[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000-2001, Book III)]
[November 3, 2000]
[Pages 2448-2449]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters in San Francisco
November 3, 2000

2000 Presidential Election

    Q. Mr. President, do you have any message for Nader supporters in 
California or elsewhere? Do you have any message for Nader supporters 
about what they should do?
    The President. I think they ought to vote for Al Gore, for several reasons. One is, our administration, as I 
just said, has the best environmental record in history. And we could 
have done even more if the Congress hadn't been so opposed to it. But 
every year, we also, for 6 years, had to beat back any number of anti-
environmental provisions in the law that we keep getting out and getting 
out. So Al Gore has been at the forefront of that.
    I think now that the economy is better and the Congress is likely to 
be, under any circumstances, less dominated by the Republican right in 
the next Congress, Al Gore will be able to 
do even better. It would be a great mistake to not support somebody who 
has got a lifetime commitment--and we've got a record that's good--in 
favor of another option, of a party that's really promised to undo a lot 
of what

[[Page 2449]]

we've done. I don't think it's a complicated issue here.
    Q. Do you think they're throwing their votes away if they do that?
    The President. They'll have to decide that. I just know that--there 
are one of two people are going to be elected, and they have records and 
plans. And I think on the records and plans, if you care about the 
environment, Gore wins hands down.
    Thanks. Thank you.

 Note:  The exchange began at 1:12 p.m. in the Moscone Convention Center 
following a voter rally. A reporter referred to Green Party Presidential 
candidate Ralph Nader. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of this exchange.