Last Chance Democracy Cafe: "Run, Al, Run Like the Wind"

The Last Chance Democracy Café
Episode 45: Run, Al, Run Like the Wind

by Steven C. Day

To: The Honorable Albert Gore, Jr.
Former Vice President of the United States

Dear Mr. Gore:

Excerpt:

Forgive the pop psychology, Mr. Gore, but I am convinced that you went through some dark times following the 2000 election. How could you not have? First, you had to live through all the ridicule during the campaign, the bogus attacks on your character — the pack of lies about “inventing the Internet” and the book Love Story. Then, having won the election by 500,000 votes, you were forced to stand there stoically, being the good patriot, accepting the judgment of the Supreme Court — a judgment a man of your intelligence must have known could never be defended.

Many a strong person has become depressed over a stolen wallet or purse; it’s hard to even imagine what a blow a stolen presidency must have been.

Periods of darkness affect people differently, however. An unhappy childhood with neglectful parents, for example, will emotionally destroy some children for life; others, like Winston Churchill and Eleanor Roosevelt, it makes strong. I know next to nothing about your childhood, Mr. Gore, but I am aware that you’ve known other periods of darkness in your life — times of disappointment and personal loss. And your response has been remarkably consistent: Defeat, whether personal or political, brings out your creative side. You think. You write books. You jump into projects. You grow.

To be honest with you, Sir, I think you were at best a mediocre candidate in 2000. But the Al Gore I see speaking in public today is anything but mediocre; that Al Gore would have blown George W. Bush away in 2000. There’s a confidence and, dare I say it, charisma there I’ve never seen in you before.

And there’s something else — there’s truth. Of all the major political figures over the last few years, you are the one who has most consistently and courageously spoken the truth.

And, perhaps as a result of this commitment to truth, more than any of the others, you have been consistently right.

You were right about Iraq.

You were right about the news media.

You were right about Bush’s tax cuts.

You were right about the deficit.

You were right about global warming and the environment.

You were right about poverty and the diminishing middle class.

And the thing is, if we are really going to put up the very best fight we can for the presidency in 2008, we need a candidate who’s been right, especially on the War in Iraq, because, while it’s possible our active participation in the war will be over by then, the bloody aftermath and the broader damage the war has done to our society and our standing in the world almost certainly won’t be.

I know you say you don’t want to run. And I’ll take you at your word. But I don’t care. There’s simply too much on the line. And remember, a lot of our 140,000 troops in Iraq didn’t get to do what they wanted to do either.

So I say, run, Al. Run for our children’s sakes. Run for our country’s sake. Run for our planet’s sake.

Just run.

Sincerely,

Steve for,
The Last Chance Democracy Café

in its entirety @ http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=338

It's got to be a devastating blow to win and yet not win and then be blasted in the news media before, during, and after the election as a "Sore Loserman" presidential hopeful despite the fact that there were troubles with the vote tallies in Florida.

I wonder if it left wounds on him that have yet to heal, and if they haven't healed, I suspect he'd be less willing to expose himself to the same dangers again by fighting on the same battlefield, but I could be wrong, and he dives in and blows up as a big progressive populist candidate.

If that is the case, then I would say his true "power" is derived from his losses. He either won't or can't reveal his true capabilities until he is beaten down. Then he rises up renewed and stronger than before.

to someone else after the Republicans are done wiping their feet on it. We are truly in deep shit and it will be a daunting task for whoever gets the Dem nod in 2008.

I really believe Gore has the right stuff to put things right.

the circumstances are right. My SWAG is that he is watching to see how the November election goes. If the Dems get a majority in both Houses he may give it more thought since he'd have a chance to fix things correctly. Why should he run if the RepubliCONs are still in power and able to buck every bit of legislation needed to fix this mess?

Let's concentrate on getting Dems in as a majority in BOTH Houses in November. Then we can go to Al and ask him to run, win and help rescue our country from the mess BushCo and the rePIGliCONs have made. If anyone can... I truly believe he can.. especially if coupled with a strong VP whom he can work well with.