Reply #24: And a great Guardian article for Slinkerwink...by Sid Blumenthal

[madfloridian]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1104370,00.html

SNIP.."Gore's endorsement of Dean is the most important since grainy film was shown at the 1992 Democratic convention depicting President Kennedy shaking hands with a teenage Bill Clinton. Gore's endorsement is not the passing of the torch to a new generation, but another conferring of legitimacy. For Democrats, he personifies the infamy of the last election. He is not another politician, but the rightfully elected president, by a popular majority of 539,895 votes.

But the Gore of today is not the Gore of 2000. The careful political figure trying to distance himself from Clinton and contorting his personality to project likability has been tempered by defeat. "If I had to do it all over again, I'd just let it rip," Gore said a year ago. "To hell with the polls, the tactics and all the rest. I would have poured out my heart and my vision for America's future." (This is why Gore endorsed Dean....this is what Dean is doing)

Gore now calls the rightwing media a "fifth column" within journalism, and he's raising millions to build a TV network of his own as an alternative. In his own way, he's absorbed the lessons of the past three years and become a representative Democrat. His endorsement of Dean is his commentary on his campaign and the conduct of his party since.

· Sidney Blumenthal is former senior adviser to President Clinton and author of The Clinton Wars

I have seen his book praised here often. I am reading it now along with 2 others. I respect him, the article is appreciated.

What is going on here breaks my heart.