Al Gore should endorse Barack Obama
McCain wins in Florida, I suspect he’ll win Super Tuesday and become the nominee. Jason Rothenberg of The Huffington Post summed up the Barack-Hillary ordeal quite well, my thoughts exactly…
It’s time. Now. Before February 5th. If you wait, it’ll be too late. You’ve won the popular vote, an Oscar and a Nobel Prize, and now it’s time for you to give something back. Although somewhere in your mind you may think that there’s a chance for you to rise from the dust of a brokered convention to claim the nomination for yourself, you must also know that this would not be the best thing for the Democratic party or the country. Not because you wouldn’t make a great president, you would, but because of the inter-party civil war that we would need to go through first. We’ve seen it for the past few weeks. It seems that the Clintons (and believe me it breaks my heart to say this) will stop at nothing to get elected. And if they do, we will be faced with the same ugliness we had to live through in the 90s. Yes, Bill Clinton was a great president. Peace and prosperity were the order of the day, and that was good, but the political wars (in most cases not started by the Clintons) dragged this nation into the gutter, and the Bush regime has kept us there. It’s time to rise above. It’s time to believe that our politicians are good, and honorable. It’s time to be inspired. Mr. Vice President, you’ve done incredible work these past few years, and you’ve made all of us proud. Now, like so many times before, we need for you to show us the way. History, by way of the future. Yes, we can.
Seems Mr. Gore has gone the route of
nongovernmental organization work,
so endorsements may not suit his style.
Then again, making no endorsement can
become a political statement in itself.
Dang, I feel so intellectual right now.
Cynthia McKinney ‘08.
Comment by Ari Sawyer — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
Cynthia is absolutely right!
Comment by Em — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
One of the posters under that article makes a sound enough point:
“It looks like another Obama supporter is claiming that the only way to save the Democratic Party is to endorse Barack Obama. I’m not buying that. The fact is what has Bill Clinton said that’s been wrong? I think he hits too hard, but the fact of the matter is Bill Clinton is a veteran of the wars with the Gingrich/Delay Republicans and if Senator Obama thinks Uncle Bill is hitting hard, he is in for a surprise come the general election when the Republicans will come at him with everything but the kitchen sink. IF he can’t stand up to Bill & Hillary he sure as hell can’t stand up to the GOP machine.
However,I think we have a long way to go, and I think the end result will be a Hillary/Obama ticket which will be unbeatable in November. I think at the end of the day this is just a family squabble, we’ll shake hands and kick some GOP butt in November…”
There is something slightly tragic about the reason for supporting someone being the “inter-party civil war” that will ensue if that candidate’s rival wins. I hardly imagine the Republicans will lie down and play nice if ANYONE beats their man come November. Santa Claus would have a hard time escaping impeachment.
The responses also indicate that perhaps Barack Obamaphiles (Obamabots was good :)) have been as blinkered as anyone else in buying the Change message - certain aspects of his platform (such as he has one) look very much like business as usual. But I guess it will all come down as always to money and that wonderful “charisma” thing that Al Gore didn’t have. Like I’m screaming for my 747 pilot to have charisma: who the fuck cares if he can land the plane in one piece?
Comment by Bamalama - o - bama — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Phil: “McCain wins in Florida, I suspect he’ll win Super Tuesday and become the nominee.”
McCain really needed this in order to keep up the momentum to win CA, NJ, NY and other moderate states that might have gone to Giuliani had he won FL.
In a matchup between two candidates only Romney would likely beat McCain in many Southern states that are more conservative than FL. That’s what he is telling, of course. But Huckabee is still in the race and he could spoil it for Romney by an effective favorite son tactic in states thar are closer to his home turf than SC and FL.
If Huckabee’s support vanishes very quickly, Romney could still be competitive in the more conservative states.
As Stallone has endorsed McCain, will Schwarzenegger be next?
Comment by Helsinkian — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 6:24 pm
OMG! NO WAY. You may not have followed, but Obama is the opposite of Al Gore. Mr. Gore has stated specifically that he wouldn’t even consider endorsing anyone unless they shared his positions and policy. Obama is almost the opposite of that spectrum.
Obama backed the Cheney Nuke and Oil Energy Bill, he’s pushing Nukes and signing on to Liebermans Nuke Bill. He pushed TWICE the Lobbyist backed Liquified Coal Bill that environmentalists AND AL GORE were screaming opposition of for 6 months. He does not support Al Gore’s Carbon Tax and would not call for a moratorium on Coal Fired plants. As he said, he probably would have supported Bush’s Clear Skies Initiative ( that added 70 pct more Carbon in the air) if Illinois coal business benefitted.
Obam’s health care doesn’t even cover everyone and Al Gore belives Health Care is a RIGHT.
NO, I doubt MR. Gore would risk his good name by endorsing Obama, especially after Obama trashed him several weeks ago trying to curry favor with Republicsns.
Comment by blue — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
You may not be aware, even though Obama wears a (d), he wears it lightly, he’s a Corporate candidate, otherwise known as Republican Light.
Obama couldn’t even support capping interest rates to a maximum 30 pct. for his new financial backers. Even though Hillary has had these financial backers for years, she did the right thing and supported capping interestest rates.
Think of Obama more like Europes Conservative guy. The wrapper only adds to the waste, what underneath is what counts, and it’s not good.
Comment by LDP — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 6:43 pm
blue: Obama is not really the opposite of Al Gore. You’re stretching things a bit too far.
If Obama really succeeds in getting those Republican votes and wins by a majority, the people who endorsed him early will be considered geniuses.
Comment by Helsinkian — Wed, Jan 30th, 2008 @ 6:51 pm
Now that Obama lost some of the key states on Super Tuesday such as California, Massachusetts and New Jersey, it is interesting to speculate whether Al Gore would have made a difference. Kennedy and Kerry made a big difference overall but they (and Gov. Deval Patrick) couldn’t deliver MA to Obama.
Republican endorsements have been much more effective when it comes to top names in key states. Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Mel Martinez, Gov. Charlie Crist and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have all made a stunning impact in their home states (SC, FL, CA) for McCain.
Comment by Helsinkian — Wed, Feb 6th, 2008 @ 11:58 am