The end in NH

[rodbailey]

I am on the ground in NH, but just received a call from the NH organizer for the write-in Gore effort. He had a report overnight that, perhaps depending on the outcome in Iowa, he was going to endorse a candidate after the Dem. debate here in NH either on Sat. or Sun. HAS ANYONE ELSE PICKED UP ON SUCH REPORTS? In any case, whether the reports are true or not, staging some sort of media event (visibility at the Dem. dinner and/or debate) would make the whole effort here look rather foolish if Gore endorsed someone the next day - and at that point absolutely noone would write-in Gore's name. At least not with the thought that there would be any real consequence for doing that. And, if Gore didn't endorse anyone, there would be too little time left until the primary to do any serious advertising or other kind of publicity to try to convince people to write in Gore's name. The consequence for the Gore effort here, then, is that it is going to fade into the hills and simply go away. The consequence for me is that I'm going home after less than a day in NH. We are all disappointed, as you might imagine. As it was turning out, the effort here was going to be to try to get one of the candidates to take a strong stand on the global climate change issue, and then, for what it might be worth, have the NH draft Gore group endorse that candidate. The thinking for that strategy was that there would be such a small write-in for Gore that that might have looked embarassing; and, the "endorsement" might mean 1,000 or so votes for one of the candidates which, in a close race, might be significant. Now, nothing will happen. That's the situation and I really wish I had better news to report.

[rosesaylavee]

1. ...

:hug:

Rod, there is no telling what the outcome will be from your actions. You did what you thought best and did it with conviction and the will to make things right. No way any of us can tell how this is going to play out this year. Our one hope may only be a brokered convention... if so, so be it. No amount of worry or second guessing is going to fix it any other way.

If Gore does intend to endorse someone - there is no way that that candidate has not signed on to Gore's extensive list of action items for climate change. Have a safe trip home and do not lose hope. This isn't over yet.

[rodbailey]

2. Thanks

for the encouraging words. I agree with you that this thing isn't over until the convention's over. In the meantime, I've got to figure out who to look at in the NY primary on super Tuesday - and perhaps get signed up with their campaign to help them out. Still think that ABC is the way to go, although my wife thinks Hillary may have the best chance to win in Nov. I still don't; the negatives are just too high and Hillary will turn out some Republicans that I'm not sure either Obama or Edwards would. It will be an interesting year, that's for sure.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. Thanks for posting. It is nerve-wracking.

:hug:

[AZ Criminal JD]

4. Thanks for the information. I'm sure a book will be written about this

[marlakay]

5. I understand totally and thanks for the efforts

I want Gore to run so bad but if sticking with that gives more to Clinton that doesn't sit by me especially since I feel she is a big part of the reason Gore didn't get more votes and money in 2000.

So I am watching closely myself and although I said a few months ago I would write in Gore I am now thinking either Edwards or Obama just to keep her out.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. This is where I find myself -- leaning towards Edwards ABC!!

[catgirl]

7. Gore asked us we stop.

That's when we ALL should have stopped. There were some on the fringe that
thought they knew better than Gore. That's all I have to say.

[rodbailey]

8. Actually, I hate to correct you,

but Gore never asked us to stop. I'm sure you were aware of the entire sequence of events that brought the various state efforts to a halt. It is my understanding that someone (unidentified) close to Gore "discouraged" the efforts going on in several states. Unless we have wandered into some kind of non-democratic time warp (which is easy to imagine with the current resident in the White House) states such as NH that have a "free" write-in provision in their primary certainly have the right to encourage residents to write in any name they choose. Believe me, if Gore had come out and publically asked all such efforts to end, I never would have done the work I did to help the NH effort. But, getting a "discouraging" word 3rd hand from an unidentified source is not even close to being the same. Sorry if you disagree.

[catgirl]

10. You shouldn't try to correct me

I know who the person is who asked us to stop (I'm not at liberty to disclose it, sorry).
Also, I am very familiar with Farrell and knew it would never take off.

The Gore camp asked us to stop the entire draft movement, including the write-in
"campaign" in NH. This was not "3rd hand" and the source was not "unidentified".
Farrell was well aware of this.

I am correcting you, not disagreeing. I was in talks with all the national groups, the
leaders of the early big states (including New York) and was contacted directly by
Roy. The point was to quietly close shop. There was some press about it in CA. If
it was a bogus request, the Gore camp would have made the correction, wouldn't they?
Believe me, Gore asked us to stop.

[rodbailey]

12. Well,

I guess the mystery will have to continue. Why can noone disclose the person's name? That, in itself, makes the whole thing look a little strange. Certainly some of the people in NY (Bud P. for one) was ready to forge ahead. Had you had direct discussions with him? Are you Karen Wunderman's double, perhaps? And, if you got this directly from Roy (and my understanding was that if he hadn't contacted Gore's office about something the message would never have come to him because the story was that Gore's people didn't know these efforts were going on - which I find a little unbelievable), what were the "problems" that these efforts were going to cause Gore. I've heard some speculation about that (e.g., the phantom global climate crisis forum to be held with all candidates in NH in the middle of Dec.) but no firm definition of what there "problems" might be.

[rosesaylavee]

9. Hi CG

Good to see you again here. I have to agree with Rod that the third hand thing that happened with the Draft movement in California was just too odd to believe it came from Mr. Gore. I wouldn't be surprised to find out in the future when all is said and done that the person in his office or the person in California misspoke but by the time it ballooned the way it did, undoing it would have been more damaging than just letting it go.

[catgirl]

11. I replied to Rod on this

There was no conspiracy here. No mysterious 3rd hand caller. There
was a request to stop activities.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[catgirl]

14. What's going on here?

I didn't say YOU said there was a conspiracy. No reason to get defensive. I'll
email you privately. The National movement didn't initiate the end. Individual
state leaders did.

[rodbailey]

15. We may have to agree

to disagree on something else, then. The notice I got to stop all activities came from Karen Wunderman (national coordinator for volunteers at AGO, if I understand the pecking order there), not the state coordinator. I had several back-and-forth e-mails with her at the time and not once did Stephen Cohen (I think he was the overall NY coordinator) get into it. I guess I'm not sure it was any kind of conspiracy (although I did have a couple of people in NY e-mail me with the thought, or a rumor they had heard, that perhaps someone from the Clinton camp had gotten to the Gore people). I guess we shouldn't be dwelling so much on past history (kind of like re-fighting why we got into Iraq, perhaps) but since us Goreniacs don't have much else to do these days, at least it keeps us off the streets and doing damage.