Make a decision
Gore comes out on top on issues

As the days before Election 2000 wind down, none of the two-major party presidential candidates have clearly grabbed a lead in the latest poll results. It shows that most of the American voting public is undecided on which candidate they want to lead them into the next century.

Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush both appear to be centrists at first glance. Both promise to end partisan bickering on Capitol Hill and many of their stances on the issues seem to be similar.
But upon close examination of the issues, Gore appears to be the best choice for the next American president. His intelligence and experience outstrip the relatively inexperienced Bush, whose resume is remarkably thin for a seat in the Oval Office.

But most importantly, Gore has the experience of holding an elected public office for 23 years. Bush, Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader have a total of six years of experience in a publicly elected office — with Bush having all six.

On the issue of affirmative action, Bush and Reform party candidate Buchanan both oppose quotas and racial preferences. Gore and Nader both support affirmative action, but Gore agrees that the system has its faults.

With his “mend it, not end it,” philosophy, Gore will enact programs that will be fair and reasonable.

While Bush opposes abortion rights with exceptions for rape, incest and situations where a mother’s life is in danger, Gore and Nader support abortion rights. But Gore doesn’t stop there. He also supports federally-funded family planning clinics and pregnancy counseling programs, in addition to supporting Medicaid abortion financing.

Gore’s education policies help underfunded and understaffed public schools, including the hiring of 2.2 million new teachers, while Bush believes that federal funding for schools should be dependent upon the test scores of students. This could produce disastrous results for school districts that already test poorly.

Bush has a rather poor record on environmentalism, considering that Texas ranks first in the nation for the number of days with unhealthy ozone. Nader’s environmental policies are interesting and ecology-friendly, but are too idealistic and unwieldy. Gore has traditionally been a leading supporter of environmental causes, particularly global warming research.

Both major-party candidates support raising the age for handgun ownership from 18 to 21 and support vigorously prosecuting those who commit gun-related crimes. Bush’s proposed $1.3 trillion tax cut seems to only benefit the wealthy and could turn the national surplus into a national deficit. Gore’s plan benefits low- and middle-income workers, doesn’t immediately deplete the current national surplus and much of it pays off the federal debt.

Bush is willing to reform Social Security, but promises not to reduce benefits for retirees. He also supports the partial privatization of the program by allowing participants to invest 2 percent of their payroll taxes in the stock market. Gore supports the creation of “Retirement Savings Plus Accounts,” that would allow for tax deductible contributions of up to $2,000 annually.

This endorsement isn’t an attempt to make the choice for our readers. The most important issue is that college students, who traditionally have one of the lowest voter turnout rates, show up at the polls and vote their consciences.