Al Gore endorsed Barack Obama and most people yawned. So what else is new? It wasn't anything that wasn't expected. But what it is notable is that it came two weeks after Hillary Clinton endorsed Obama.There is no doubt that he was pressured heavily by Howard Dean, Pelosi the Axelrod of Evil and the DNC to come out and endorse Obama. Does anyone think he just forgot? The longer Gore waited the worse it looked for Obama and a lot of people in the Obama camp were wondering what he was waiting for.
Gore was being nothing more than a grudging party loyalist, doing what was asked to do, and whose lack of endorsement to date was speaking volumes by it's omission. It's obvious he was asked, cajoled, then finally pressured, then ultimately gave in and came out for Obama.
Given the pathological fear of losing that infects Dean and Pelosi, the pressure must have been enormous. How would you like to hear Nancy Pelosi suffer shortness of breath in your ear? Gore gave them the nightlight, pacifier and endorsement they needed and you can almost imagine Pelosi fanning herself in the parlor moments later.
The truth is if Gore were really enthusiastic about Obama he would have endorsed him a long time ago. I couldn't help but notice that while Pelosi and Dean where whipping super delegates like Egyptian taskmasters to declare for Obama on June 5th, Gore was strangely silent. Moses seemed to have escaped. But last night after either a lot of begging and pleading and "Al, if you don't do it now it looks bad", or Tipper being held captive somewhere, Gore came out and endorsed who he thinks is probably going to be the nominee of the party. And he did it for the sake of the kind of party unity that Dean, Pelosi and the DNC are still in fantasyland about.
The real point about Gore's endorsement is this: Since Hillary Clinton's speech two weeks ago the choices for President looked like they had come down to either Obama or McCain. And for two weeks Al Gore couldn't make up his mind.
Gore is not the only one who can't decide between Obama and McCain. Although I am a lifelong Democrat and despised the last 8 years of Bush etal, when I think of the two candidates remaining, I honestly cannot say which is worse. I usually narrow it down to vote for the "lesser of two evils" theory which has in recent years been to vote for the democratic candidate. However, in the 2008 election, I have not been able to figure out whether Obama or McCain is the lesser of two evils, both being horrible for different reasons. At the present time I plan on staying home on Nov. 4, 2008.
ReplyDeleteExactly my thoughts - except I didn't know Reid and Pelosi had kidnapped Tipper. :)
ReplyDeleteAlan Chartock, our local NPR political pundit said that Gore will get nothing out of endorsing Obama so late, whereas Richardson will be given a plum prize.
So, kudos to Gore for staying away from the madness and here's hoping Gov. Richardson can look himself in the mirror. What a horrible way to advance one's career.
Obama voted for the Bush-Cheney Energy Bill. He may be the biggest hypocrite of all.
ReplyDeleteHe left politics because he couldn't stand it anymore, then in his comeback he makes this partisan, party over country hack move.
No more donations to the pious Al. We can pony up dollars for our very own RFK, Jr. and the NDRC. He at least hasn't retracted his support for Hillary.
Here's my new video for joining Just Say No Deal. It summarizes in Obama's words many of the reasons why we cannot vote for Obama.
ReplyDeleteNO DEAL: Join The Coalition of Millions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9vHcZLVLSU
Since the video went up Monday morning, it's had over 4,000 views. People are realizing that they are not alone. Please help spread the video.
If you post it on your site, PLEASE ask your readers to: RATE the video, post a COMMENT & mark it as a FAVORITE on YouTube, these actions will help further promote the video and perhaps reach a larger audience.
GeekLove at
http://comealongway.blogspot.com
I am as unenthusiastic as Gore. I am still looking for a threaded/topic related blog where people share ideas and are focused on a goal. I went to Just Say No Deal but some of the 'blogs' are nothing more than a cover page or if there are blog items, there are no comments. Where is a good place for discussion? Reading through 200 straight comments is a drag?
ReplyDelete"I am as unenthusiastic as Gore. I am still looking for a threaded/topic related blog where people share ideas and are focused on a goal."
ReplyDeleteIdeas do get discussed here in the comments section under the different articles. And there is a new group forming to take action to ensure the convention is open and democratic( small "d")
the organization is The Denver Group which will be taking affirmative steps in this regard. The site is open but everything wont be up and running for a few more days as paperwork gets done.
the site is: wwww.thedenvergroup.blogspot.com
there is a link on this web page.
Marc - This is just a great piece. Your wit is a tonic!
ReplyDeleteYou show absolutely no evidence that Al Gore was indecisive in his endorsement of Obama. Someone of Gore's stature is certainly not going to make an endorsement until the primary had been decided. He learned from his mistake in 2004, in endorsing a candidate that eventually lost the primary. It robbed his later endorsement of Kerry of importance.
ReplyDeleteIf one were to actually look at Gore's words, you'd see that he is not waffling.
The strange thing is the assumption that Gore wanted Hillary to win the nomination, and now that she hasn't, Gore had to flip a coin between Obama and McCain. Will all due respect, I think you are projecting.
ps- I am no Obama-maniac. I'm trying to end the war(s). John McCain will attack Iran long before he ends the war in Iraq. I would have voted for Hillary- even though she voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq- because she'd probably bend to popular sentiment on the war before McCain would. Policies, not personalities.
"You show absolutely no evidence that Al Gore was indecisive in his endorsement of Obama"
ReplyDeleteHow about the evidence that Obama's been running for President for 6 months and Gore didnt endorse him? How about the evidence that under pressure from Dean, super delegates came out to declare for Obama so Dean could try and say that the process was over and that a nominee had been selected and that it wasnt until 2 weeks later that Gore came out for him. Do you think Gore woke up the day before and said "Oh geez I forgot to endorse Obama. What's he running for again"? Or maybe he just had more important things to do. And maybe he did.
I agree Gore would certainly have supported BHO a long time ago if he'd been enthusiastic.
ReplyDeleteWent onto JustSayNoDeal, too, looking for good, rational blogs and found this one! and also WhatSuddenly.
I have Hillary on my mind. 'They' think we'll forgot her with the barrage of fake endorsements. Not a chance!
ReplyDeleteTo be candid here: And I am in the same boat as you are ( I am a member of countthevotescast.org- but people know that there is no love lost between the Clintons and the Gores.So the motivation for Gore to stay out was surely not his love for Hillary. I dont know if he was just trying to do the right thing by staying out where others decided to defy boundaries and abandon principal? I have no idea how he feels about Obama but to make assumptions about his late endorsement is just that: Assumption.
ReplyDelete