After a very successful primary campaign against fellow contender Bill Bradley, Vice President Al Gore came out as the Democratic Partyšs nominee for the office of the President of the United States. As his running mate, Gore chose Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman. In the last several months this Democratic team has run a hard campaign against the Republican ticket of Texas Governer George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in what looks to be the closest presidential race in decades.

So who are these democratic candidates and what do they stand for? This is a question that is often hard to answer from the sound bytes that often are the far-reaching extent of campaign coverage. Here is a brief overview of the democratic nominees and what they stand for.

Growing up Gore
Al Gore was born in Carthage, Tennessee into a prominent political family. He spent much of his childhood years split between his familyšs Tennessee farm and Washington D.C. , where his father served in the Senate. He attended Harvard University and subsequently graduated with Honors. After graduation Gore volunteered for service in Vietnam, where he served as a military Journalist. After a dishonorable discharge from service Gore enrolled at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where he obtained degrees in both Religion and Law. While at Vanderbilt Gore worked as a reporter for The Tennesseean, a popular regional newspaper. In 1970 Gore married Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Aitcheson. Since that time, the couple has had three daughters.

Al Gorešs political career began in 1976 when he was first elected to Congress to represent the state of Tennessee. Gore spent a total of 8 years in the United States House of Representatives before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984. In 1988 he demonstrated his own presidential aspirations when he decided to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Although he lost that race, Gore nonetheless found his way to the White House, four years later, as the running mate of President Bill Clinton. In total, Gorešs political career spans 24 years, in which he has provided a strong voice for environmental protection and affordable health care, among other things.

Understanding Joseph Lieberman
Al Gorešs running mate, Senator Joseph Lieberman, was born February 4th, 1942 in Stamford, Connecticut. Lieberman was born to a working class Orthodox Jewish family, and is himself a practicing Orthodox Jew. In 1964 he enrolled at Yale College and went on to earn his degree at Yale Law School. In 1970 he won his first political office, serving in the Connecticut State Senate. After ten years in the State Senate he served briefly as a Dean in Yalešs School of Art and Architecture, after which he was appointed to the office of Connecticut Attorney General. In 1988 he won an upset victory against the incumbent, Lowell Weicker, for a seat in the United States Senate.

Lieberman and his wife, Hadessah, are the parents of four children.

Running on the issues
The Gore-Lieberman ticket has been running on what they have called "an issue-oriented campaign." A clean-cut, honest campaign is what they are stressing in their bid to win the 2000 Presidential Elections.

Forming the Federal Budget
As always, one of these key issues is the federal budget. With the projected federal surplus, Al Gore proposes to give a total of 500 billion dollars in tax relief to "working class" families. This entails a series of tax credits and breaks for various personal economic factors and considerations such as childcare, college tuition, low income housing, and health care. Gore has also set an ambitious goal of completely eliminating the federal deficit by the year 2012. Health Care in America

Another hot topic in this Presidential race is the issue of Health Care in America. Gore proposes a "Patients Bill of Rights" which would give patients in HMOšs more control over their healthcare. Al Gore is also a strong supporter of the National Medicare program for seniors. He proposes to put Medicare funding in a "lock box" where it would be taken put of the budget and, hence, would be given permanence. He also supports an increase in spending towards Medicare and is especially adamant in supporting prescription drug coverage under Medicare.

About abortion
On the issue of abortion, Gore is a strong Pro-Choice advocate.

Fielding foreign policy
With the recent developments in both the Middle East and Yugoslavia, defense and foreign affairs have also become hot topics in this race. Al Gore favors more federal spending going towards strengthening the military. He also proposes investing in new technologies and also in improving the living conditions of sevicemen and women in the United States and around the world. He supports a pay increase for servicemen and women, as well as increased funding for housing and health care for military families.

In foreign policy he favors a policy of "forward engagement" where problems are confronted and hopefully resolved early in their development. Gore is for a limited national missile defense system that would be used to intercept potential nuclear attacks from nations such as North Korea Iraq, and others with negative feelings towards the United States.

Envisioning a healthier environment
Perhaps the issue which can be most identified with Gore is environmental protection. Gore has proposed to establish an Energy Security and Environmental Trust Fund that would be available for use to resolve energy and environmental crises likely to arise in the coming decades. Gore has also promised to support new products that reduce greenhouse emissions and has proposed a tax cut for all people who own a gas efficient vehicle.