Well, maybe you aren't a Democrat. Maybe you don't like Al Gore. Could be that you just relish popping into D&D to say someone didn't need to start a thread. Considering that I've started 37 threads in over 6 years, I think I'm entitled to start this one if I feel like it. Unless Clutch objects, of course. Bush Blows Chunks.
Aw crap I actually really like you as a poster. Here I am offending you. I don't always do this ("this thread is useless"). I'd like to think I have a point. I just know you can do better with all the stuff going on in the world. Hell, start another Tim Russert thread. And yes, you've earned starting whatever threads you want (you contributed!). You aren't immune from criticism, though. I shouldn't like to label myself any party. Then I might become too susceptible to people thinking for me.
I'm sorry I responded like that. I seriously thought it was interesting news, though, and no one else had posted it. I guess I can see why! Trim Bush.
Al Gore: "Release the hounds!" Does it not come off as a "tad" arrogant that Gore seems to think he is turning on his political machine to work for Obama now? I wonder how many had already contributed one way or another? Why did he not step out when it mattered? He could have put the Democratic Party out of its misery...
As was mentioned earlier, I think he did it out of respect for the Clintons. Once Obama "officially" got the nod, he probably asked Barack when he wanted him to make the announcement. Trim Bush.
I wonder how many posters don't have an apology in them. It's a strength in my mind, no doubt. Humility is a lost art. We need more bumper stickers about humility instead of all pride all the time. Hell, I'm drunk in a literal way. I could have put more thought and articulation into my initial response to not sound like a troll. I'm sorry too!
We're sorry together! (where's my beer??) I wonder if anyone "gets" what I'm saying in the tagline below? No one has ever said anything. Trim bush... one of my favorite things to do. Trim Bush.
It's kind of a chicken and egg argument. Who got laid because they took themselves to the no-no spot barber once in a while or who mowed the lawn so that they could fulfill their special purpose? Not a man knows but every guy should. Certainly every lady should. 'Lady' emphasized. I didn't say a juggernaut of follicle nature.
Never thought of Gore as arrogant, apparently this was the anniversary of his announcement in '99 that he would run.
It smacks more to me of gutlessness and cowardice. Some leader you guys wanted! Bill Richardson had the cajones to run against Hillary...
Gore has won a nobel prize, and has other projects. He has elevated himself slightly above the normal fray of politics. It isn't cowardice to want to avoid lowering himself back down to that. Also I think it is more strategic to space out the endorsements.
giddy, again, why is it "gutless" for the former Vice-President during the two terms of Bill Clinton, who spent many months campaigning, along with his wife, with Bill and Hillary not once, but twice, to delay endorsing Hillary's opponent until he "officially" got the nomination? I must be missing something. I don't see it as cowardice. You seem to be assuming a couple of things about Gore. That he doesn't like the Clintons (if you saw him campaigning with them in '92 and '96, you would find that hard to believe) and that he lacks the courage of his convictions. I just don't see where you would draw that conclusion based on Gore endorsing Obama now. Did it ever occur to you that, like more Democrats than many apparently believe to be true, he honestly liked both candidates? That he delayed his endorsement out of respect towards a family he served with for 8 years? I just find that attitude astonishing. I guess it's just me. Impeach Bush.
As has been noted, he also gives Obama a big post-primary news cycle, another call for unity from a Dem who has tremendous good will within the party, and a major event in Michigan, a swing state that because of the primary dates saw no real campaigning. The whole thing, from timing to location, was handled very well by Obama.
Leaders lead; they do tough jobs. So Gore doesn't want to "appear" to not support the Clintons when he really doesn't support them. Or do you think he just might not want to ruffle Obama's feathers by endorsing Hillary who Gore sees is losing the race? Either way it is a supremely political move by a guy who is supposed to be "out of the game."
D: To be fair, the relationship between Gore and the Clintons has been a complicated one. Gore probably would have done better (and won by even more than he did) if he'd let Bill campaign for him, but he was so pissed off at him for the Monica thing that he wouldn't. There was a great story about them accidentally winding up in touch a while after the 2000 (s)election and mending fences some over a late night chat session, but the warm relationship they enjoyed in 92 and 96 had become rather icy by 2000. And it's widely believed that he had an even bigger problem with Hillary as the two of them competed for the number 2 slot throughout Bill's presidency. I think that his waiting to endorse had more to do with a combo of the experience of having endorsed Dean only to see him fail and the feeling that he was enjoying a status higher than politics by virtue of his global warming campaign and didn't want to cheapen his brand. If you research stories about a possible Gore endorsement in this primary season you'll find that nobody ever gave Hillary a shot at getting his endorsement. He was pretty much for anybody but her. I think a lot of other people waited out of respect for the Clintons, but not him.
Gore was understandably outraged by Bill's stupidity with an intern and how that was handled, to the point where it hurt his 2000 campaign, because he didn't make use of Bill Clinton and he should have, but I disagree that he had a big problem with Hillary during Bill's presidency. Gore, before Cheney became a "second President," was (and is) widely seen as the most powerful and influential VP in modern history. The two families were pretty close, from what I remember, until "Zippergate" unzipped that bond. It's probably simply a desire on Gore's part to make an endorsement when the race was settled and he could do it on his own terms. I think that's what we are seeing. And giddy may be right that there was an element of political calculation involved. What I fail to see is how that is "gutless." Al Gore doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. No one in US history went through what he went through in 2000. To not continue to fight in Florida was, in my opinion, a great act of political courage. Personally, I wish he had, but Al has always done things his own way. Impeach Bush.
