Before Florida, there was a campaign. Though traditional on many levels of communication among candidates, media and voters, the 2000 campaign also featured new and innovative communication approaches in the presidential, Congressional and state elections. This work highlights some of the most important campaign communication from the 2000 contests, looking at candidates’ political messages, the media’s campaign coverage, the impact of the Internet and the political socialization of young voters. The author’s diverse studies and viewpoints show that we still have much to learn about traditional candidate-voter interactions as well as new forms of political communication - and these forms must work together to engage a new generation of voters.