How Bob Dole Could Have Won The Election Of 1996

Essay by Anonymous UserCollege, UndergraduateA-, December 1996

download word file, 5 pages 5.0

Great essay on the main issues of the campaign -

How Dole could have used the issues to his advantage

In a more or less conservative country, the more or less conservative candidate, Bob Dole, should have been a lock for the presidency; the only problem was President Clinton. Clinton had moved rightward positioning himself between Newt Gingrich's zealous revolutionaries on the right and liberal democratic barons on the left. Clinton's speeches started sounding like a Republican was giving them. Bob Dole had followed the Nixon ideology of going 'starboard' in the primaries and coming back to the center in the general election. The only question was whether Dole had gone too far right and would not be able to recover in time. With Clinton's move to the right and his advantage of incumbency, Bob Dole would have to present some exciting new ideas to win over the American people.

Throughout the history of presidential elections, there have been a few issues that always appear: abortion, crime and the economy. The position taken by candidates on these issues could make or break their campaign.

The first of these issues, abortion, has been a hotbed of controversy. The pro-life versus the pro-choice groups. Throughout his political career, President Clinton has been adamant on supporting a women's right to choose. Clinton stands firm on the fact that abortions should be 'safe, legal and rare' without many unnecessary restrictions. To further show his hard stance on abortion, Clinton vetoed a bill in April that would have banned a rarely used procedure termed 'partial birth abortions.' President Clinton defended his decision, calling it justifiable in extreme situations, such as cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. Unlike Bosnia and gays in the military, Clinton has not wavered on...