2000 жылғы АҚШ президенттік сайлауы: Эл Гордың күресі мен даулы нәтижесі

United States presidential campaign

The 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States under President Bill Clinton, began when he announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Carthage, Tennessee, on June 16, 1999. Gore became the Democratic nominee for the 2000 presidential election on August 17, 2000. On November 7, 2000, projections indicated that Gore's opponent, then Governor of Texas George W. Bush, the Republican candidate, had narrowly won the election. Gore won the national popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote after a legal battle over disputed vote counts in the state of Florida. Bush won the state of Florida in the initial count and also in each subsequent recount at the time. While a NORC study of uncounted ballots released on November 12, 2001, found that with a full statewide hand recount, Gore may have won Florida under revised vote standards (depending on which standard was used, his margin of victory would have varied from 60 to 171 votes), under rules devised by the Florida Supreme Court and accepted by the Gore campaign at the time, Bush would likely have won the recount. The legal dispute was ultimately resolved by the Supreme Court of the United States in a 5–4 decision. Bush won the election by 537 votes in Florida, and won the electoral college vote of 271 to 266. One elector pledged to Gore did not cast an electoral vote; Gore received 267 pledged electors. The election was one of the most controversial in American history.

Prior to his announcement that he would be running in the 2000 election, Gore participated in a March 9, 1999, interview for CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. Gore stated in the interview, "During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." Former UCLA professor of information studies, Philip E. Agre and journalist Eric Boehlert both argue that three articles in Wired News led to the creation of the widely spread urban legend that Gore claimed to have "invented the Internet", which followed this interview. This urban legend became "an automatic laugh. Jay Leno, David Letterman, or any other comedic talent can crack a joke about Al Gore 'inventing the Internet,' and the audience is likely to respond with howls of laughter." In response to the controversy, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn argued that they didn't think, "as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he 'invented' the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore's initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still evolving Internet." Gore would later poke fun at the controversy on the Late Show with David Letterman when he read Letterman's Top 10 List, which for this show was called, "Top Ten Rejected Gore Lieberman Campaign Slogans". Number nine on the list was: "Remember, America, I gave you the Internet, and I can take it away!" A few years later, on June 6, 2005, Gore was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award "for three decades of contributions to the Internet" at the Webby Awards.

There was talk of a potential run for president by Gore as early as January 1998. Gore formally announced his candidacy for president on June 16, 1999, in Carthage, Tennessee. He was introduced by his eldest daughter, Karenna Gore, who was pregnant at the time with her first child. In making the announcement, Gore also distanced himself from Bill Clinton, whom he stated had lied to him. and was considered a "fresh face" for the White House. Gore responded by switching his campaign headquarters from Washington, D. C., to Nashville, Tennessee, in an effort to further distance himself from Bill Clinton. Gore then challenged Bradley to a series of debates which took the form of "town hall" meetings. Gore went on the offensive during these debates leading to a drop in the polls for Bradley. Gore eventually went on to win every primary and caucus and in March 2000, secured the Democratic nomination.