PRESIDENT GORE UPDATE
Al Gore is doing interviews again, it's about time. The Washington Post's Dan Balz summarizes Gore's recent statements, and does so in a manner virtually devoid of all the narrative cliches the media and the right have stapled to him for the last five years, so he should be commended for that.
My thoughts: Good to see Gore taking the offensive about the SCOTUS 2000 hijacking. Problem is, this sort of talk certainly could have helped the Dem's before the election. It's not that the "we're pissed about 2000" strategy failed in the midterms, it's that such a strategy pretty much wasn't employed at all. The Democrats' plain didn't bother to sell it, and we got low turnout on the left as a result, and thus a Republican congress. It's not too late to be angry; no matter how many planes hit buildings, and no matter how much Iraq rhetoric spins around us, Dubya is still an illegitimate, unelected usurper.
Gore's move to the left on health care, while certainly in line with recent statements about his regrets on the 2000 campaign, could be politically dangerous. The last huge electoral defeat for the Democrats before '02 was 1994... right after the Clinton universal health care package was killed. Then, the Dem's lost on healthcare (and in the election) not because of the merits of the bill, but because of who controlled the dialog on it; in this case, conservatives, who were jolly enough to throw around the word -- gasp! -- "socialism" to scare xenophobic middle-America types.. I think the single-payer plan that Gore now supports is probably more true to his populist ideals, but if he's really serious, he's gotta sell it like a mofo come 2004.
It's waaaaay too early to either A) handicap 2004, or B) endorse anybody. TFM is intrigued by the sleeper candidate, Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Also, by Senator John Kerry. He doesn't use notes when he's on TV. Last major representative of the Democrats to do that was Gore attorney David Boies, and look what happened there. And I'm very much open to Gore. I'll get back to you late next year.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing Gore on Letterman tomorrow night, and on Saturday Night Live in december.
Al Gore is doing interviews again, it's about time. The Washington Post's Dan Balz summarizes Gore's recent statements, and does so in a manner virtually devoid of all the narrative cliches the media and the right have stapled to him for the last five years, so he should be commended for that.
My thoughts: Good to see Gore taking the offensive about the SCOTUS 2000 hijacking. Problem is, this sort of talk certainly could have helped the Dem's before the election. It's not that the "we're pissed about 2000" strategy failed in the midterms, it's that such a strategy pretty much wasn't employed at all. The Democrats' plain didn't bother to sell it, and we got low turnout on the left as a result, and thus a Republican congress. It's not too late to be angry; no matter how many planes hit buildings, and no matter how much Iraq rhetoric spins around us, Dubya is still an illegitimate, unelected usurper.
Gore's move to the left on health care, while certainly in line with recent statements about his regrets on the 2000 campaign, could be politically dangerous. The last huge electoral defeat for the Democrats before '02 was 1994... right after the Clinton universal health care package was killed. Then, the Dem's lost on healthcare (and in the election) not because of the merits of the bill, but because of who controlled the dialog on it; in this case, conservatives, who were jolly enough to throw around the word -- gasp! -- "socialism" to scare xenophobic middle-America types.. I think the single-payer plan that Gore now supports is probably more true to his populist ideals, but if he's really serious, he's gotta sell it like a mofo come 2004.
It's waaaaay too early to either A) handicap 2004, or B) endorse anybody. TFM is intrigued by the sleeper candidate, Vermont Governor Howard Dean. Also, by Senator John Kerry. He doesn't use notes when he's on TV. Last major representative of the Democrats to do that was Gore attorney David Boies, and look what happened there. And I'm very much open to Gore. I'll get back to you late next year.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing Gore on Letterman tomorrow night, and on Saturday Night Live in december.
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