On November 7, there will be a new president of the United States. Will it be Al Gore or George W. Bush? The winner will be the most important person in the world. But a lot of Americans aren't interested in the election. Many people say that they don't like either man! Why not?

Republican Bush is the Governor of Texas. His father, George Bush, was President from 1988 to 1992. He tried to become President again in 1992. He lost to Bill Clinton and Clinton's Vice President, Al Gore.

Newspapers have said that Bush is not very intelligent. He sometimes can't say long words! He doesn't seem to know a lot about world problems. (He has only been outside the US three times!) While he was giving a speech, he said something about a journalist in the crowd. It wasn't very polite. Bush didn't know that his microphone was on. Everybody heard him. And is Bush interested in the hard work of the job? As Governor of Texas, he works a short day with a long lunch. He thinks that meetings are ‘boring’!

Nobody has said that Democrat Al Gore isn't serious about the job of president. He's got the opposite problem. People think that Gore is boring. He gives lots of information in his speeches, but he explains too much. He doesn't always think about what he says. Gore once said that he helped to start the Internet! Gore has been Clinton's Vice President for eight years. Nobody noticed him because Clinton is very popular. When Gore started running for president, he said, 'I stand here as my own man'. But not everybody likes that man.

Bush and Gore have different opinions about the country's future. The US is very strong in 2000. The next government will have a lot of money. Bush says that he will give a lot of that money back to the people. But Gore says that Bush will give it to the RICHEST people. Bush says that Gore is the candidate of ‘big government’. He says that the Democrats will spend and spend.

Americans are choosing between two very different people. But neither man is winning in the opinion polls. A lot of Americans think that Gore is more prepared for the job. But they like Bush more as a person. They think that he is one of them. But does that make a good president?