states from Oct. 23-25 promoting Bush's leadership. West Virginia's Cecil Underwood could not rearrange his own campaign schedule to participate, officials said. Read the article Cheney Aims Campaign At Young Voters 10/16/2000 9:47 PM With just three weeks until Election Day, Dick Cheney is making an appeal to younger voters, pitching retirement savings accounts and tax cuts in a campaign swing through battleground states. The Republican vice presidential nominee was kicking off the week Monday at a Christian college in Missouri before heading to Florida, where he'll tour the state by bus and watch Tuesday night's third and final presidential debate between running mate George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore. Voters aged 20 to 40 are the target for Cheney this week. He will push Bush's proposal to let younger workers put about one-sixth of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts that they would own and control. Read the article Confident Bush Goes After New Ground 10/16/2000 9:46 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush, after running for more than a year as a compassionate conservative, has shifted right in some speeches even as his super-confident campaign branches out to states and voter groups where he once had little hope. At a rally in Michigan last week, Bush bashed "Hillary care," a reference to the Clinton administration's failed attempt to provide universal medical insurance. He called for "a government that preaches the value of life," which he means more broadly than discouraging abortion. Then he drew a chorus of boos by linking Vice President Gore to previous Democratic nominees. Read the article Gore: A Candidate In Trouble? 10/16/2000 9:45 PM You know a candidate is in trouble when the Los Angeles Times is already mulling explanations for his possible defeat. You know a candidate is in trouble when USA Today is reporting on internal backbiting in his campaign. You know a candidate is in trouble when The Washington Post questions which version of the man will show up for the debate, when the New York Times says his party is nervous, when Newsweek has his own advisers saying he couldn't win a popularity contest. Read the article Blunt, Gaw Lead Crowded Field for Secretary of State 10/15/2000 7:27 PM The role of technology in providing information to voters is one of the top priorities among candidates seeking to become Missouri's 37th secretary of state. With just four weeks until Election Day, the major party candidates -- Democratic House Speaker Steve Gaw of Moberly and Republican Rep. Matt Blunt of Fair Grove -- have been engaged in a vigorous campaign. Blunt, 29, the son of U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, said making sure that people have access to information about state government is one of the more important roles of the secretary of state at the dawn of the 21st century. "There is an exciting potential, possibly more than anywhere else in state government, to use technology to revamp things," Blunt said. "We have to make it easier for Missourians to access state government and make business adhere to compliance rules." Read the article Lieutenant Governor Race: Bailey Aims for Comeback 10/15/2000 7:26 PM Missouri's race for lieutenant governor pits a wily veteran campaigner aiming for a comeback against an up-and-coming legislator known for his relentless work habits. Republican Wendell Bailey has the edge in name recognition, appearing on Missouri ballots for two decades and winning twice statewide with gimmicks such as traveling the state in an armored truck and a yellow cab. Read the article Gore, Bush Know Contest in Missouri Will Be Key 10/15/2000 7:24 PM It's only fitting that this fall's final -- and perhaps most crucial -- presidential debate takes place on the prime battlefield of a key battleground state. Washington University, the site of Tuesday's final showdown between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, is in St. Louis County, whose swing voters will likely determine whether Bush or Gore carries Missouri on Nov. 7. And Missouri's 11 electoral votes, like key pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, are crucial for each man's dream of becoming the next tenant in the White House. Read the article Cheney to speak Monday at Evangel 10/14/2000 10:30 AM Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney will speak at a rally at 11 a.m. Monday at Evangel University. The rally will be held in the Mabee Student Center and will be open to the public, Evangel spokesman Paul Logsdon said. Doors will open at 10 a.m. for the rally, he said. Cheney’s appearance comes just over a month after running mate George W. Bush spoke at an airport rally in Springfield. Read the article Software Exec Gives $500,000 to GOP 10/12/2000 11:23 PM A California software executive has donated a half million dollars to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the House. The donor is Tom Siebel, founder of Silicon Valley's Siebel Systems Inc. in 1993. The money was brought in by Rep. Philip Crane, R-Ill. Siebel once managed Crane's brother's campaign for Congress, and the two have been in touch periodically since then. All House Republicans had been charged with raising money for the campaign committee, and Crane's target was $150,000, said Jim Wilkinson, spokesman for the NRCC. Crane had already raised $300,000 when he presented the $500,000 check to his colleagues on Thursday. Read the article Polls Say Bush Is Better Performer 10/12/2000 11:22 PM George W. Bush was seen as the stronger performer in the second presidential debate Wednesday night by more viewers in two network snap polls, while he and Al Gore were close in a third. Bush was seen as the winner by 46 percent, while 30 percent said Gore won in an ABC News snap poll. Bush was viewed as having done the better job, a slightly different question, by 49 percent to 36 percent for Gore in the CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll. In a CBS News poll, 51 percent thought Bush won, while 48 percent thought Gore won. The error margins for the polls ranged from 4 to 5 percentage points. Read the article First Lady Defends White House Dinner Invitations to Political Contributors 10/11/2000 11:47 PM First lady Hillary Clinton on Wednesday defended the practice of extending White House dinner invitations to contributors to Democratic Party causes. Mrs. Clinton, who is running for a Senate seat from New York, responded to issues raised in a report broadcast last week on ABC's "20/20" news program. It said nearly half of the nongovernmental guests at White House state dinners this year were political contributors who combined gave more than $10 million. Read the article Bush, Gore Find Accord on Foreign Policy 10/11/2000 11:44 PM Presidential rivals Al Gore and George W. Bush found more agreement than differences as they focused largely on foreign policy in their second televised debate tonight. The tone of tonight's debate was less confrontational than their opening session in Boston on Oct. 3, and Gore in particular seemed to have taken to heart the criticism that he appeared overbearing in that meeting. "It may seem like we're having a great love-fest tonight," the Republican nominee observed after he and the vice president expressed similar-sounding sentiments on the Middle East crisis and on broader questions of national security during the first third of the debate. Read the article Poll: Bush Gets Republicans Pumping 10/10/2000 8:55 PM Al Gore scores better on top issues like the economy and health care and more people think he will win the presidency than believe George W. Bush will, a new poll says. Yet enthusiasm for Gore's candidacy has dropped among Democrats, and is lower than Republican zeal for Bush. The race was extremely close in a poll released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Bush was at 45 percent and Gore at 44 percent among likely voters. That's within the poll's error margin of 4 percentage points among the 722 likely voters polled from Oct. 4-8. Several national polls, including a CBS News poll out Tuesday, have shown a close race, while one shows Bush with an edge. Read the article Jeb Bush: Working Hard for Brother 10/10/2000 8:53 PM Jeb Bush bristles at the notion that he hasn't campaigned hard enough for his brother, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush. "I'm busting my hump," the Florida governor said Tuesday. "I've raised a lot of money; I've campaigned when my brother has come in the state." But he has also said he's got his own state to run. And that's something he has always clearly focused on more than the political aspects of his job, including campaigning. Read the article Bush Campaigns in Gore Country 10/10/2000 8:52 PM Republican George W. Bush invaded Al Gore's turf on Tuesday, taunting that his Democratic rival "used to live here" and was now "of Washington, for Washington and by Washington." The Texas governor, cheered by polls showing the race a dead heat in Tennessee, suggested he would win the vice president's home state. "The people of this great state are going to bind together and they're going to send a clear message to America," Bush told several thousand supporters at an airport rally in staunchly Republican eastern Tennessee. Read the article Bush Camp Slams Gore as too Loose with Truth 10/9/2000 9:40 PM George W. Bush's campaign yesterday called Al Gore a "serial exaggerator" and questioned his veracity, and the vice president's campaign fired back that the governor is "incoherent" and questioned whether he was smart enough to be president. The pace quickened as polls showed the governor with momentum, taking the lead in the Gallup poll, as both men prepared for Wednesday night's debate. "The vice president has consistently and repeatedly made up things, exaggerated, embellished facts," Bush spokeswoman Karen Hughes told "Fox News Sunday." Read the article Bush Plans Response to Gore's Tax Jabs 10/9/2000 9:38 PM Aides to George W. Bush say he's planning a sharper reply in this week's debate to a claim that Vice President Gore is making at almost every stop: the contention that nearly half of Bush's proposed tax cut would go to the "wealthiest 1 percent" of Americans. Top advisers to Bush say he won't be caught so flat-footed in Wednesday's debate in Winston-Salem, N.C. "I expect he'll tune up his response on that," said Charlie Black, a campaign consultant. "I think he'll have a good summary answer." Read the article How Gore 'Lost' the Debate 10/9/2000 9:36 PM Remember way back when -- all right, six days ago -- when those instant polls showed that Al Gore had won the first debate? Why, then, does the press keep treating him like the loser? The answer is that the media watchdogs have sunk their teeth into Gore's ankle and won't let go. The candidate who has long been tagged as an exaggerator extraordinaire is paying the price for his truth-stretching in the Boston debate -- which seemed to come full circle today as a pair of polls showed George W. Bush surging back into the lead. Read the article Tracking poll: Bush Maintains Lead Over Gore 10/9/2000 9:34 PM Republican presidential hopeful George W. Bush maintains his 8 point lead over his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, in Monday's CNN/USA Today/Gallup tracking poll. One reason for Bush's lead is his advantage on several personal qualities which media coverage highlighted in the aftermath of the first presidential debate. Nearly half, 48 percent, of likely voters say Bush is more honest and trustworthy than Gore. Only 34 percent say that Gore is more trustworthy. Read the article Cheney Aims Campaign at Sports Fans 10/8/2000 11:31 PM As a teen, Dick Cheney was captain of his high school football team, hustling for touchdowns as a running back. His knees aren't what they once were, but Cheney is hustling again, this time for the votes of millions of Americans across heartland states. Flying the flag for the Republican ticket across Iowa Saturday, Cheney crashed tailgate parties outside Jack Trice Stadium, were the Iowa State Cyclones football team was taking on the University of Nebraska. Read the article First Lady, Lazio Spar Over Finances 10/8/2000 11:30 PM Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing Republican Rep. Rick Lazio in the second debate of their Senate campaign, took him to task Sunday for what she says is a violation of their agreement to ban outside money from the race. "Last month, Mr. Lazio said this was an issue of trust and character. He was right," Clinton said. "And, if New Yorkers can't trust him to keep his word for 10 days, how can they trust him for six years." Lazio, who insists he has not violated the agreement, blasted her back, raising the issue of whether the Clintons have used sleepovers at the White House and Camp David to generate campaign contributions. "Mrs. Clinton, please, no lectures from Motel 1600," he said, referring to the White House's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue address. Read the article Bush, Gore Personal Attacks Heat Up 10/8/2000 11:29 PM Al Gore's camp sparred with George W. Bush advisers Sunday over whether Gore shades the truth and whether Bush has the intellectual capacity to be president. "This nonsense is not what this campaign should be about," Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman said of a rising Republican assault on Gore's credibility. As Gore and Bush plunged into preparations for Wednesday's second presidential debate, their surrogates took to the airwaves to trade accusations, unleashing some of the sharpest personal attacks yet in a stubbornly close race. Read the article Robb's True Colors on Defense Showing, Allen Says 10/8/2000 11:27 PM Republican George Allen stepped up his criticism of Sen. Charles S. Robb's record on military issues in a flag-draped ceremony here today as he sought to solidify his support among Virginia's 850,000 military personnel and veterans. Allen reiterated that he backs a constitutional amendment banning desecration of the U.S. flag and urged a $50 billion increase in defense spending over the next five years to raise military pay, modernize weapons systems and guarantee full health benefits to all retirees. Read the article Smaller States Play a Big Role 10/8/2000 11:26 PM Four weeks before Election Day, Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush are looking at one of the most fluid and unusual electoral maps in recent memory. Plenty of big states remain up for grabs, with Florida currently the most contested battleground of all. But what is equally significant is the number of small or medium-sized states that are not behaving normally, and they have begun to draw increasing attention from strategists calculating different winning combinations in an ongoing series of "what if" scenarios of the presidential race. Read the article It Happened Under Me -- Blame Him! 10/5/2000 8:51 PM Doesn't anyone in the Gore camp have the nerve to tell the vice president that all of these heartbreaking situations unfolded OVER THE LAST SEVEN YEARS WHILE HE WAS IN OFFICE? Gore should be surrounding himself with 23-year-old dot-com millionaires on scooters, not geriatric can-pickers. Read the article Gore's Nose is Growing Again 10/5/2000 8:48 PM Al Gore's tale of the little old lady who "has to go out seven days a week" to pick up cans to buy medicine unraveled yesterday, as she admitted she has repeatedly refused her well-to-do son's offer to care for her. Gore's stretch about 79-year-old Winifred Skinner, along with other little white lies he told during his first presidential debate against GOP rival George W. Bush, have renewed questions about his truthfulness. Read the article Contrite Gore Blames Debate Cameras 10/5/2000 8:47 PM Al Gore - who took flak for ostentatiously sighing and grimacing while rival George W. Bush was talking at the first debate - yesterday said it was a mistake and he won't do it again. But Gore blamed it on the TV camera operators he said broke the rules and showed him while Bush was speaking, although his sighs could be heard even when the camera was on Bush. Read the article Missouri Farm Bureau Targets Gore with Missouri River 10/5/2000 8:46 PM Aware their state is a presidential battleground, Missouri farm groups and shippers have started an ad campaign targeting Al Gore but aimed at getting President Clinton to change his mind about vetoing a huge energy and water bill. In radio ads that began airing Wednesday, listeners are urged to call Gore, with an announcer saying, "Don't let them strip away our flood protection." The group planned to kick off the ad campaign Thursday morning at a news conference in Jefferson City, Mo. Read the article NRA Aims to Counter Labor Efforts in Midwest 10/5/2000 8:44 PM The National Rifle Association plans an aggressive campaign of phone calls, letters and television commercials in the midwestern battleground states to counter an anticipated onslaught by organized labor against Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The NRA is formulating its message using data from a new poll showing a large majority of voters across the country - including Democrats and union members - want enforcement of existing firearms laws, not new gun regulation. Read the article Bush Ad Outlines Campaign Issues 10/5/2000 8:42 PM George W. Bush began airing a new TV commercial Thursday offering viewers a sweeping outline of his philosophy, saying he trusts Americans while his opponent trusts government. The 60-second ad, which will air in 19 states, features Bush speaking to the camera, striking many of the same themes he hit during Tuesday's debate with Vice President Al Gore. "He trusts government. I trust you," the Texas governor tells viewers. Read the article Man Accused of Threatening Bush 10/5/2000 8:40 PM A man who allegedly threatened Texas Gov. George W. Bush was ordered on Wednesday to remain at his 30-acre farm while a federal grand jury considers the case. Roger W. Deal was arrested Saturday by U.S. Secret Service agents after an employee at a shopping mall reported he told her, "I'm going home to warm up my gun. I heard George W. Bush is coming to Huntington." Bush, the Republican presidential nominee, campaigned in Huntington on Monday and spent the night before going to Boston for Tuesday's debate with Vice President Al Gore. Read the article Gore's 'Can Lady' Not in Dire Straits 10/5/2000 8:39 PM Vice President Gore brought Winifred Skinner to Tuesday night's debate and invoked the 79-year-old Iowa woman in his closing remarks. "In order to pay for her prescription drug benefits, she has to go out seven days a week, several hours a day, picking up cans," Gore said. But Skinner's situation is not as desperate as she made it sound when the retired autoworker told Gore at a town meeting last week that "what I do to put food on the table is I pick up cans." Earl King, Skinner's son, confirmed in an interview yesterday that he could easily support his mother. King is an affluent consultant who works with many of the country's major air-conditioning companies and lives on an 80-acre ranch, complete with horses. Read the article Bush Appointees Show Independence 10/5/2000 1:40 PM It was a shock to anti-abortion activists: In its first ruling on the state's new parental notification law, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court, including three justices appointed by Gov. George W. Bush, decided a teen-age girl could have an abortion without telling her parents. Aside from that March ruling, the court has voted against five other minor girls seeking to bypass the notification law. So while not definitive, the Texas high court's actions nonetheless suggest that judges appointed by Bush are not necessarily bound by his own views on abortion. Read the article Bush Camp Accuses Gore on Trip 10/4/2000 11:00 PM George W. Bush seized on statements made by Al Gore in their first debate to ratchet up criticism Wednesday of his rival's credibility. The Texas governor suggested the vice president exaggerated his account of a disaster-relief visit to his state and Gore scolded Bush for trying to paint him as "a bad person." A day after the first of three nationally televised debates, both Bush and Gore spoke in battleground states before large, supportive crowds. "America got to see a difference in philosophy," Bush told several thousands supporters at a noisy rally in a college gymnasium in this Philadelphia suburb. Members of the audience chanted, "No fuzzy math! No fuzzy math!" reprising a debate line Bush used to characterize Gore's criticism of GOP tax-cut plans. Read the article Cuban Group Torn on Candidates 10/4/2000 10:57 PM A Cuban-American group influential in the battleground state of Florida agrees with Republican George W. Bush on the issues, but may withhold its endorsement because of its ties to Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman. "We're torn," Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said Wednesday. Garcia said Bush is a better candidate and the Republican Party has a better platform on the issue of Cuba. But Lieberman is a longtime ally of the hard-line, anti-Castro foundation. Read the article Pundits Give Early Debate Edge to Bush 10/4/2000 10:56 PM As soon as the debate was over, the "liberal media" gave the nod to George W. Bush. The television pundits were nearly unanimous: Expectations were lower for the Texas governor; he turned in a credible performance, without mangling facts or words; a tie was essentially a win for Bush; the man had a good night. Read the article Ashcroft, Carnahan Agree to Two, Maybe More, Debates 10/4/2000 10:54 PM The impasse over debates in Missouri's U.S. Senate race ended Tuesday when Gov. Mel Carnahan and Sen. John Ashcroft agreed to at least two meetings. A third debate is possible, but both sides are still arguing over a date. The first hour-long debate is scheduled for Oct. 13 on KMOX radio in St. Louis, on the "Newsmakers with Charles Jaco" show. The second debate, also an hour, is to take place Oct. 15 on KCPT television in Kansas City. Read the article Son's Bid No Sure Thing in Missouri House Race 10/3/2000 11:30 PM Rep. Pat Danner, with her personal popularity and her conservative leanings on social issues, easily kept northwest Missouri's politically competitive 6th Congressional District in the Democrats' hands. But Danner unexpectedly announced in May - two months after Missouri's candidate filing deadline - that she would not seek re-election this year. And a seat Democratic strategists thought was comfortably theirs suddenly was the subject of a heated battle for partisan control. Republican officials, sensing an opportunity, quickly got involved, casting aside the lesser-known candidates who had filed to challenge the incumbent Danner and recruiting a well-known state senator, Sam Graves, to enter the race. Graves easily won his Aug. 8 primary, though he left behind some hard feelings from those he superceded in the race. Read the article VP Hopefuls Taking Notes on Debates 10/3/2000 11:29 PM Running mates Dick Cheney and Joseph Lieberman were cheering their bosses from a distance Tuesday night and preparing for their own matchup two nights later. Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, spent a second day tussling with aides in mock debates at a secluded mansion owned by Eastern Kentucky University. He planned to watch the debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush at the mansion. Wife Hadassah was flying home to Washington to watch. Read the article Gore, Bush Clash Over Tax Cuts in Debate 10/3/2000 11:19 PM Vice President Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush clashed sharply here tonight over tax cuts, prescription drugs and what to do with the projected budget surpluses, with Gore charging Bush with favoring the wealthy over the middle class and Bush claiming the vice president had failed for eight years to get things done in Washington. The first of their three presidential debates was barely minutes old when the two rivals began a series of pointed exchanges that set the tone of an evening in which Bush and Gore offered voters starkly different philosophies on some of the biggest issues facing the country. Read the article GOP Slams Lieberman on Farrakhan 10/2/2000 11:30 PM Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson on Monday criticized Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman for considering a meeting with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, calling the idea "disturbing." "We expected him to make compromises to be Al Gore's running mate," Nicholson said. "We expected him to make concessions to placate the radical left wing of the Democrat Party. But no one expected him to go so far as to lend legitimacy to the likes of Louis Farrakhan." Read the article Ashcroft Touts Stronger Federal Meth Bill 10/2/2000 11:05 PM Standing in front of the same meth-lab clean-up trailer used at a recent Mel Carnahan news conference, U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft this morning praised Congress for passing a new anti-meth bill, and said he expects President Clinton to sign it. "Last week, both the House and the Senate passed the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, which will include another $55 million annually to be dispersed to states and communities for this serious problem of methamphetamines in our culture," Ashcroft said. Ashcroft, a former two-term Missouri governor completing his first six-year term in the U.S. Senate, is being challenged in his re-election bid by Carnahan, the current two-term Democraatic governor. Read the article The Debates: Bush Is Underestimated 10/2/2000 11:01 PM Texas Gov. George W. Bush is a candidate with obvious political skills on the campaign trail, but when it comes to the art of debating, he is hardly a natural. His strategy often appears aimed as much at survival on stage as at defeat of his rival. He arms himself with few tricks or gimmicks and is more effective parrying opponents than putting them on the defensive. Read the article Missouri's GOP Spokesman Resigns 10/2/2000 10:59 PM The state Republican Party spokesman who criticized Democrats for parading the state auditor around "like a cheap hooker" resigned Monday, calling himself a distraction. Daryl Duwe said he asked that his contract with the Missouri Republican Party be terminated immediately. "I believe this election to be too important to be distracted by me," Duwe said. "Getting me out of the way lets the candidates and the media get on with the important issues of this election." Read the article Lazio's Hopes Lie in Split Tickets 10/1/2000 9:48 PM Ellis Mirsky is a big problem for Hillary Rodham Clinton. He's a Jewish suburban lawyer who supported Clinton's husband in two presidential elections and plans to support Vice President Gore in this one. He watched Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.) speak at a business breakfast here last week and left muttering about misconjugated verbs. But he's voting for Lazio for Senate anyway. "It's an anti-Hillary thing," said Mirsky, 52, the executive director of Trial.com, a network of trial law firms. "She's got no practical experience for this job. And obviously she's got nothing to do with New York." Read the article Gore, Bush Prepare For First Debate 10/1/2000 9:46 PM Al Gore and George W. Bush dug into intense preparations Saturday for the first presidential debate, honing styles and strategies for trumping the other guy in confrontations five weeks before the election. For Democrat Gore, the road to Boston on Tuesday led through Sarasota, Fla. Republican Bush's path led through his ranch in Crawford, Texas. For both men, the event is an opportunity to introduce themselves to Americans only now tuning in what could be the closest election since 1960. Read the article