Defending Al Gore
By Byron LaMasters
I watched Crossfire and several other political news shows, and the conservatives were up in arms attacking Al Gore's speech (wav file) in front of 1500 at a GOTV rally by the Tennessee Democratic Party on Sunday where Gore said of George W. Bush, "He betrayed this country". Tucker Carlson was going nuts over it.
Al Gore's right, and I'll defend him. George W. Bush betrayed America. He betrayed the lives of the 500+ Americans who have been killed in Iraq, their families and their future. George W. Bush told us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was a clear and direct threat to our national security. He lied. Americans died, and George W. Bush betrayed America. It's that simple.
Speaking of Al Gore... It's interesting reading my thoughts on his endorsement of Howard Dean at the time. What looked so smart two months ago looks quite different today. Pundits are already claiming that the big loser of the primary season is Al Gore (more so than Howard Dean who went from having no base nationally to transforming the debate and the Democratic Party). Gore, so the CW assumed, endorsed Howard Dean so that Gore could reap the benefits of a Dean presidency, and if Dean lost to Bush, Gore would be able to inherit Dean's base in 2008. Well, neither of those scenarios are likely. Instead, Gore is marginalized and has been unable to deliver for Howard Dean. But then again, Richard Nixon looked like he was marginalized and completely out of the picture after losing his bid for Governor of California in 1962, and we all know what happened. Al Gore may be the biggest loser of this primary season so far, but I still don't think we should be writing his political obituary yet.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at February 10, 2004 12:52 AM
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