The Chronicle TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2000
CIRCULATION 16,000
WWW.CHRONICLE.DUKE.EDU
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
VOL. 96. NO. 51
Presidential race heads toward photo finish By RICHARD BERKE
N.Y. Times News Service
For all their efforts to differentiate their personalities and positions, Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President A1 Gore shared an approach that might become a model for future presidential candidates: They steered their campaigns toward the absolute center of American politics. This shift was prompted by numerous factors, from an electorate that is less ideological to the proliferation of new technology that has made it virtually impossible for candidates to pander to one constituency without another finding out. For more than two decades, every campaign for president has featured at least one nominee who made blatant appeals to the ideological wing of his party. But this year, both candidates concluded that voters have no yearning for campaigns founded in ideology and prefer mainstream messages. They devoted their efforts to blurring their differences—and appropriating each other’s issues. That is why Bush opened his campaign by chastising congressional Republicans for not doing enough to help the poor and has emphasized education and other issues that had been anathema to his party. The last Republican to campaign so decidedly in the center was
PAUL RICHARDS/AFP PHOTOS
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Texas Gov. George W. Bush (left) and Vice President Al Gore (right) have been campaigning around the clock for the last week in swing states like Florida and Michigan, which have major sway in the Electoral College. ton, who reached the White House by say one of Gore’s biggest mistakes was to tell their own loyal supporters to suck campaigning on issues that had been not sticking to a more moderate message, it up and keep their mouths shut,” said Bush also moved briefly—in his case Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist the province of Republicans, like recrackthe right—when he was threatened who was communications director of welfare and to system forming the by Arizona Sen. John McCain in the McCain’s campaign this year. President Gerald Ford in 1976. And that ing down on criminals. Although Richard Nixon was known While Gore is continuing that tradi- South Carolina primary, is why Gore, in the waning hours of the Bush and Gore for stressing the political maxim that Yet for the most part, from the middle ofthe tion, voters he has veered campaign, was still reminding the candidates must retreat to the center in right that he broke with his party in endorsroad more than Bush, particularly dur- have resisted being tugged to for the general worse, election, it is rare for both when he left. “For or both naor better ing the Democratic convention ing the Persian Gulf War. To some extent, both candidates have unleashed a populist diatribe against tional parties now understand that in nominees to actually do that. Often, the See ELECTION on page 6 � been building on the legacy of Bill Clin- corporations. Some Democrats, in fact, order to get elected president they have
Glowing bunny creator explains work House leadership discusses shuffle By MARKO DJUKANOVIC The Chronicle
Eduardo Kac is a transgenic artist—he uses genetic engineering techniques to create unique living beings. As a part ofhis “Genesis” exhibit in New York last month, Kac translated a sentence from the Book of Genesis into Morse Code and then converted it into a genetic code, which a biotech company later used to create an original strain of bacteria. The bacteria were then kept in a petri dish under a ultraviolet light box which allowed Internet users to induce mutations in the bacteria and rewrite an oft-quoted sentence of the Old Testament—with a simple click ofthe mouse. At the end of the exhibition, Kac translated the bacteria’s genes back into English. While most of the sentence’s original meaning was preserved, some interesting alterations occurred, including an appearance of the
EDUARDO KAC explained at a speech last night in Love Auditorium that his art is partly the pieces he creates and partly the dialogues they create. *
word “eon”. Exhibits like “Genesis” are a part of Kac’s growing artistry that now spans three decades and has
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By LIZETTE ALVAREZ N.Y. Times News Service WASHINGTON Rep. Dick Gephardt, the Democrat who would be speaker, has relentlessly skewered Republicans, and at a caucus meeting last
month even painted his face blue, like Mel Gibson in “Braveheart,” to gird his colleagues for battle. To invigorate conservative minions, Rep. Dennis Hastert, the speaker, ushered Congress into a lame-duck session rather than concede a few budget items to President Bill Clinton. Hastert said he could not trust Gephardt, the minority leader, and Gephardt feels shunned by Hastert. The two have not spoken to each other in five months. How then will either man govern at the helm of a House that could have only one or two seats separating the majority from the minority? It may be more difficult for Gephardt of Missouri, who is viewed by Republicans as virulently partisan, and who would have to overcome reservoirs of ill will if elected speaker. “They have done nothing for six years except focus on getting the majority back,” Rep. Tom Delay ofTexas, the Republican whip, said about Gephardt and his caucus. See HOUSE LEADERS
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