Al Gore: Presidential CandidateThe candidate I chose to do my paper on was Al Gore.
Al Gore is the currentVice President of the United States. He is for the Democratic party and is nowrunning for President for this 2000 election. I chose to do my paper on VicePresident Al Gore because I believe that he will be the next president to be in office. With his support on certain issues and policies and also his experience, I know thatAl Gore will be able to handle the presidency. I will discuss Al Gores brief historyand background, his qualifications, and where he stands on certain issues. First lets look at Al Gores brief history.
Al Gore was born on March 31, 1948in Washington, DC. He is the son of former U. S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. andPauline LaFon Gore. Raised in Carthage, Tennessee, and in Washington, D.
C. Hismother, Pauline (La Fon) Gore, graduated from Vanderbilt Law School. She wasone of the very first women to graduate from that school. Both of Al Gores parentsplayed a major role in the structuring of public personality and his political beliefs. Al Gores father, Albert Gore Sr. was born on a farm in Jackson County,Tennessee, and worked as a schoolteacher before entering public servicefirst asSmith County Superintendent of Schools, then as Tennessee’s Secretary of Labor.
Albert Gore, Sr. was both a member of the House of Representatives and a Senatoralso. After years later in congress, he left the senate in 1970 and later on worked asbeing a lawyer and businessman. Al Gores father seemed to be the driving force ofhis career, his dad was his role model. Albert Gore Sr. has just recently passedaway in 1998 at the age of 91.
His son gave him a well commemorated funeral, andtold the story of his life. He died a good man. Pauline LaFon Gore, the mother of Al Gore, grew up in Weakley County, andthen later on Jackson, Tennessee. During the Great Depression she worked herway as a waitress, while attending college. She later on went to Vanderbilt LawSchool, working to be a lawyer. Later on as her husband was entering the politicalfield, she helped him on his campaigns.
After her husband left the Senate, shereturned to being a lawyer and was a mentor for young women considering legalcareers. There are other inspirations in Al Gores life other than his parents. Al Goreis married to Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson, also known as Tipper. They went to highschool together, and met each other at a dance during senior year. Like many otherPresidents wives, Tipper was very much involved in politics.
Ms Gore is very muchwell known for her role in the music industry, concerning the labeling of music thatcontains explicit content. She help put the explicit lyrics warning label on musicCDs. The Gores have a total of four children: Karenna, Kristin, Sarah, and Albert. Al Gore is the person he is today because of these people. Personality wise,Al Gore has some strengths and they are: smarts, instincts, credibility, world view,and he has an image to look upon. He is known for having a high IQ, although hedidnt do so well in harvard.
He loves writing, and has written many books, includinga best seller book called Earth in the Balance. Gore has developed good politicalinstincts over the 20 years of public service. For credibility, Gore does not backdown from a challenge, he battled Ross Perot in a high staked televised debate overNorth American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and stood by Bill Clinton during theMonica Lewinsky Scandal. For world views, Gore has plenty of hands on experiencefor world affairs and he has been more involved in foreign policy than past vicepresidents. For his image, Gore has a reputation of being a solid, loyal family man. With Al Gores strengths, he also has weaknesses.
He lacks charisma,stubborn at times, has difficulty connecting to his audiences, and has said to haveperceptions of stiffness and artificiality. For charisma, although polls give Gore goodmarks as a caring, down to earth person, he really loses points when it comes tocharm. Gore is not spontaneous, he lacks the energy. He is also stubborn, heusually wants it his way, and when he makes a decision he rarely reverses himself. Gore has always had the problem with connecting with his audience.
Sometimes heloses their attention, because of the tone he uses to speak. Lastly, people have saidthat Gore follows the book, he is stiff about things, and he might be artificial. Helacks emotion and people say he needs to relax more. Although Gore does havesome weaknesses, his strengths are seen and noticed more then his weaknesses.
Al Gore and so do other politicians have their standings on certain issues. Iwill discuss a few issues that Gore supports. The issues of abortion, environment,and gun control will be discussed. Abortion has been a controversial issue from the beginning.
Gore still doesthink that abortion as the taking of an innocent human life. He believes that abortionshould be the decision of a woman, and not government. He always defends awomans right to choose. They should also have the right to choose, regardless ofher economic circumstances. It doesnt seem that Gore opposes abortion nor doeshe seek to make it an issue the government has to handle. Gore strongly supports the issue of environment.
He wants to invest in cleanair, water, land in a Environmental Decade. Just recently, on June 2000, Gorepromoted a new national Energy Security and Environment Trust Fund that wouldprovide tax breaks and other financial incentives for businesses and families todevelop new technologies that stimulate economic growth, create new jobs andclean up the nations air and water. Gore will also announce incentives forconsumers to purchase more energy efficient and more environmentally soundproducts and incentives for cities to establish more efficient methods oftransportation. Gores fund will help clean up the nations environment by offeringfinancial incentives.
The next issue is gun control. Gun control has been a serious issue foryears. Gore believes that gun control should be nationally mandated. He wants tofocus on gun safety, not hunters and sportsmen. He wants to maximize gun controlwithin whats politically possible.
Gore also believes that guns should be restricted ifthey are in the wrong hands. He supports the Brady Law, which will ban all assaultweapons. He tends to be very aggressive with this issue. With these issues stated, I agree with most of Gores viewpoints.
I agreewith the issues of abortion and the environment. With abortion I do agree that a lifeshouldnt be taken, but I also respect that it is the womans choice whether or not tohave the abortion. This issue is not an easy matter at all, I think that both candidateswill have some trouble with the issue. Now for the issue of environment, I think thatthis will be an issue that will be seen in the future. It is good that Gore wants tofocus on the environment. This is an important issue because it does affecteveryone.
This place we live and breathe in will not always be here, so we need topreserve our environment before it is too late. In conclusion, from my point of view, I think Al Gore will have the knowledgeand experience to gain presidency. He has done a lot for this nation concerningpolitical issues. Gores personal background fits him as a presidential candidate.
With the knowledge of holding office from his father, and from himself, he is verymotivated to become president. It seems like he does have the qualifications for thejob. I have understood Gores strengths and weaknesses. They dont seem to betoo bad.
His strengths are greater than his weaknesses. Gores policies and pointof view of the issues make him have a different stand between the other candidates. By doing the research, I know now of what candidate Im going to vote for on electionday. I am also quite certain that he will have the upper hand in this coming election. Words/ Pages : 1,379 / 24
