Run, Al, Run!
Al Gore is not running for President. At least, he has yet to say he will, and has said on numerous occasions that he doesn't want to or won't. (See here, here, and here for some of the recent denials.) That would be a major blow to anyone who cares fondly about the United States, in my humble opinion. Al Gore won the election 6 years ago; there's almost no reason to believe he wouldn't win again--regardless of his opponent--due to the low regard most Americans hold the Republican Party and its denizens. (See here, here, and even in the Wall Street Journal for some of the poll results lately.) He has seemingly shed his wrongly-formed image as a wooden wonk, witnessed by his recent appearance on Saturday Night Live, and his speeches and work lately have been fiery and pointed. Anyone seeing his movie--and all of you should go see it--"An Inconvenient Truth" will come away from it feeling that this is the man who should have been President for the last 8 years. Gore has his finger on the pulse of many of the more "liberal" ideals a majority of Americans actually hold dear, he has complete national name recognition, he has served this country in a whole host of elective offices over the last few decades, and even the truly progressive Daily Kos readership overwhelmingly would support (and probably work for) a Gore candidacy.
It is almost inconceivable that he wouldn't run, given all this, except for the abominable drubbing he took at the hands of the media in 1999-2000. I can certainly understand his reluctance to jump in this time around--who would want to suffer the slings and arrows of that ignorant, disserving mob of slobbering idiots for a second time? On the other hand, I think that that experience will make Gore even more valuable a candidate for those of us who value honesty, candor, and intelligence. For one thing, there isn't any mud left to throw at him, and most of the garbage strewn at him back then has been thoroughly vetted and debunked over the past 5 years anyway. Heck, the bulk of the posts at The Daily Howler (see sidebar for link) since 1999 have revolved around delineating how grossly the mainstream press misled--or even aggressively lied to--the public regarding Gore and his place in American history and culture. Gore's public persona since 2000 has been scrubbed clean of "politics", I think; only a diehard rightwing polemicist would think he has anything but straightforward concern for the environment upon watching his movie, for example. Anyone hearing, seeing, or reading his speeches since his campaign should be impressed by his devotion to the public good, and that quality is certainly in short quantities among our current political actors, even in the Democratic Party.
We need Al Gore to run for President, even if only to provide the Democratic Party (or any people farther to the left) the opportunity to shore up its "bench" of qualified and honest public servants. More to the point, though, a Gore candidacy and Presidency would help immeasurably to heal the wounds of what will have been 8 years of misgovernance, fraud, corruption, death, and disaster. He has been outside of politics during the most heinous period in our government's history (and therefore has none of the potential stigmas that might be attached to him thereby), and I believe he has the abilities to convince even the most reluctant citizen to help reverse the present course of our policies and do the right thing by his/her fellow Americans.
He is not perfect, of course, but who among us is? Some of the Clinton economic policies have hurt our nation (think NAFTA, of course), and he will need to address those errant moves to satisfy many on the left. He made grievous mistakes in his previous campaign, but he acted honorably all the way down the line, unlike any Republican in (and many out of) office that opposed him. I think he has learned from his past actions, though, which has made him a better politician and also a better man, unlike all of the Republicans in power presently who incredibly continue to kowtow to Smirky's insane and wildly unpopular agendas. Gore is the most experienced person available to us, but more than that, he is also the most capable.
We need a President who cares about something other than his cronies or the self-serving wealthy. We need a President who understands more than single syllable words. We need a President who can take us in a better direction, returning the United States to its historical position as exemplar to the world of the best in humanity. We need Al Gore, and we need him now.
Please?
It is almost inconceivable that he wouldn't run, given all this, except for the abominable drubbing he took at the hands of the media in 1999-2000. I can certainly understand his reluctance to jump in this time around--who would want to suffer the slings and arrows of that ignorant, disserving mob of slobbering idiots for a second time? On the other hand, I think that that experience will make Gore even more valuable a candidate for those of us who value honesty, candor, and intelligence. For one thing, there isn't any mud left to throw at him, and most of the garbage strewn at him back then has been thoroughly vetted and debunked over the past 5 years anyway. Heck, the bulk of the posts at The Daily Howler (see sidebar for link) since 1999 have revolved around delineating how grossly the mainstream press misled--or even aggressively lied to--the public regarding Gore and his place in American history and culture. Gore's public persona since 2000 has been scrubbed clean of "politics", I think; only a diehard rightwing polemicist would think he has anything but straightforward concern for the environment upon watching his movie, for example. Anyone hearing, seeing, or reading his speeches since his campaign should be impressed by his devotion to the public good, and that quality is certainly in short quantities among our current political actors, even in the Democratic Party.
We need Al Gore to run for President, even if only to provide the Democratic Party (or any people farther to the left) the opportunity to shore up its "bench" of qualified and honest public servants. More to the point, though, a Gore candidacy and Presidency would help immeasurably to heal the wounds of what will have been 8 years of misgovernance, fraud, corruption, death, and disaster. He has been outside of politics during the most heinous period in our government's history (and therefore has none of the potential stigmas that might be attached to him thereby), and I believe he has the abilities to convince even the most reluctant citizen to help reverse the present course of our policies and do the right thing by his/her fellow Americans.
He is not perfect, of course, but who among us is? Some of the Clinton economic policies have hurt our nation (think NAFTA, of course), and he will need to address those errant moves to satisfy many on the left. He made grievous mistakes in his previous campaign, but he acted honorably all the way down the line, unlike any Republican in (and many out of) office that opposed him. I think he has learned from his past actions, though, which has made him a better politician and also a better man, unlike all of the Republicans in power presently who incredibly continue to kowtow to Smirky's insane and wildly unpopular agendas. Gore is the most experienced person available to us, but more than that, he is also the most capable.
We need a President who cares about something other than his cronies or the self-serving wealthy. We need a President who understands more than single syllable words. We need a President who can take us in a better direction, returning the United States to its historical position as exemplar to the world of the best in humanity. We need Al Gore, and we need him now.
Please?
posted by bryduck at 2:26 PM
10 Comments:
It's funny, but I've had the same ideas bumping around in my brain. He was the right man and he is th right man for the job. He should pick a better Veep candidate (like Warner maybe?) and run.
I'm not sure about Warner. The good news? He isn't currently in office anywhere, so we won't lose "a spot" by having him run/win (unlike with Feingold, Boxer, etc.) He also seems to be a good guy, which is nice as well. The bad news? IMHO, he doesn't add all that much to a Gore ticket--another Southerner, another centrist-type, if not Republican-lite. (Gore is not exactly a flaming liberal [which I might like even better], but a flaming liberal would never make it through the primaries unless s/he had outrageous cojones to withstand the withering blasts of rightwing indignation/scorn/hatred from the media. [Apologies to anyone offended by my term!] Remember what happened to Dean, and even he's not a flaming liberal, really . . .) I don't dislike Warner in the least, but one thing that bothers me is the thought that the only reason Gore won in 2000 was because Lieberman brought Florida on board, and Warner doesn't have the same characteristics as Lieberman, centricity aside. So what would he bring to the table? Virginia would be nice to have in hand, but he hasn't been around long enough to build up any other loyalties, I'm afraid . . .
Do you think a Gore-Clinton ticket could possibly be elected?
I know there are plenty of Hillary haters, but even they should be aware that with her there, Bill would be close at hand, perhaps even at cabinet level,and we would have the benefit of the combined experience of the former team from the "90s.
Gore-Clinton is interesting due to some of her inherent qualities, but I think her presence would dilute his appeal, rather than broadening hers. Gore has been capturing the hearts and minds of left-leaning people who really don't like HRC, especially since she's unrepentant about our continued war in Iraq. She continues running to "the center", which in reality's terms, is pretty far to the right of the general public. She has the taint of being a political being, and to my mind, Gore's main attraction is that he's not currently acting "political" by actually speaking his mind. I like that, and I think most other people do, too. I'm tired of candidates who cower in the face of opposition, or try to chase polls. Oddly enough, HRC is bucking both of those trends, but not in a pleasant way.
The fact that the right wing keeps trying to tell the public that she's the nominee smacks too much of a wish-fulfillment strategy; they really would love to run against her instead of someone genuine. I like her in the Senate as a relatively dependable Democrat, but I don't like her as one of the two faces of democracy to the nation or the world.
Ok, consititution man, is a Gore-Clinton ticket (Bill, not Hillary) possible? How about Gore- Schweitzer?
Oh, and do you think Boxer could take a slot on a Gore ticket? I'm mui intrigued with that. Feingold would be good too, but I see it more easily than Boxer. The nice thing about a Gore-Boxer ticket is that it gets you away from the Hillary problem. Sorta like when the SF Giants fired their woman P.A. announcer and replaced her with another woman. No gender problems with that!
Bill is, unfortunately or not, ineligible to work in any "line of succession" capacity, since the current Constitution prohibits anyone from serving more than 2 terms as President. Schweitzer would be nifty, as would Boxer. The question then becomes, can we afford to lose them from their current positions? Boxer is probably more replaceable; there are probably a bunch o' good progressives in California that would like to serve in the Senate. Finding a quality, experienced Democrat in Montana is almost definitely a taller order, although it is becoming more likely, thanks to people like Schweitzer showing that it can be done. Gore/Boxer would be the Daily Kossacks dream ticket (unless it's Gore/Feingold). Works for me.
If we can get Gore in the White House, can we declare a do-over and forget about the last six years?
You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view
Huh? Almost every single post is only my opinion. I think you're a bot!
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