Campaign Pledge Drive: Week Two

By Melissa August, Val Castronovo, Matthew Cooper, Daren Fonda, David Kuhn, Ellin Martens, Benjamin Nugent, Julie Rawe, John Rosenblatt, Josh Tyrangiel, Alexandra Wolfe

PROMISES, PROMISES It is week two of our efforts to keep track of the pledges and proposals made on the stump by presumptive presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore. This week Gore widened his lead over Bush and seemed likely to help us reach our goal of 100 pledges by the November election. Thank you, Al. Keep 'em coming.

BUSH 7

--To reform Veterans Affairs --To protect Social Security --To reach across party lines for the sake of civility in government --To reduce the number of managers in the Federal Government

GORE 10

--To place many government services online --To give parents tax breaks to help pay for child care --To support tribal sovereignty --To give tax credits to help children care for their elderly parents --To make it a federal crime to sell Social Security numbers

The fine print: totals reflect pledges and proposals made beginning the week of May 29, 2000, when we first began tracking.

This survey is not scientific.