Al Gore to Endorse Dean - the P/C version!

[goobergunch]

AP Newsbreak: Gore to endorse Dean, sources say
RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer

(12-08) 14:00 PST MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) --

Former Vice President Al Gore intends to endorse Howard Dean for the Democratic presidential nomination, a dramatic move that could boost Dean's front-runner position.

Gore, who lost to President Bush in the disputed 2000 election, has agreed to endorse Dean in Harlem in New York City on Tuesday and then travel with the former Vermont governor to Iowa, sight of the Jan. 19 caucuses which kick off the nominating process, said a Democratic source close to Gore.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dean will return from Iowa in time for Tuesday night's Democratic debate in New Hampshire.

Dean's campaign declined to comment.

more...http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/08/national1648EST0668.DTL

Oh...and superdelegate! ;)

This is possibly the best endorsement to have been issued so far.

[Sean Reynolds]

1. Hit every forum with this news!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Frodo]

2. Well, THAT should clinch it.

eom.

[madrchsod]

3. really

ok

[Zynx]

4. I should think he is a super delegate. He should bring along more too.

[AWD]

5. It's over....

The rest of the candidates won't be able to catch up now.

He now has the grassroots AND the establishment's support.

[dajabr]

6. Full circle...

When I think of how low I felt when Gore announced he would not run.

Then, I focused all that negative feeling into positively supporting Dean.

Now, Gore endorses Dean? Can't begin to explain what this means...

:loveya:

Oh, and newsguyatl: :yourock:

[Larkspur]

26. I feel the same way

I'm estatic now.

[mzmolly]

7. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! :toast:

[eissa]

27. HA!

I love that! If I smoked, there would be a cigarette dangling from my lips!

[LuminousX]

8. I'm stunned into silence

I will need to actually see Gore's endorsement just so I know this isn't some sort of weird dream. This clearly means Lieberman needs to drop. If he can't get the support of a running mate ... well, I'm sure everyone here undertands.

And to think, we thought the endorsement was going to be Harkin. lol... I never would have dared to wish for anything greater and lo and behold, here it is.

So, did Gore drink Kool-Aid? Is Gore blind to Dean's non-Progressive agenda? Does Gore realize Dean is an anti-environmentalist? Has Gore been misled by the media?

[Khephra]

12. Speaking of Harkin

This will probably clinch him for endorsing Dean as well.

[LuminousX]

13. Which cinches Iowa... Now if we can only do something about SC

I want a landslide for Dean. I want this to be the largest mandate ever seen in American politics.

[slinkerwink]

16. and to think I thought it was going to be albright!

[polpilot]

9. Makes me wonder if Dean already has his administration picked out

FOR HIS SECOND TERM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bush & Co. will be sleeping light this week.

Dean '04...

[jmaier]

10. I'm disappointed

If this is true, then I am very disappointed in Al Gore. Not only because I'm not first a Dean supporter but because an endorsement from Gore or Clinton BEFORE the first primary vote is counted really seems to subvert the whole Democratic nominating process. You fully expect the prior Pres and/or VP to stand solidly behind the nominee but to try and "annoint" a nominee is a bit of a slap against their own supporters who are now working hard, within the process, for their choice of a worthy successor. That seems to me a shame.

It is also a hard slap in the face of Kerry, Lieberman and Gephardt who worked hard for the policies of the Clinton/Gore administration in hard times when they needed the support.

[LuminousX]

11. Changing people's vote?

Do you really think this endorsement will change people's vote? It will help those voters who are undecided make up their mind. That is kind of the point of endorsements.

[helleborient]

14. Thank you Al Gore!

Last week came the most personally meaningful endorsement for me - from Sen. Paul Simon.

And now Al Gore's!

Looking forward to fun in Iowa this January!!!

[LuminousX]

15. I agree

A Paul Simon/Al Gore endorsement is about the most heady thing I've experienced in politics in the longest time.

If we can add in a Harkin endorsement that would be wonderful. And an official endorsement from Jesse Jackson Sr. would be icing on this very rich, very delicious cake.

[catherineD]

17. Congratulations to Dean Supporters

Congratulations are in order for Dean supporters. I'm not one of them, but it must feel nice! It does seem to be the worst news for Lieberman, whose support is probably mostly because of his continued name-recognition due to the 2000 election. This news item will probably have his supporters thinking twice. Of course, for my part, I hope they'll be thinking about Clark!

[MaineDem]

18. I'll believe this when I see it

Until then, I remain wary. This doesn't sound like something Al Gore would do at this point in the campaigns.

[killbotfactory]

19. Holy crap

...

uh...

...

Holy crap.

[slinkerwink]

22. I'd have to agree with you!

[Padraig18]

20. Thank you, President Gore!

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

"Dean in '04!" :)

[Rose Siding]

21. Just stunning

Tears, happy dance, tears, happy dance.

Oh, my heart.

[eissa]

23. Records? What records?

HA!! I love it! Whenever there is some sort of non-issue "flap" (flags, records) it always seems to be followed by MAJOR endorsements. This is great. I'm sure no one (including us DUers) would want to see bush out of office next year more than Gore. He must really feel confident that Dean is the right candidate to endorse him now.

[NewJerseyDem]

24. Is Gore a superdelegate?

I would have assumed that he was but this list doesn't have him.

http://www.grumpyoldbear.com/Superdelegates.htm

[goobergunch]

25. The list is wrong, then

The states (and D.C.) are also assigned a number of "Unpledged" delegates:

1. "Unpledged PLEOs" consisting of the following:

<snip>

d. Distinguished Party Leaders (current and former U.S. Presidents and Vice-Presidents, former Democratic Leaders of the U.S. Senate and U.S, House- including former Democratic Speakers of the House and former chairmen of the Democratic National Committee. and

<snip>

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P04/D.phtml

Gore, as a former Vice President, qualifies as an Unpledged PLEO/Superdelegate.

[mandyky]

28. I wonder if this will cause Rep Dingel (MI) to

endorse Dean? This morning on CSpan, he said he was down to between Clark and Dean, and he thought a Dean/Clark ticket would be a winning deal against shrub.

[eissa]

29. The Dean/Clark ticket

appears to be a winner by most. But I'm afraid both candidates have made comments about each other that could be used against them by the repukes. Also, Dean really talked up Graham at the Florida convention when asked if he was on the short-list.

[Bucky]

31. Clark has been about the mildest in his critiques of Dean

I really don't know of anything Dean has said against Clark. What are you talking about?

[eissa]

32. I agree, they were both mild

Nothing alarming, as is the case between Dean and some other candidates. But I wonder if Dean's statments (Clark's a republican, or that he initially supported the war) or Clark's statement (Dean was skiing while I was wounded in Vietnam) may not come back to haunt them were they to join on one ticket. I could be wrong. Personally, I would love to see that ticket; it's a winner for sure!

[9119495]

30. Go President Gore!

He did win, right?