ࡱ> 352G A!bjbjَ 2A]nnnnnnn ${o nnnBnnnnnnnn dfwWho will the presidential contenders be? Before Americans can choose the next President of the United States they must vote for the person they want to represent each political party in the national election. Candidates are traveling from state to state trying to convince us that theyre the ones for the job. The next big showdown is in South Carolina on February 19th. There, in a state primary, Republicans will get to choose between Governor George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Ambassador Alan Keyes. The date is especially important for McCain who just came back to score a big win in New Hampshire. But none of the candidates are spending too much time in South Carolina because March 7th, or Super Tuesday, is right around the corner. For Democrats, that's the big day that will reveal whether former Senator Bill Bradley can overtake Vice President Al Gore. On that day, voters from 16 states- including big ones like New York, California and Ohio- will get to vote for their man. Knowing that this day can make or break them, candidates will be scrambling to get their messages across in the coming weeks. For the Democrats, the issues are primarily health care, education and gun control. Republicans talk most about taxes, campaign reform and abortion. Well be covering the campaign up until election day, but heres a brief introduction (in alphabetical order) to each candidate with links to more in-depth NewsHour reports. Also check out a description of how a caucus works and the history of primary elections. Republicans GEORGE W. BUSH The current governor of Texas and son of former President George Bush calls himself a compassionate conservative. He wants to give a big chunk of the countrys extra money back to the people through a tax cut and believes in a smaller government. He is opposed to abortion and in favor of helping families pay for private school. Even though he has strong support from his party and was long considered an easy winner, the governor got a wake-up call from Senator John McCain who beat him in the New Hampshire primary. Governor Bush has received quite a bit of criticism lately as he tries to rev up his campaign against McCain. He has been accused of running negative TV ads, which he promised he wouldnt do. He was also put in the hot-seat after he gave a speech at Bob Jones University- a Christian conservative school that doesnt allow interracial dating. Opponents also say that his tax cut doesnt leave enough money for important government programs and point out Texass poor environmental record. But George W. isnt backing down. He has almost four times as much campaign money as Senator McCain (around 31 million dollars!) and still has strong support from conservatives. He is counting on a big win in South Carolina to take the wind out of McCains sails. ALAN KEYES Commentator Alan Keyes is seeking support from the religious conservative wing of the Republican party. Although he only received 6 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary, he has been able to draw attention to conservative moral issues by challenging his opponents eloquently in debates. Previously the Ambassador to the U.N. Social and Economic Counsil, Keyes became a known figure during the Reagan administration. He and Gary Bauer, who has since dropped out of the race, spent a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire competing for the votes of Christian conservatives. If president, he would ban all abortions and dissolve the Internal Revenue Service (the I.R.S.). Keyes has complained that he does not receive as much attention as the other candidates and thinks that it may be because he is African-American. Nevertheless, he received criticism from his rival when he was photgraphed crowd-surfing in a mosh-pit to Rage Against the Machine. If elected, Keyes would be the first African-American president. JOHN MCCAIN Arizona Senator John McCain decided not to campaign in Iowa and, instead, put all his effort into the New Hampshire primary. His plan payed off when he won the contest and became something of a national sensation. He is now considered by most to be the only legitimate challenger to George W. Bush. A prisoner of war during the U.S.s conflict in Vietnam, McCain campaigns as a patriotic war hero who will keep America strong and honor its veterans. Like his opponent, he would like to give Americans a tax break but believes that about half of the governments extra money should be used to strengthen Social Security. One of his biggest goals is to reform the campaign system which he views as corrupt and unfair. Because of this, along with his softer conservative views and seeming charm, Senator McCain has won the support of most independent voters and even some Democrats. Many people believe that he would have a better chance of beating Al Gore (if each were to win) in a national election. Because McCain hasnt been very specific about his beliefs, though, he is getting attacked from both sides. Conservatives say that he is selling out by campaigning to Democrats and independents, while Liberals point to his conservative voting record in the Senate and claim that he is using them to gain the Republican nomination. McCain has also been criticized for his hot temper and for using the same kind of campaign tactics that he spends so much time criticizing. Democrats BILL BRADLEY Former basketball star and New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley left the Senate in 1996 to travel across the country and talk about why he wants to be president. His 48% of the vote in New Hampshire put him in a good position to challenge Vice President Gore, but Senator McCains success among independent voters and time in the limelight has hurt Bradleys effort. He is hoping to win the support of voters who want to bring change and integrity to Washington. Bradley is generally considered more liberal than Gore, and wants Americans to think big. He would like to use the countrys extra money to provide health care for all Americans and believes that all gun owners should have to get a license. While he has some very popular supporters, like former Chicago Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan, Bradley has been slipping in the polls. To regain momentum he has been questioning Al Gores commitment to abortion rights and has drawn attention to some of Gores shady fundraising in 1996. He admits that he must win a large number of the Super Tuesday primaries to stay in the race. AL GORE The current Vice President has been the Democratic front-runner since the primary process began. Although Bradley has accused him of being iffy on core democratic issues, Gore has the support of large segments of the African American community, women and labor unions. He would like to take credit for the successes of the Clinton administration and the present economic boom, but has distanced himself from President Clintons personal scandals. By moving his campaign headquarters to his home state of Tennessee he hoped to get away from the label of Washington insider. Gore prides himself on his work in protecting the environment and charting the Internet. While his campaign seemed to get lazy around the time of the Iowa caucus, he came out with new energy for the New Hampshire primary. Since then, he has been working hard to spread his ideas of how to continue the nations prosperity and of responsible reforms. )uwo    ./A!5CJCJ5CJCJH*CJ5>* )*;<hjno       - . 9 : %&12=>jdh)*;<hjno       - . 9 : %&12=>jkFGHTUFG"#$./=>  >!?!@!A!;jkFGHTUFG"#$./=>  >!dh>!?!@!A!dh/ =!"#$% [$@$NormalmH :@: Heading 1$dh@&5CJ:@: Heading 2$dh@&5CJ<A@<Default Paragraph Font0B@0 Body TextdhCJ4P@4 Body Text 2dhCJA2A!j>!A!A!)/  ( O T 5 9 jp}OUJRC/;ty  8B+29@ECMLP5C:\Windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Online piece.asdMLP5C:\Windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Online piece.asdMLP5C:\Windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Online piece.asdMLP5C:\Windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Online piece.asdMLP5C:\Windows\TEMP\AutoRecovery save of Online piece.asdMLP C:\My Documents\Online piece.docMLP A:\Extra.docMLPC:\My Documents\Extra.doc Leah Clapman.C:\temp\AutoRecovery save of election_2-15.asd Leah Clapman9\\CARLOS\NEWSHOUR\extra\features\jan-june00\election_2-15@5 5 5 5 A`@GTimes New Roman5Symbol3& Arial"qhgtB&-|BF`tB&#; 3t20dBefore Americans can choose the next President of the United States they must first vote for whom they want to represent each political party in the national electionMLP Leah Clapman Oh+'0 HT`l|     Before Americans can choose the next President of the United States they must first vote for whom they want to represent each political party in the national electionefoMLPLPNormalA Leah Clapmanans3ahMicrosoft Word 8.0n@@N;w@:I _PID_GUIDAN{8F519AA4-DFDE-11D3-80F9-0000E219BE44}  !#$%&'()+,-./014Root Entry Fyw Uw61TableWordDocument2SummaryInformation("DocumentSummaryInformation8*CompObjj<@dC  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q