Twenty-five years ago, George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, barely defeated the sitting vice president, Al Gore, in what remains the narrowest victory in presidential history: fewer than 1,000 votes in a single state, 48.85 percent to 48.84 percent in Florida.

There are many ways to explain how the vice president lost to an incumbent with a 60 percent job-approval rating.

Gore was a bad campaigner and almost supernaturally awkward — the kind of person who hires a consultant to teach him how to be an “alpha male.” Bush, by comparison, was loose, engaging and a good communicator, even when he mangled the syntax.

But style points are hard to judge. It may be true that Bush won on "vibes," as we would say now, but that’s unsatisfying. Gore couldn’t get a personality transplant, so had to try to win with the one he had. What possibly could have made the difference for Gore?

The most obvious answer: Behave more ethically.

In the spring of the election year, Gore’s longtime fundraiser, Maria Hsia, was convicted of five felony counts of campaign finance corruption for her role in using a Buddhist temple in Los Angeles to funnel illegal contributions to the Democratic Party. Gore had at first denied knowing that his own visit to the temple was for fundraising purposes, but as more facts came to light, he admitted that he knew his visit was “

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