Maybe Gore says: "I Walked DLC Line" and they used me!

[KoKo]

I want Dean to do better, because I "walked the walk....talked the talk" and they "didn't support me!" I've changed...and I want you to see the "WAY" and it's Dean!

Could this be true? Gore was beholden to DLC.....Brown Clothes, Tweety Trashings for "waffling" which wasn't true, Donna Brazille (Rove buddy) as Campaign Spokesperson, picking Lieberman when we know he wanted Edwards and met with Edwards in his NC Beach House, but announced for Gore to get the Florida Vote...which turned out to be a "Bogus Vote," because it was "pandering" to a population that wasn't for Gore in the first place?

So many things went into "Selection 2000" as mistakes. Gore doesn't want Dean to fall into the DLC/DNC PIT of NO RETURN???

[nannygoat]

1. Gore could very well identify with the trashing

Dean is getting lately (by both the mediawhores and fellow Dems). I bet he never could support Kerry because Kerry wasn't there for him during Selection 2000. And we all know that Lieberman wasn't there either...Edwards, I'm not sure about. As a fellow NCarolinian, Koko, I really don't think Edwards has a chance. Do you? Maybe as a VP candidate...

[blm]

4. That's untrue. Kerry was one of the few who spoke up for Gore then

publicly. He countered Trent Lott on CNN during the recount. Few did. Did Dean go down to Florida and work for Gore the way GOP governors did? Where did you get your information that Kerry did nothing?

Also....Dean started the mudslinging last January and the others held off a long time before reciprocating.

And again....Dean was DLC until he left office in Jan.2003. Dean was part of the rightwing of the DLC that those on the left wing were pulling AGAINST all throughout the last 10 years. You believe Dean's election year conversion to populism, many of us don't.

[KoKo]

11. I don't know about Edwards, Nanny. If Gore had picked him at that time,

instead of Lieberman, I think Gore would have swept the electorate.
But, my independent experience with Edwards after the Selection as our Senator...hasn't been good. Form letter after form letter, saying nothing to me....so..who knows what will happen with him.

Nationally, he may look good and could grab the "Southern Vote" but, it still doesn't cover that "much was promised with him" which he couldn't deliver to the Dem Base who put him in his Senate Office as a counter to Faircloth. (I'm sad he's been so disappointing, but like Kerry, when he did the IWR vote, he should have seen it coming.) :-(

[welshTerrier2]

2. Is there a dangerous rift in the party ??

i posted this in another thread but it fits better over here so ...

i've been mulling over the following thoughts since I heard about "THE" endorsement ... and let me emphasize right up front that I sincerely hope I'm wrong ...

Here's the deal ...

Al Gore decided not to run ... why? we were told that it would hurt democrats to "rehash" the 2000 election ... to me, that reasoning sounds like total gibberish ... if you believe in your mission, you don't quit ... you certainly don't quit so early ... it just never made any sense to me ...

so, if Gore's published reason for dropping out was baloney, what was the real reason ?? it had to be that "the party" told him not to run and that if he did, he would not have their support ... and who was this party? it seems pretty clear that it was none other than big bill himself ...

Gore was asked to step aside ...

And then we get Wes Clark jumping into the race ... not just jumping in all on his own but as part of a draft clark movement ... and so, mr. arkansas is in ... arkansas ... didn't we once have a president from there? and it seems like the Clintons have been very positive about Clark ...

the sad, tragic really, question is: is gore's endorsement a sign of party unity or is it a sign of a rift between the clintons and al gore? please, someone show me why this scenario seems unlikely ... because we really do need greater party unity than we currently have ...

[Jerseycoa]

3. I've been wondering

What Al Gore's agenda is here, too. I was among the first to congratulate the Dean supporters here at DU, and I haven't changed my mind. It's a great endorsement. But I can't help thinking it wasn't for Howard Dean's blue (or whatever color) eyes.

[blm]

5. A previous post of mine sez the same.

The rift between Clinton and Gore must be wider than realized.

[welshTerrier2]

6. disturbing

n'est-ce pas??

the implications to a rift like this, if we've read the tea leaves correctly, could be very damaging to our chances ...

if the speculation is true, how the hell are we supposed to find any unity under the big tent ??

[NNN0LHI]

10. What I don't understand is the change in Gore over the last 2 years?

He has went from being on the hawkish side to the complete opposite pro-peace side. I am very happy to see it, and I am also very damn happy about him endorsing Dean. But Gore was only one of two Democratic Senators that voted for the first Gulf War. Only him and Joe Lieberman voted for it. He seems to have done a 180, which plays right into my own feelings concerning the current situation we are in. I am just confused.

Don

[KoKo]

12. Gore seems to be a "mixed bag." In his youth on his first run, he was a

flaming liberal to me...but even then he didn't quite make it.

I think he is as conflicted as some of us DU'ers. I honestly think that. Which means he's "true to himself." BUT,only those with TOTAL CONVICTION seem to get elected,so who knows. He's a "puzzle."

But, I think he's broken from DLC with this announcement. He's his "own man" on this one.. For better or worse.

[janx]

7. NO, THERE IS ONLY TRASH MEDIA CONTROL.

Sorry for the all-caps, but please bear with me.

There has been so much tabloid trash and gossip in the media that people are taking a lot of right wingnut garbage as fact. People believe almost anything they read, and this is compounded by the fact that the internet can resemble a school-yard game of telephone.

Who says that Wes Clark was launched by the Clintons? Where does this information come from? I saw the DLC memos about Dean, but does that necessarily mean that the Clintons don't like Dean or that Dean doesn't like Clark?

Honestly...the right wing media machine is working, and it's crap, and I'm sorry to see that.

[welshTerrier2]

14. why didn't gore run ??

first of all, let me reiterate that my concerns were mere speculation ... and let me assure you none of it, i repeat, none of it came from the "right wing media machine" ...

i would really like to know the truth about why Gore didn't run ... call me cynical but i just can't buy the "it would be bad for the party to rehash 2000" ... says who ??

gore would have had a ton of goodwill, a ton of name recognition and a real chance to capture the same majority he captured in 2000 ... and against this backdrop he just plain quits ...

it's sort of like those memos companies send around when someone gets fired ... "please join me in thanking <your name here> for his many years of wonderful service to our company ... <your name here> has accepted a position at another company that should provide him with some excellent career opportunities" ...

somebody convinced him not to run again ... and i'm sure they played hardball with him to convince him ... it's not right-wing media, it's just speculation ... but i have to believe big bill played a major role ...

[ferg]

8. yes, plus very few supported Gore

or Clinton when they needed support.

Maybe Gore's also leading by example to say that the Democrats need to support their candidate this time around.

[KoKo]

13. I don't know about Clark having Clinton's-2 Support. I still think it

might not be quite what we think. I'm probably wrong, but just don't see Clintons as not having revised their own feelings about the DLC they started and embraced as not having emploded on them. Media Deregulation, NAFTA, Mining Rights in US West to Barrick, and other DLC compromised which are "biting them in the behind."

Maybe it's a "rethink" for all of them. I would like to think that.

[scipan]

9. my 2 cents...

The party is going to have a big split--it's just a matter of time. I don't think it will happen until after 2004 because dems will unite to get rid of Bush*, but it will come.

The DLC didn't want Gore to run again is what I read...Donna Brazille turned against him, among others.

[Cleita]

15. Al got his presidency stolen from him.

I think the pandering to try to get Republican votes by his handlers forgot about the votes he did have and it made the contest too close. Those Republicans votes they were looking for went to the Republican liar. I think Gore knows that Dean isn't falling for this and that's why he backed him with hindsight from his own mistake.

[madaboutharry]

16. The DLC and party leadership

treated Gore very shabbily. I never have been able to figure it out since Gore was one of the founders of the DLC. I have great empathy for Al Gore and I think he is a very decent person and would have made a fine president. He may very well be leveling the score, but I also believe that Gore is a great patriot who loves America. I don't beleive that he would endorse Dean unless he, in his own mind, thinks Dean's policies would be good for America. Dean is not my choice, but I won't fault Gore for endorsing him.

This is why I will always like Gore. In March of 2001, I sent Al Gore a birthday card with my thoughts on the election. He sent me back a personal letter with ink bleeding through the page. It said something to me about him as a person.