Tun back the clock: Gore for President

[raysr]

"The hinge of history swings on trivial things. Not just horseshoe nails, but thong underwear, late night phone calls and stains of indiscretion on a little blue dress.

Had Bill Clinton not indulged his juvenile sexual impulses with Monica Lewinsky, he would have ended his eight years in the White House without such a tarnished reputation. His vice president, Al Gore, would not have had to distance himself from Clinton in his own run for the White House. Able to more freely campaign on the Clinton administration's record of peace and prosperity and to have a popular, unimpeached president vigorously campaigning on his behalf, Gore would have won those few extra electoral votes he needed to prevail over Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

And a Gore presidency would have taken history in a very different direction. No one can say exactly what might have happened, but at least a few alternative outcomes seem certain:

Assuming the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, had still occurred, the country would have rallied around President Gore, just as Americans rallied around President Bush. The initial response to the wicked deeds very likely might have been to send troops after Osama bin Laden and his minions in Afghanistan. But there would not have been an invasion of Iraq, no quagmire, no rupture of traditional alliances and, perhaps, a bit of sympathy rather than pathological hatred for Americans among the Muslim masses."

--more--

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/saturdayspin/267612_horsey.html

[Dunvegan]

1. I hope we have a "Draft Gore" movement...

...if Al knows we want him to run, I think he'll respond to the call to public service again.

I don't think he's going to run unless we ask him, though.

[unschooler]

4. Sign me up.

Although I can't imagine who would want to take the reins in the middle of the current mess.

[Olney Blue]

2. Ironically, I think that if 9/11 had happened in Gore's first term, the

GOP would have BLAMED him ruthlessly and used it to seize power. Of course, it is OK
that 9/11 happened on the decider's watch- "no one could have anticipated it".

[democracyindanger]

6. I don't think 9/11 would've even happened

if Gore were President. The entire Clinton administration knew that AQ was the most important national security issue, and a Gore administration would've treated it just as urgently.

[unschooler]

3. That night in November, 2004 changed history.

(or was it an afternoon in December, 2004?) Either way, the loss has been incalculable.

[shenmue]

5. A surplus and no war...

G*d, Gore would have been horrible. :sarcasm:

[Peace Patriot]

7. First of all, Gore WON! That has been conclusively proved. The

Supreme Court "selected" Bush, not us. Secondly, Gore did not "have to" distance himself from Clinton, and it was a bad mistake. Clinton remained popular throughout the worst that Ken Starr's Inquisition could do to him. And that's exactly how the American people viewed it--as a stupid, waste of time and money Inquisition. Remaining loyal to Clinton--and campaigning with him--likely would have given Gore more of an edge over Bush, and thus prevented the Florida miscount and the Supreme Court's unprecedented intervention.

I'm no Clinton fan (because of NAFTA and corporatism), but I can see Gore's mistake, just as a matter of politics and mis-reading the popular mood.

That said, I am very much in favor of Gore running again. And I think the ticket should be Gore/Kerry.

I am completely convinced that both of these men were elected president, and I think that the will of the American people should be obeyed. I want order restored! I want democracy restored! And I think the American people would LOVE these two men running together, and will give them such a victory as we have never seen in this country. I predict at least a TWENTY PERCENT margin of victory. Because, you know what? I think MOST Americans know Bush cheated, both times. They know it in their guts. And when they see THIS ticket, they will know what it means, and they will know what to do. I also predict the biggest voter turnout in history.

I also think that this ticket--the Poetic Justice ticket--may be the only one capable of defeating the Bushite voting machines, which I don't think we can get rid of by '08. My guestimate is that these machines and their "trade secret" programming code are giving a 5% to 10% advantage to Bushites and warmongers. Gore/Kerry would blow that away. I can't think of any other ticket that would. BECAUSE it is Poetic Justice!

Gore is a man on fire. He's saying all the right things, and with a passion I would not have believed possible. And Kerry--freed from the clutches of a truly rotten DNC (under McAulife), and inspired by Gore--I think will re-gain better focus on the issues (more his old self). (He really is a very intelligent guy--and will blossom as V-P.) And can you just think of the team these two would put together to run our country?

Another reason is stability. I would prefer avid, leftist, 100% anti-war, dismantle-the-global-corporate-predators candidates. But now is not the time. This country is in huge trouble. We are a hair's breadth away from major meltdown--in any direction you look. We need highly competent leadership NOW. All other candidates are untested. Gore spent eight years a heartbeat away from the presidency; and Kerry has at least had the experience of a presidential campaign, as well as several decades in the Senate. We need a steadying influence, before we can ever address the fundamental issues that we must eventually address (such as out of control military budgets that lead to wars of choice, the utter filth in our campaign contribution system, and out of control corporate power). We need to plug the holes in a sinking Titanic, before we can do anything else.

But my main reason for wanting Gore/Kerry is respect for the American people and their votes. THEY elected these men, in that order, first Gore, then Kerry. And THEY were denied THEIR choices.

It will be the rebirth of American democracy.

[BeFree]

10. I concur

Both Gore and Kerry won their elections. The machines altered the vote count in Kerry's election, and Gore's was a case of political shenanigans overcoming the will of the people.

A Gore/Kerry ticket and subsequent election by landslide would be true justice.

It's really all we need to know and all we need to say for the next presidential ticket.

But first we must get control of congress. We will win a majority in congress if we beat back the republican advantage established by the vote counting machinery.

Unity against the voting machinery is paramount if we are to destroy the advantage. We need to keep spreading the word that the elections were stolen and justice can be served by running the republicans out of DC.

Its that simple.

[Norrin Radd]

8. They are blaming Clenis yet again?

As if the GOP hadn't been planning all that conspired for decades.

[lildreamer316]

9. no argument here ever.

He is the ONLY answer. THe perfect one.

[ladjf]

11. Gore Yes, along with anyone of several strong Democrats

for the VP.