why i'm for gore

I have been predicting for the past year that Al Gore would enter the race at the final hour and take the Dem nomination. Hillary and Barack will cancel eachother out -- neither is electable, and the rest can't cut it as top-dog. If Gore comes in at the final hour there will be a real rally around him for at least two very strong reasons:

1. He won the popular vote once and did not gain the presidency. Since the Bush Admin has been such a total disaster, I believe a basic sense of fair-play will compel the American people to return to Gore that which was stolen from him the first time around.

2. Gore's focus on climate change will give the nation a unifying principle -- how to save the planet. Like the drive to put a man on the moon, climate change and building true US leadership and ingenuity for sustainable energy use will touch on every aspect of our lives -- education, science, the economy, and restore our vision of ourselves as a constructive, intelligent, peaceful people. Gore's international credibilty on this issue will help to rebuild respect around the world for the US, respect which has been dashed by the current administration.

On the choice of VP...
I believe Barack would make the best VP, and I would work to make that happen, but feel that Gore would more likely choose a Richardson or Edwards, and I would support those choices as well. Hillary alliance might not be possible, but creating a special office for her to finally tackle healthcare might be desirable.

On the down side...

I was really angry with Gore following the presidential election debacles, angry that he didn't have the fire to fight harder to point out the deficiencies in our electoral system and the need for reform. He's got to be able to fight!

Worse yet, I was angry about his choice of a running mate. Few figures are as dangerous and divisive as Joe Lieberman -- he is a despicable character. The poor judgement about Lieberman showed that Gore, like Clinton, is accustomed to pandering to the powers that be, and indicates to me a reluctance to alter a status quo that does not serve our national interest at large.

Another dangerous signal is Gore's complete lack of understanding of Cuba/Carribean and Latin America, a region of critical importantance strategically, economically and politically to the US, and his shameful kow-towing to Cuban Americans in Miami years ago during the Elian Gonzalez episode, where Gore acutally crossed Clinton calling for a little traumatized boy to be kept in a pen for a media circus in the bowels of Miami, rather than returned to a loving family that just happened to live in Cuba. I hope he's rethought that one, and if he does run, I sincerely hope he will exhibit courage and leadership by ending the anachronistic US policy toward Cuba that stands as an enduring symbol of American arrogance worldwide. Richardson as VP or Secretary of State (or Dodd as Sec of State) would be an enlightened choice in this regard.

So with these reservations in mind, and as someone who has already contributed financially to Obama's campaign and sincerely would have liked to finally see a female president, I am prepared to support Gore as the only candidate who may truly be able to unite our sorely divided nation around the larger cause of a future for our children and who has the experience and credibility to restore, slowly, America's broken reputation worldwide.