Mideast Crises Affect Presidential Race

Escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and a terrorist attack against a U.S. warship in Yemen have driven the presidential race from the spotlight, yet both have political implications for Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Foreign Policy to the Fore

In an ABCNEWS/Washington Post poll taken in September, foreign affairs ranked fourth from the bottom in a list of 17 issues in its importance to voters — only 54 percent said it would be “very important” to them in deciding which candidate to vote for.

With relative peace and stability in the world, the public had turned its focus to domestic priorities such as Social Security, health care and education. The deadly events of this week, however, are a sobering reminder that a new commander in chief will be chosen on Election Day. That dynamic has potential benefits and risks for both Gore and Bush.

The crises’ domination of the headlines may serve to bolster the vice president’s advantage of incumbency, allowing him to appear, in a word, presidential. And, although Bush received accolades for holding his own against Gore in a discussion of world affairs during Wednesday’s second debate, foreign policy is not the Texas governor’s strong suit.

“The Middle East is one of the few areas that can still serve to remind people that the world is still a dangerous place,” explained ABCNEWS political director Mark Halperin, “and that an experienced and steady foreign policy on the part of the United States is still vitally important. Clearly, the Gore campaign hopes that voters see Gore’s greater experience in this area as something to consider.”

The Water’s Edge

It is said that politics stops at the water’s edge and neither Gore nor Bush want to be accused of breaking that tradition over the Israeli-Palestinian crisis or Thursday’s deadly explosion near the Navy destroyer USS Cole. “We stand together as a nation, especially in times like this,” Gore told supporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday. “This is a time of great tension in the Middle East and it is a time when our country’s leadership is needed.”