In 2000, it was a national contest between “The Compassionate Patriot” and “The Player,” in which the former defeated the latter in one of the closest presidential races in history.

The Republicans started their party at the 2000 convention in Philadelphia, where then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush was announced the official GOP candidate for the White House.

Roll Call Executive Editor Morton M. Kondracke foreshadowed a 2000 win for Bush after hearing the candidate’s convention speech — he compared it to Bush’s 1994 gubernatorial campaign, which the Texan won handily. Kondracke recalled a similar message for each campaign with Bush saying he would promise to use “positive, upbeat language and an absence of red-meat partisan oratory.”

According to Kondracke, the GOP was off to a good start, but the news was not as good for Democrats celebrating their convention in Los Angeles. Kondracke characterized the convention speech by then-Vice President Al Gore, Democratic candidate for president, as disastrous.

“Gore’s acceptance speech … revealed him to be an old-line populist liberal with a grim view of America’s ‘working families’ being victimized by ‘powerful forces and powerful interests.’” [IMGCAP(1)]