Why do I feel guilty about my feelings for Gore....

[vi5]

This is going to get me flamed, but I'm just not an Al Gore fan. I voted for him in 200 and encouraged others to do the same. And I was as furious as anyone else about what happened. I do think he should rightfully be our president today and sitting in that White House.

But for some reason, whenever he speaks or makes news, even if I agree with the actual content of what he's saying (which in yesterdays case I most definitely do), there's still something I can't get unstuck from my craw about the guy. Everyone accuses Clinton of being the spotlight hog and doing everything with an eye on his legacy and people's perceptions of him but for whatever reason this is what I get from Gore.

And the thing is, I feel bad about it. He's smart, he's qualified, he's a consumate politician and public servant. Yet whenever he speaks out and makes news, I just shake my head.

Go ahead...commence the flames. But I really had to get this off of my chest.

[Cheswick2.0]

1. "I voted for him in 200 "

Man, the two of you must have been around for a long time. You've both aged beautifully.


I don't know why you have that reaction. He said a lot of things no one else is saying. Gratitude is what I feel. Perhaps you think he is upstaging Kerry? In fact he is carrying water for Kerry. He is a tremendously loyal American.

[ablbodyed]

2. Agreed....

Go for it, Al.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. Yeah, just like Howard Dean did. And I am left reflecting that it

always seems to come too late. :(

Although, Dean was saying it long before...but then people thought that he shouldn't be.

[Cheswick2.0]

7. Al spoke out against this war before it started

.

[ScreamingMeemie]

9. Obviously not loud enough, or long enough.

:(

Or to people who wanted to hear it then.

[RafterMan]

11. Well, aptly-named,

The UN couldn't stop it, the protesters couldn't stop it, the sandbaggers couldn't stop it, the French couldn't stop it, the backroom dealers couldn't stop it, I couldn't stop it and neither could you and neither could Al Gore, no matter how loud or long he spoke.

So let's let him off the hook on that one.

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. Aptly name, heheh.

My opinion. Thanks! :hi:

I've just been down this road before. I wish we were all screaming a bit louder round about 4 years ago.

[Cheswick2.0]

13. yeah, it's Al Gore's fault

:(

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. Never said that Cheswick, just making a comment on the sorry state

of things. :(

[Cheswick2.0]

36. okay, I am sensitive where Gore is concerned

sorry

[RafterMan]

3. 9 out of 10 times I'd agree with you

But he utterly rocked yesterday. I watched it twice -- loved it the first time, even better the second.

Did you watch the whole thing?

[thebigidea]

4. you picked a real good time for an anti-Gore thread...

[RafterMan]

6. Heh

Well at least nobody will accuse vi5 of hitting Gore when he's down.

[vi5]

15. That's the thing...I"m not trying to hit anyone.....

I'm just more reflecting on why I feel this way since it's not entirely rational. It's all gut instinct and feeling. The words he's saying are great. The fact that he's saying them are great. But he just does not move me in the least bit as a person or as a politician or political figure.

[RafterMan]

17. Again,

did you watch the *whole* speech?

[vi5]

24. Yes, I did. It's not about the speech......

As I said in numerous posts, what he said I agree with. What I wrestle with is why I'm not a fan of the man himself.

And by the way, me not liking someone isn't necessarily an insult. I have every confidence that Al Gore will continue to lead a very fruitful, succesful, and productive life without my tacit approval or warm fuzzy feelings.

[RafterMan]

32. But my question was about the speech

I just wanted to know if you watched it shaking your head with something sticking in your craw. I guess the answer is yes.

I was curious because I've never been a Gore fan either, but I was very impressed with him yesterday.

[vi5]

33. Actually I did......

As much as it was something that needed to be said, something just felt off about it. When I read the text of it, I love it. And if it had been given by say Dean or Kucinich then I would have had a completely different feeling than I did yesterday.

I know it doesn't make sense. The whole point to my post/thread is just curious whether anyone else had people who they agreed with what they said, but just where completely unenthused about as a person/public figure.

[RafterMan]

35. I had that feeling about reading the text being better

for the first few minutes. He started out like the syrupy, smirking Gore we've seen in so many other speeches. But I then I started to feel some juice in there, and by the time he hit the line "dragging America through the mud of Iraq's tortue prison", he had me.

Does that mean I think Al Gore has suddenly become Alpha Man? No, but this performance did make me eager to see more of him, something I never thought I'd feel.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. i disagree! President Gore doesn't need to "grandstand!"

i :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: Gore!

[robbedvoter]

10. I am pissed he isn't running. As for "hogging the spotlight" about any

Dem - Gore, Clinton, anyone - it's all an RNC talking point that should be ignored. Any time one of us makes news - it's a good thing for us. Time for unity. I was pissed at Gore for dissing the primaries, candidates he didn't endorse - but he was AWESOME last night. This thread is a waste of space.

[sendero]

14. A politician...

... that doesn't "hog the spotlight" won't be in the spotlight long. This is simply a bogus charge.

But I think I understand what the original poster is saying. In 2000, Mr. Gore came off very "forced" on many occassions, especially the debates.

He let them define him as "stiff", and then when he tried to compensate for that he simply made it worse, much worse. Because "false" is worse than "stiff".

I still have utmost respect for Mr. Gore. I think he listened to some idiot handlers in 2000 and it cost him the election. I think he would have been a better candidate than the one we have, but I can fully understand those who feel like he had his shot and he blew it.

He is certainly redeeming himself for his (small in the scheme of things) mistakes he made in 2000. Maybe someday he'll play a major role, he is young and he deserves one IMHO.

[vi5]

16. Thank you...That is exactly what I was saying.....

Thank you for putting it in different words which may make more sense to some people.

[Dogmudgeon]

12. I used to HATE Al Gore

He was more conservative, and Tipper was acting like a one-woman version of the Hayes Office.

But things changed. First, I read some remarks Gore made about the problems of the environment; then Tipper and Frank Zappa had a tête-à-tête, and Zappa made some interesting remarks of his own. Over the next few years, the PMRC was regularly used to beat down calls for out-and-out music censorship (the kind using laws, not stickers).

I was dismayed when Bill Clinton picked him for VP, but that changed quickly. Al Gore moved from centrist DLCer to sang-froid populist. The "conversion" was complete when I read Earth In The Balance, which I feel will become a classic in lay scientific literature.

But to each their own. Al has feet of clay, certainly, and they run up to his knees.

The guy continues to impress me. America hasn't seen the last of Al Gore, and I am convinced that the day is soon coming when we'll need him on our side again, whether in the White House (not very likely) or some other capacity.

So, sit back and keep an open eye cast on Gore. This game ain't over yet!

--bkl

[robbedvoter]

18. he was NOT more conservative - you were buying Nader crap

That was the tragedy. As a candidate he had to run from the center - just as all deanies were happily expecting their candidate to. He won the election. he lost the coup. He was also a good candidate - and HE WON. Did I say, HE WON?

Maybe you'll learn not to buy Nader/nation/WBAI BS on people in the future.
All it changed with Gore - not being a candidate - he has more freedom to say what he thinks. Kinda like Nader - who cannot expect to win. Compare them now.

[Cheswick2.0]

20. right about Gore, wrong about "Deanies"

We never expected Dean to be anyone but who he is. Sorry you don't understand that.

[charlie]

23. Yes, he was

BKL's talking about Al's early history. He was part of that bunch known as the Young Turks, supposedly moderate and more pragmatic than ideology-bound (read: non-liberal). He was the DLC's first presidential candidate.

Al's a wholly different person today. I didn't have much regard for him in the past either, but I was looking forward toward life under a Gore administration, with a progressive at the helm and no Dick Morris whispering "triangulation, triangulation, triangulation" in his ear.

[Cheswick2.0]

37. not true

he turned away from the DLC during the 2000 campaign. That is why they told him to move on during the recount. They would rather have bush in office than a populist democrat.

[charlie]

39. No, no Cheswick

I was talking about 1988. I know he all but told the DLC to take a hike in 2000, and it raised my estimation of him greatly.

[Dogmudgeon]

45. Wrong Wrong Wrong on the Nader charge

I was writing about the late 1980s and early 1990s. You're reading stuff into my post that isn't there. I was discussing how bad PR can be misleading, too.

As for the overall point, I agree with it completely. But very early on, Gore was more conservative, but he grew quite a bit over the years. He probably saw through the sham that is neo-conservative ideology early on.

And as for buying the Nader/Nation/'BAI line -- I nearly got kicked out of my house in 2000 for supporting Gore against Nader.

You're not dealing with a hipster leftist here. I have no one to impress and I don't wear my politics as a fashion statement. Rest easy -- I felt like I was robbed, too.

--bkl

[senseandsensibility]

19. Uh, maybe....

because your feelings are a result of right wing propaganda? Just a thought.:(

[vi5]

25. Yeah......30 some years of liberalism and all of a sudden...

I'm a victim of right wing propaganda just because one guys personality doesn't exactly set my heart a flutter.

You're right, that's probably it.

That was probably it back in the 80's when he and his wife were proselytizing to me about how horrible the music I listened to was, and telling me that they knew best. Back then it was probably right wing propaganda too.

You've solved my connundrum. Thank you.

[T Roosevelt]

26. Fine - who cares?

[vi5]

27. Obviously you if you felt compelled to respond....

That's 20 seconds it took you to type that, which you'll never get back. My condolences.

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. No flame here; I can't seem to warm up to him either.

:shrug:

[Cheswick2.0]

38. well, by your screen name I would guess that you were influenced

by a lot of Nader lies in 2000. I will never forgive Nader for the cynical and ugly campaign he ran against Gore in 2000.

[GreenPartyVoter]

44. It's all right. I won't forgive Gore for not being a progressive in 2000

or for not fighting tooth and nail for the office he won. Nader surely would have not gone quietly into the night if it had been him. :shrug:

[kaitykaity]

29. Don't feel guilty.

I still :loveya: Gore. Always have, always will.

But I don't like everything about him. His speaking style
is stilted and sometimes the emotion seems forced. And
I freaking hate his hair. I wish he would just go short
and quit fighting it.

The feeling that Al Gore is "unlikeable" is in the collective
unconscious because of the media. Sometimes I keep my
affection for Gore to spite that conventional wisdom. :evilgrin:

[gulliver]

30. My feelings for Gore are ...

... that I sure, sure wish he had been president instead of Junior for the last 3.5 years. Maybe even your opinion of him would have been different now. I think we missed out on a reasonably good president.

[vi5]

34. Oh completely...if he were president...

I would probably feel completely different about him. I still probably wouldn't love him but the greater good that was being done would win me over. That's what happened with Clinton. I wasn't a huge fan to begin with but the fact that he did a lot that I liked made me like him. Perhaps it's just that Gore never got that chance.

[CWebster]

31. At least I have grown to respect Gore

Can't say the same about Kerry.

[jpgray]

40. Good guy, good speech, bad politician

Sorry, but his 2000 campaign was a disaster. Aside from the RW false spin that was just out of control, you have the choice of Lieberman, the rejection of Clinton, the watery (at first) platform--Gore's a good guy, and his speech yesterday was outstanding, but as a politician he's made some bad decisions.

He was weak on the campaign trail, but knowing him outside the campaign, he would have made an interesting president. Vastly superior to our current occupant, certainly.

[LiberalCat]

41. I feel the same way you do, and I know why.

Al Gore promised that, if he was elected, he would fight for us little people.

He was elected ... then he refused to fight.

Sorry, I can't get past that. Democrats must learn to fight.

Flame away!

[Bridget Burke]

42. It's your problem.

Just like being color blind or tone deaf.

Sincere sympathy.

[LWolf]

43. I don't know.

I haven't had that reaction at all.

I was disappointed that Al Gore did not make more noise about the Florida/supreme court debacle.

I was disappointed that he was so quiet during the * administration. After all, he was the legitimate POTUS. I understand why he held back, but I was still disappointed.

And I am so glad to see him come out firing for the '04 election.