Explanatory Notes for the State Pages

Explanatory Notes

Main State Pages

These pages are designed to provide an overview of the political situation in each state at the time of the November 7, 2000 election and to show the results and changes in the immediate aftermath of the election. Each state page has three major sections. The top third provides general information on the state's population and government and has links to political parties and media. The government section shows elected officials at the time of the November election; below, in red, are changes that occurred as a result of the election. The middle third has results for the 2000 presidential election. On the left are results from the 1992 and 1996 elections; in the middle are the 2000 results, and on the right is a very brief overview of the 2000 campaign and results. Finally, the bottom third of the page has presidential primary results.

For most states, there is a link from the main state page to a details page that focuses on general election activity.

Details Pages

Campaign Organization
Candidate Travel (Aug. 1-Nov. 7)
A Sampling of More Campaign Activity
Television
Some Newspaper Endorsements
Miscellaneous Notes
Other Candidates: Nader, Buchanan, Browne...
Campaign Organization:
Statewide, three entities help bring the candidate's message to the voters: (a) the candidate's campaign organization; (b) the unified effort designed to elect party members at every level from the court house to the White House (known as the coordinated campaign ("CorCam") for Democrats and Victory 2000 for Republicans); and (c) the state party.
In most states, the Bush and Gore campaigns had from one to five staffers; typically these people started working after the conventions, in late August or early September. Gore/Lieberman had a clearly identified state director in each state, while it was sometimes a bit more fuzzy for Bush/Cheney. Duties of the state director or executive director include planning trips, advising the national campaign and serving as spokesperson. State directors brought varied experience to the post. On the Bush side, in a number of key states, the lead person was somebody on leave from a position working for the governor or U.S. Senator; he or she knew the state well. In other states, Bush merely had an unofficial contact and the campaign was done through the state party. In a number of states, Gore state directors were brought in from out of state, and another staffer or the coordinated campaign director providing local expertise.
The state party funds the coordinated campaign/Victory 2000 effort. In some cases the party's executive director is director of the coordinated campaign/Victory 2000.
The coordinated campaign/Victory 2000 is the heart of the campaign; in essence it is the field operation. It runs the campaign office that springs up in the local mall, mobilizes volunteers, coordinates with supportive groups, and oversees the targeted persuasion mail and phone calls.

Candidate Travel: A candidate's time is one of the most valued resources. Closely fought states see multiple visits from the presidential and vice presidential candidates, while safe states may not get a single visit in the fall.
This section lists all candidate visits to the state from Aug. 1 to Nov. 7, 2000. The timeframe is somewhat arbitrary but is designed to cover the fall campaign. Using this period has two major shortcomings. First, the conventions, which occur in August, disrupt ordinary candidate travel. Perhaps a better analytical frame would be to look at Sept. 1 to Nov. 7. Second, the fall campaign can be said to start in the latter part of March after the candidates have effectively secured their nominations.

A Sampling of More Campaign Activity:
In the absence of the candidates themselves, surrogates can help convey the campaign's message. They may not be able to persuade voters to back their man but they can at least show the flag. Janice R. LaChance, then director of the Office of Personnel Management, did some surrogate appearances for Gore both during the Iowa caucuses and in the fall campaign; she noted after the election that such visits give local activists an incentive to do a little more. "It matters to them that somebody at the national level cares about them," she said.
Foremost among the surrogates are the candidate's wife and the vice presidential candidate's wife. Tipper Gore was very active on the campaign trial; Laura Bush did few solo appearances. Hadassah Lieberman and Lynne Cheney did a lot of campaigning as well. Other members of the candidates' families hit the hustings. Former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush actively campaigned for their son as did Bush's sister Doro Bush Koch (of Bethesda, MD, wife of Robert Koch, senior vice president of the Wine Institute). Bush's celebrity nephew, George P. Bush, did little campaigning during the fall, as he was focusing on law school. By contrast, Gore's foremost youth advocate, eldest daughter Karenna Gore Schiff (graduated from Columbia Law School on May 16, 2000; gave birth to Gore's first grandson Wyatt on July 4, 1999) travelled widely on his behalf. Gore's daughter Kristin also made a number of appearances, and did various Lieberman relatives.
Elected, appointed and party officials spread the word. Bush deployed 29 Republican governors on a "Barnstorm for Reform" tour Oct. 23-25. Teams of from two to four governors, each joined by a Texas Democrat, made relatively low key, media-oriented appearances 25 states. Starting Oct. 30, the Bush campaign used governors and others as "Gore Detectors" to provide balance following Gore appearances. During the last week of the campaign, elected and party officials joined Republican bus tours in many states. On the Democratic side, President Clinton was kept to the sidelines, but various Cabinet secretaries stumped for Gore. Some of this surrogate activity is done through the party. The Democratic National Committee mobilized "Texas Truth Squads" to counter Bush's message. On Oct. 23, the DNC organized dozens of events around the country to unveil a 10-minute video "George W. Bush's Priorities." The DNC supported Jesse Jackson's extensive travels as he first sought to register people and later exhorted them to vote.
Then there are the celebrities. Bush's stable included actress Bo Derek and actress Dixie Carter ("Designing Women" and "Family Law"). Al Franken did quite a few appearances in support of Gore. Starting in late October, director Rob Reiner and other celebrities did a multi-state tour that aimed to dampen support for Nader.
Allies, while acting independently, can also boost the campaign. NRA President Charlton Heston, Exec. VP Wayne LaPierre and chief lobbyist James J. Baker held rallies in a number of states on a Get Out the Vote tour.
The information in this section is based on news accounts and conversations with state directors. The listing does not include every surrogate appearance and is biased toward those appearances that drew news coverage and involved out-of-state visitors.

Television:
According to the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG Eye, Jan. 2001 and Nov./Dec. 2000), the Bush campaign and the RNC ran nearly 121,500 ads in the period from June 1 to Nov. 7, spending an estimated $89,650,000, while Gore and the DNC ran over 103,000 ads and spent an estimated $67 million. CMAG has developled useful information the number of ads run by Bush/RNC and Gore/DNC in top states as well as estimates of expenditures. CMAG also provided data for the Brennan Center for Justice studies; however, the Brennan Center analyses glom advertising by the campaigns, the parties and supportive groups together.
CMAG and Brennan Center reports provide a rough picture of the television wars, but they have a number of limitations. First, media markets cross state boundaries. Thus intense Gore/DNC buys in Philadelphia also have an effect in Delaware and South Jersey. Second, CMAG only looked at the top 75 media markets. Third, they do not reveal the pattern of spending over time in various states.

Some Newspaper Endorsements:
Endorsements do offer well written, thoughtful views on the candidates' strengths and weaknesses even if their impact is debatable. The list of papers' endorsements is biased toward those papers that put their editorials up on their web sites.

Miscellaneous Notes:
This section seeks to provide some insights into the dynamics the campaign faced in each state.

Other Candidates:
Their budgets are tiny, they have a hard time getting media attention, their vote totals are often paltry, but third party candidates were out there campaigning every bit as energetically as the major party candidates.