The other day I was contemplating doing a post wondering what Al Gore was thinking about the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting’s indefensible actions on May 31. My thoughts were that Gore must be reflecting on how his own party was disenfranchising voters, which probably be painful for him. I remembered his stirring speeches on the media and the Bush Administration’s trashing of the Constitution that he did in cooperation with MoveOn and felt he surely would disapprove just on an intellectual level as well.
Today I got a letter marked with “Vice President Al Gore” at the top left. Inside, with the same title on the letterhead, was a two-page missive detailing the horrors of the Bush Administration. There was also a little brochure:
Our nation is adrift.
Our world is threatened.
Our future is in jeopardy.
It unfolds to offer a text and photo rundown on “The Scope of the Damage” inflicted by the Bush Administration and how the effect is felt all over the world.
A picture of a serious Gore peers out from the donation form. “Yes, Al Gore, I want to undo the damage!” is what it reads…”Elect More Democrats–and End the Assault on America.”
While Gore has kept (wisely) mum on a presidential endorsement, it looks like he’s re-entered the world of party politics on behalf of Senate Democrats. The same group that couldn’t muster up one of their members to contest the Electoral College vote in 2000. Will it convince me I should donate? Probably not. I’m less forgiving than Gore at this point, especially after what happened over the weekend with the RBC, which I consider to be a pretty big “assault” on America by Democrats.
My attitude may change if the Obama-enabling comes to a halt. If we have a serious, experienced candidate to lead the party in November, I’ll reconsider. But if I’m expected to fall in line and vote for a nominee who is inexperienced, overly arrogant, and seems to have no respect or places little value on older voters, women, and working folks, then Gore and the Senate crowd for whom he’s fundraising won’t be getting anything from me. Frankly, I think most of them should be out of office…
Sorry, Al…I’d rather give my money to the World Wildlife Fund or an envrironmental group…
Filed under: Current Politics | Tagged: Al Gore, Barack Obama, Democratic Rules and Bylaws Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, DSCC, Florida primary, Hillary Clinton, Michigan primary |
InsightAnalytical -- Watching Our World 
Whenever I read anything about Al Gore, I remember an interview with Jessie Jackson. Jackson had asked Gore why he didn’t fight harder for the disenfranchised voters of Florida. Jackson said Gore’s reply to him was “he didn’t want to be accused of playing the race card”. I have no respect for Gore. I’ll give to PETA before I give any money to anything Gore is associated with.
Either way, democracy has been undermined by the Dems. Obama’s supporters just disagree with Clinton’s on HOW it should be undermined. Her campaign literature encouraged her voters to indicate, at the Exit Polls, that they would vote for McCain if Hillary was not the nominee. How’s that for respecting Democracy? Don’t flat out lie at the Exit Polls, then lobby for those lies to count as a valid argument in your favor.
If the situation were reversed, do you honestly believe Hillary would favor a re-vote, or seating the delegates? Of course not. This is politics, and both Hillary & Obama are politicians, just doing their thing. Talk of “party loyalty” is idle and in vain. Democratic voters who think their Democrat of choice has come to save democracy are in for a sad surprise.
Her campaign literature encouraged her voters to indicate, at the Exit Polls, that they would vote for McCain if Hillary was not the nominee.
link please.
because this sounds like complete Obama BS to me.
I am positive there was never any campaign literature of any kind from any Clinton site which encouraged anyone to say anything on any exit poll question.
However, there was an Obama TPM months ago that suggested adding “education exaggerations” to the exit polls.
It is typical projection by the guilty party to accuse the victim.
Glad this is the last day of the primary season, we are so sick of the oppo lies.
Sorry Paul, I have no scholarly journals to cite, just my own experiences. I defended Hillary on my blog a few times, and her campaign lackeys have been spamming me ever since. I have no idea whether they are officially connected to the campaign. And Karen is right: they are savvy enough not to come right out and say what they mean. But they get the point across to her voters, at least the ones who can think more than move ahead. Her only chance at this point is to claim she’s more likely to defeat McCain–irrespective of the results of the democratic process as defined by DNC rules, with which she had no complaints in January. But how can that be proven? Voters have to say the right thing, that they’ll defect if she loses.
“It is typical projection by the guilty party to accuse the victim. Glad this is the last day of the primary season, we are so sick of the oppo lies.”
Sometimes I wonder if Clinton’s bloggers actually bother to read dissenting opinions before proceeding to bash them. Has Obama personally accused Hillary of these particular shinanogens? I am not an Obama supporter, but an independent who gave up on party affiliation when Edwards left the race. Not everyone fits into your “us” and “them” boxes.
Once again, the GOP has outsmarted the opposing party. Those who take an angry, “us vs. them” orientation to politics always end up seeing their political opponents as “the enemy.” Romney foresaw the risks of this type of bickering. Clinton and Obama did not, or did not care.
I worked in print shops for many years and learned that anyone can have anything printed up to say anything. It’s even easier now with home PCs. If you have a PDF of a despicable Clinton flyer, post it.
With all the dirty tricks this season, if such things do exist, I wouldn’t be surprised it they originated from the Rethugs or even Obama’s campaign. Karl Rove/David Axelrod tactics 101.
Frankly, I didn’t find Edwards any great shakes for all his fine rhetoric. Apparently many left blogophiles forgave him everything after his “I just did it for political advantage” AUMF vote apology. But I couldn’t forget his “roll over for Cheney” 2004 debate.
I have no respect for Gore showing up now after Hill has been trashed for months…and WHEN he shows he’s asking for money for millionaire Senators!! LOL! I feel the Dems are throwing this race for the GOP ….just like they have for 8 years , they are helping the GOP, it’s just bigger in scale this time .
I must say, I’m feeling pretty sad right about now. Most of them no longer exist for me. Same wuss behavior Gore displayed in 2000 — and we thought he’d changed and gotten his chi on.
This all will be unraveling for years, sadly — I hope. I’ll follow Hillary’s lead — actually, that depends — but right now, I’m not in a place where I can just forgive and forget the sliming (Bill’s new favorite word) that happened here.
Cheers, y’all,
http://ladyboomernyc.wordpress.com
I’m sorry. Obama won by pandering to his own race, and by falsely painting the Clintons as racists, within our own party.
I will never forget or forgive that.
I am now an Independent, and NOTHING from Al Gore will change my mind.
By not standing up and speaking out against this false characterization of the Clintons as racists, Al Gore is dead to me.
I’m voting for John McCain.
And I couldn’t care less what the Democratic Party leaders think of me for doing so.
I received the Al Gore mailing. I have received other fund raiser mailings which turned out to be bogus. So I now go to the organization’s website and compare the mailing address for contributions there with the solicitation I receive with the expectation the mailing addresses would be identical. If they differ then I disregard. In this case the DSCC web site contribution address is:
P.O. Box 96047
Washington, DC 20077-7245
while the Al Gore solicitation address is:
P.O. Box 1849
Merrifield, VA 22116-9779
Also of note: the DSCC web site has no mention of an association with Al Gore—not one word.
I report, you decide.
all dems except for true hillary/bill supporters are deceased to me..they simply do not exist…the rest sold out, doesn’t matter if they did it on day one or the last, gone. i am no longer dem.
“all dems except for true hillary/bill supporters are deceased to me”
Just what we need… more voters who think in absolutes.
BARBARA BF, on June 3rd, 2008 at 2:23 pm Said:
Whenever I read anything about Al Gore, I remember an interview with Jessie Jackson. Jackson had asked Gore why he didn’t fight harder for the disenfranchised voters of Florida. Jackson said Gore’s reply to him was “he didn’t want to be accused of playing the race card”.
So you took that at face value without corroborating if Gore confirmed or denied it? Or if Jesse actually even said it ? Hmm.
Mary, on June 5th, 2008 at 7:46 am Said:
By not standing up and speaking out against this false characterization of the Clintons as racists, Al Gore is dead to me.
How do you know that;s it’s not that he DID, but that
the in-the-tank-for-Obama MSM just wouldn’t report it?
Should he have sent out a mass spam email?
[Paul]The same group that couldn’t muster up one of their members to contest the Electoral College vote in 2000.
There’s a common misconception at work here: Since the slate of Bush electors had already been certified before the “uncontestable” deadline of Dec. 12, 2000, the Dem members of the Senate COULD NOT LEGALLY CONTEST it.
M. Frederick Voorhees, on June 6th, 2008 at 12:51 am Said:
“all dems except for true hillary/bill supporters are deceased to me”
Just what we need… more voters who think in absolutes.
Well, some us us think that when a candidate’s campaign is made up of of lies, false character attacks, vote fraud, vote suppression, and voter disenfranchisement , that those who enable such, whether explicitly or implicitly, should be stricken from our association.
It’s sad that you don’t agree.
“It’s sad that you don’t agree.”
I agree in principle with the statement, Sergei Rostov. I was an Edwards supporter and his campaign went bankrupt because his frankness frightened Hillary’s and Obama’s corporate sponsors. (In fact, I’d have preferred Kucinich or Gravel, but never got the chance to actively support them b/c their campaigns were clearly DOA).
We live in an imperfect country, and that fact is reflected by the words and actions of our elected officials, and especially by the bogus political parties whose support they cannot win without. Every day I actively work to do my part to change this political climate. That starts with being realistic about the country we currently live in.
Yes, I am bitter that both Obama and Clinton ran dishonest political campaigns; that both candidates resorted to low blows, fraudulent political hit-jobs, and incessant “flip-flopping” in their battle to win the nomination. We the people empower that sort of behavior with our disengaged citizenship. In a culture of spectatorship, lies are safer than the truth. An engaged and politically active citizenry is the way to change that.
There’s only so much an individual citizen can do, but it starts with respecting the sanctity of our votes. It would be selfish for me to stay home on election day, or, worse, to vote for McCain as a cheap way to settle the political score with Obama on Edwards’ behalf. That is not what my candidate would have wanted. McCain stands for NOTHING that Edwards endorsed.
By not supporting the Democrat, I’d be putting my own petty grudges before the good of the country. I would be empowering someone who would extend elitist tax cuts, perpetuate the Iraq War, continue to instigate Iran, scoff at universal health care, privatize social security, appoint judges that will be hostile toward civil liberties and women’s reproductive rights, etc. etc. etc.
To those who voted for Hillary Clinton and now are threatening to defect to McCain, please tell me what about John McCain’s positions reminds you of Hillary Clinton’s.