Al Gore: Presidential Candidate

The candidate I chose to do my paper on was Al Gore. Al Gore is the current
Vice President of the United States. He is for the Democratic party and is now
running for President for this 2000 election. I chose to do my paper on Vice
President 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 that
Al Gore will be able to handle the presidency. I will discuss Al Gore’s brief history
and background, his qualifications, and where he stands on certain issues.
First lets look at Al Gore’s brief history. Al Gore was born on March 31, 1948
in Washington, DC. He is the son of former U.S. Senator Albert Gore, Sr. and
Pauline LaFon Gore. Raised in Carthage, Tennessee, and in Washington, D.C. His
mother, Pauline (La Fon) Gore, graduated from Vanderbilt Law School. She was
one of the very first women to graduate from that school. Both of Al Gore’s parents
played a major role in the structuring of public personality and his political beliefs.
Al Gore’s father, Albert Gore Sr. was born on a farm in Jackson County,
Tennessee, and worked as a schoolteacher before entering public service—first as
Smith 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 Senator
also. After years later in congress, he left the senate in 1970 and later on worked as
being a lawyer and businessman. Al Gore’s father seemed to be the driving force of
his career, his dad was his role model. Albert Gore Sr. has just recently passed
away in 1998 at the age of 91. His son gave him a well commemorated funeral, and
told the story of his life. He died a good man.
Pauline LaFon Gore, the mother of Al Gore, grew up in Weakley County, and
then later on Jackson, Tennessee. During the Great Depression she worked her
way as a waitress, while attending college. She later on went to Vanderbilt Law
School, working to be a lawyer. Later on as her husband was entering the political
field, she helped him on his campaigns. After her husband left the Senate, she
returned to being a lawyer and was a mentor for young women considering legal
careers.
There are other inspirations in Al Gore’s life other than his parents. Al Gore
is married to Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson, also known as “Tipper.” They went to high
school together, and met each other at a dance during senior year. Like many other
Presidents’ wives, Tipper was very much involved in politics. Ms Gore is very much
well known for her role in the music industry, concerning the labeling of music that
contains explicit content. She help put the explicit lyrics warning label on music
CDs. 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 he
didn’t do so well in harvard. He loves writing, and has written many books, including
a best seller book called “Earth in the Balance.” Gore has developed good political
instincts over the 20 years of public service. For credibility, Gore does not back
down from a challenge, he battled Ross Perot in a high staked televised debate over
North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993 and stood by Bill Clinton during the
Monica Lewinsky Scandal. For world views, Gore has plenty of hands on experience
for world affairs and he has been more involved in foreign policy than past vice
presidents. For his image, Gore has a reputation of being a solid, loyal family man.
With Al Gore’s strength’s, he also has weaknesses. He lacks charisma,
stubborn at times, has difficulty connecting to his audiences, and has said to have
perceptions of stiffness and artificiality. For charisma, although polls give Gore good
marks as a caring, down to earth person, he really loses points when it comes to
charm. Gore is not spontaneous, he lacks the energy. He is also stubborn, he
usually 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 he
loses their attention, because of the tone he uses to speak. Lastly, people have said
that Gore follows the book, he is stiff about things, and he might be artificial. He
lacks emotion and people say he needs to relax more. Although Gore does have
some weaknesses, his strengths are seen and noticed more then his weaknesses.
Al Gore and so do other politicians have their standings on certain issues. I
will 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 does
think that abortion as the taking of an innocent human life. He believes that abortion
should be the decision of a woman, and not government. He always defends a
woman’s right to choose. They should also have the right to choose, regardless of
her economic circumstances. It doesn’t seem that Gore opposes abortion nor does
he seek to make it an issue the government has to handle.
Gore strongly supports the issue of environment. He wants to invest in clean
air, water, land in a “Environmental Decade.” Just recently, on June 2000, Gore
promoted a new national Energy Security and Environment Trust Fund that would
provide tax breaks and other financial incentives for businesses and families to
develop new technologies that stimulate economic growth, create new jobs and
clean up the nation’s air and water. Gore will also announce incentives for
consumers to purchase more energy efficient and more environmentally sound
products and incentives for cities to establish more efficient methods of
transportation. Gore’s fund will help clean up the nation’s environment by offering
financial incentives.
The next issue is gun control. Gun control has been a serious issue for
years. Gore believes that gun control should be nationally mandated. He wants to
focus on gun safety, not hunters and sportsmen. He wants to maximize gun control
within what’s politically possible. Gore also believes that guns should be restricted if
they are in the wrong hands. He supports the Brady Law, which will ban all assault
weapons. He tends to be very aggressive with this issue.
With these issues stated, I agree with most of Gore’s viewpoints. I agree
with the issues of abortion and the environment. With abortion I do agree that a life
shouldn’t be taken, but I also respect that it is the woman’s choice whether or not to
have the abortion. This issue is not an easy matter at all, I think that both candidates
will have some trouble with the issue. Now for the issue of environment, I think that
this will be an issue that will be seen in the future. It is good that Gore wants to
focus on the environment. This is an important issue because it does affect
everyone. This place we live and breathe in will not always be here, so we need to
preserve our environment before it is too late.
In conclusion, from my point of view, I think Al Gore will have the knowledge
and experience to gain presidency. He has done a lot for this nation concerning
political issues. Gore’s personal background fits him as a presidential candidate.
With the knowledge of holding office from his father, and from himself, he is very
motivated to become president. It seems like he does have the qualifications for the
job. I have understood Gore’s strengths and weaknesses. They don’t seem to be
too bad. His strengths are greater than his weaknesses. Gore’s policies and point
of view of the issue’s make him have a different stand between the other candidates.
By doing the research, I know now of what candidate I’m going to vote for on election
day. I am also quite certain that he will have the upper hand in this coming election.