Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / March 31, 2000, edition 1 / Page 9
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Page 8 Presidential race shows changes By James E. Tatum STAFF WRITER The 2000 Presidential race may prove to be a turning point in the history of how national elections are conducted in this country. With over seven months re maining before election day, America has entered the longest general election race on record. It began when A 1 Gore and George Bush, Jr., the leading can didates for the Democratic and Republican parties, secured the nominations of their party's con stituencies. The two candidates wasted no time in lashing out at each other. Gore opened the general election in his March 7th speech, televised on C-SPAN and other networks. This followed a clean sweep of the "Super Tuesday" pri maries, a day when several states around the country held contests, in what George Bush, Jr., de scribed as the "first truly national primary." Gore aimed to recruit independent voters and Repub licans who supported John McCain's unsuccessful quest to upset Bush for the Republican nomination. "Join with us," Gore empha sized, outlining a number of key Democratic issues, including NO FEAR: David Duke's "white civil rights" By Sarah Byrne STJirr WRITER Reactions to David Duke include this t k. World Nation health care reform and gun con trol. "Our campaign is your cause." Bush responded with a speech of his own, emphasizing his slogans about being a "com passionate conservative" and a "reformer with results." Both major parties select their nominees through a series of primaries held in 50 states and several U.S. territories. In re cent election history, the nomina tion process commenced with the Super Tuesday primaries held in March. Only the New Hamp shire primary and lowa caucuses predated this event. Under this system, candidates often ignored smaller states while targeting large states that carried higher numbers of delegate votes for the party conventions where the can didates are officially selected. A Former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke launched a civil rights group for whites, claiming that they face "massive discrimi nation" from the nation's growing population of minorities. Ken Jacobson, assistant na tional director for the Anti-Defa mation League, called Duke's an nouncement a weak effort by a "leading racist and hater" to fash ion himself as a civil rights leader. In response to the National Press release that Duke issued, Jacobson said, "He may not have his robe on and he may not have his mask on but it's the same old David Duke." This is not Duke's first at tempt at preserving the rights of white Americans. After resigning in 1978 as national director of the Knights of Ku Klux Klan, Duke formed the National Association for the Advancement of White The Guilfordian For additional information on the presidential races or politics in general, check out these vreb pages: www.wire.ap.org www.allpolitics.com www.washingtonpost.com www.voter.com www.vote-smart.org Web sites for the leading Presidential nominees: (Pat Buchanan) www.gopatgo2ooo.org (George Bush) www.georgewbush.com (A 1 Gore) www.gore2ooo.org majority of delegate votes are re quired to secure the nomination. What changed this year is that a number of smaller states moved up the dates of their pri maries in order to receive more attention from the candidates. To describe this trend, experts have developed the phrase "front-load ing." The result was that by the second week of March, both of the leading candidates had secured enough votes to guarantee their party's nomination. With no tough nomination races remaining inside the two established parties, some experts are predicting that this year may see an increase in influence from third-party candidates. Pat Buchanan, running for the nomi nation of the Reform Party, could pick away at the traditional con stituencies of the two leading par- People. In 1989, he was elected to Louisiana's House of Represen tatives. Duke boasts that his new or ganization will include members from 50 states, including chap ters in major cities such as Wash ington, D.C. In a press release, Duke claimed that there is a need for white Americans to protect them selves against minorities. "I guarantee there are many European Americans who are refugees in our own cities," Duke said half-way through his speech, where he exploded at what he called "biased treatment" in favor of blacks, Hispanics, Jews and homosexuals. He continued, "We like our values. We like our culture. We want to preserve it." Santes Beatty, Guilford's Di rector of African American Af fairs, believes that the name of March 31, 2000 ties. Andrea Gerlak chairs the Political Science department at Guilford College. "Historically, people have thought that Buchanan would pull only from the Republican Party," said Gerlak. "But, at the same time, the people who are part of the Reform Party, the people who back Pat Buchanan, are not just members of the Christian Coali tion," she said, referring to an or ganization whose members are considered by both parties to be a key Republican constituency. Gerlak noted that some voters are drawn to Buchanan's "protec tionist," closed-market response to the growing trend of favoring open international trade. Although this year's nomina tion process began earlier and ended sooner than in previous election years, its effects on the regular presidential election cal endar cycle may only be tempo rary. Early indications show that the current primary system may be on the verge of an overhaul. Officials from both-the Demo cratic and Republican parties are currently discussing at least three alternative models to the present primary system. If these talks are success ful, the current trend of "front loading" may soon come to an end. the organization is no coinci dence. "There is fear in the hearts of many people concerning what would happen if things were re ally equal in this country. Fear is one of the largest factors that has perpetuated white su premacy in this country for 400 years. I think it is reverse psy chology on their part—the orga nization is founded on fear." In re sponse to NOFEAR, Justice and Policy Studies major Daniel Petrey mockingly stated, "Thank God the white man is finally go ing to be protected from every body else." The first meeting of Duke's organization was on January 22nd, 2000 in Philadelphia. The group plans to tackle such issues as affirmative action, immigra- ' tion laws, and the "unfair pros ecution and persecution" of white Americans, Duke said.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 31, 2000, edition 1
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