What was the thing that hurt Al Gore the most in 2000?

[coloradodem2005]

I am thinking the clincher was Ralph Nader.

[greyl]

1. You'd be wrong.

http://www.bushneverwonflorida.com/
http://makethemaccountable.com/coverup/index.htm
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0310/S00211.htm
http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=182&row=1

[nannygoat]

38. Another great resource about selection 2000

Stolen Election 2000
http://democrats.com/display.cfm?id=248

[imax2268]

2. Baker...

[Punkingal]

3. I think it was the media....

and the myths and lies about Gore that they perpetuated. It is really shameful when you think about it. I saw Howard Fineman talking about Gore's personna when he endorsed Dean the other day, and he said, "There are two Al Gores. And this is the one we like." I remember a time when the media just reported the news, and didn't put their likes and dislikes forward.

BTW, I agree with you that Nader certainly didn't help.

[Kinkistyle]

12. Agreed.

Gore was portrayed as a liar and Bush as a devout Christian who just wanted to bring back "family values".

I also think Gores decision of Leiberman as running mate was also a HUGE hit on the campaign. When they both announced they would "censor" the entertainment industry, I got so pissed off at them, that I really started believing that maybe the media was right in that Gore wasn't so different from Bush. (Boy was I wrong...) that debate Cheney and Leiberman was an embarrassment.

[Festivito]

60. The 3 "lies" GORE DID NOT FIGHT for his own self.

He said he'd fight for us, but he wouldn't fight for himself.

It implied that he thinks he is seperate from the rest of us. "I want to fight for YOU." But, I'm not a part of the YOU.
It implied that he backed down from a fight, had small cajones, would defend himself and all that implies.
It implied that those lies were the truth.
It implied reasonable doubt at the polling booth.

There should have been ads explaining those lies, excoriating the RNC & WP.

I'm still angry about this.

[MotorCityMan]

58. I also vote for the media

I remember seeing the first debate; Gore wiped the floor with *, who came accross as completely unqualified. Afterwards, all the talking heads were just praising * as being so likeable and Gore as being so wooden. I couldn't believe it and kept wondering if they had just watched the same thing I did.

In the monthes before the election, the standard story line was Bush = likeable, regular guy, honest; Gore = wooden, elitist, dishonest, repeated over and over. 1st rule of propaganda, repeat something often enough, people will believe it, all evidence to the contrary. Even now, they're still repeating the (discounted) story of how Gore claimed to invent the internet.

Whoever gets the Dem nomination better have VERY thick skin as the '04 election is going to make '00 like like a ladies garden party.

[pfunkallstar]

79. Abadoning Clinton

What cost Gore the election was the abadoning of Bill Clinton, a president who had presided over one of the greatest peace-time economic expansion in history. It wasn't Clinton-fatigue. Yes, there were the passionate Clinton-haters, but there were the passionate Clinton-supporters that Gore should have appealed to. Why didn't Gore get Bill out on the campaign trail? He ran a terrible campaign, lost his own state, and if he had been passionate, gotten Bill out on the trail, he would have won by 10%

[KansDem]

80. Agreed...

For the reasons cited...

I couldn't believe it when the media gave one (or more, depending on who you watched) debate win(s)to Bush. I wondered if I watched the same dabate they did.

The media was, and contiunues to be, extremely petty.

[ringmastery]

4. Al Gore hurt Al Gore the most

He wasn't as charismatic as clinton.

It's always style over substance in politics.

Sad but true.

[lostnfound]

33. I was going to say 'style'..I am an issues voter but most aren't.

And I distinctly remember a friend saying 'don't tell me you're going to vote for that wooden man, he's so stiff'.

But people have their own reasons for voting -- two other close friends at work were so thrilled when Bush was finally (s)elected because they are adamantly pro-life. One is young and doesn't even know what a Republican stands for; the other is old and has two daughters.

The above 3 friends are all women.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

87. Ditto. and...

his ill-timed endorsement shows his political cowardice.

[frustrated_lefty]

5. He tried to be the better man

and bowed out. He won the election, he just gave up when he shouldn't have. My wife and I have not forgotten, Dean is going to eat the selected president alive.

[ringmastery]

6. yeah

The biggest mistake the Gore team did was ask for those re-counts only in the 4 south florida counties.

He should have asked for a hand recount in every florida county from the beginning.

[Jim Sagle]

9. Under Florida law, he didn't have that option.

He could only call for recounts in those counties where voting irregularities were suspected.

[DinkyDem]

11. That is incorrect.

Under Florida law a candidate can request a hand recount in any county where voting took place if the election vote total is within the margin of error.

This law was written with local state elections in mind, since that is typically the only level where this occurs, and had never been held up to Constitutional scrutiny.

[DinkyDem]

10. Agreed.

He should have never tried to cherry pick favorable counties for recount.
He wanted to have it both ways.

The SCOTUS was correct in their ruling, it was a violation of the Equal Protections clause.
EVERYONE has a right to have their vote given the same consideration, even if we don't like them or who they voted for.

Just imagine if Bush had tried to hand count all the votes in a state except for the African-American counties...

I would have gone ballistic!
:nuke:

We gotta play by the rules too.

[Solomon]

56. WTF? The scotus was "correct" in their ruling?

The damn scotus had not effing business being involved in the first place.

Here we go again with the blame Gore because they stole the election from him.

[soup]

65. phooey

- apologies for the source -

Bush Rejects Gore Offer of Statewide Hand Recount
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000

>snip<
Or, "I am also prepared, if Gov. Bush prefers, to include in this recount all the counties in the entire state of Florida,'' Gore said.
"I would also be willing to abide by that result and agree not to take any legal action to challenge that result.''

"We need a resolution that will be both fair and just," Gore, appearing with running mate Joe Lieberman, told reporters from the vice presidential residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory. in Washington.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2000/11/15/152106.shtml

also:
just read it-
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/2067456.htm

There's plenty more, but I'm not going to waste my beautiful mind doing your homework.

P.S. Yes, I live in Florida, and I will not sit down, I will not shut up, I will not 'get over it'.

[ma4t]

96. phooey on your phooey

I'm sorry to have to say it but if Bush could "reject" a recount offer then why did recounts take place in a few selected counties? The answer is, Bush could not stop a recount request from proceeding.

Any candidate could, according to Florida law, request a recount in any county he desired. What the other candidates(s) had to say about it did not matter.

Gore asked for recounts in certain counties.

He got recounts in those counties.

He could have asked for recounts in 5, 10 or 20 more counties or for every county in the entire state. He did not. That was a tactical decision by the Gore campaign, nothing more, nothing less. To blame Bush for Gore's decisions is ludicrous.

[DinkyDem]

7. He lost

All of the south and most of the midwest.
If he could have even carried HIS OWN HOME STATE he would have won.

Even Mondale carried his own home state.

[AnnitaR]

13. I'm from TN and I will never get over

Gore not being able to carry this state! God it sucked to be from TN then. We could have given him the election... our own "native son".

[nannygoat]

39. Voter fraud in Tennessee...

Vote Fraud in Tennessee: Worse than Florida?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10589

[Muddleoftheroad]

68. So, I don't believe Al Gore was that lame

If you are the favorite son presidential candidate and massive voter fraud occurs in your own state? Frankly, if that was the case, then his organization was so lame, he would have deserved to lose.

I simply don't think that the case.

[kvnf]

8. lack of a message

Ask anyone what Gore's message was in 2000. The most common phrase people I talk to remember is "lockbox".

But I've been thinking a lot about how Bush won in 2000. (Florida aside)...

Bush and his people created this persona that was so benign and meaningless (characterized by the empty phrases "compassionate conversative" and "uniter-not divider") that Gore was essentially castrated from saying anything meaningful himself because he would then look like the radical one.

I think Gore was freaked out of coming across more "radical" and thus was stripped of his ability to speak to liberals...these people got picked up by Nader.

Bush essentially turned it into a fight for the middle, and Gore bought it. I think he realized towards the end his mistake, but it was too late.

[Solomon]

57. You know. I kinda wish we had that "lockbox" now.

No need to lock it now, all the money is gone.

[Toronto Ron]

83. Gore's "Lack of a message" in 2000

I never bought that crap of Gore lacking a message. I think this was yet another gore by the media. What comprises a sensible, unifying message, anyway: empty phrases like "compassionate conservative", "they have not led, we will"? Gimme a break.

[cigarstore]

14. Gore is a dufuss

[Kerridwyn]

15. Fraud

I think it was his lack of charisma, but more importantly than that the media's bias against him (going on about his "lies" whilst ignoring Bush's), and most importantly the outright election fraud in Florida which denied thousands of probable Democratic voters their legal votes, and which the US media has mostly ignored.

[DinkyDem]

17. You are fooling yourself

You want to talk about the Media and denying people's votes in Florida?

We cannot delude ourselves. Florida was behind Bush. Our own internal research shows that Bush lost 10,000 votes when the Media called Florida for Gore an hour before the polls closed in the heavily conservative panhandle, which is in a different timezone. If we want to do better next time, we must accept this FACT! This is our own internal polling, people!

Righteous Indignation may make you feel good by acting like we were robbed, but it isn't going to win us the next election! If we approach next election as if Florida really was for Gore, we will lose again!

What good is a handful of votes in either direction in an election of millions? It is a statistical flatline. It doesn't change the fact that Gore did poorly, and it doesn't change the fact that we will lose again if we do as poorly next year.

Sorry to rain on your protest.

[Kerridwyn]

18. 50,000 + likely Democratic votes lost

I agree that Gore did poorly. I don't think he was a remotely effective candidate.

But the people illegally removed from the voter registers were mostly African Americans, mostly people who anyone would guess would have voted Democratic - and there were over 50,000 of them. Enough to give Gore a Florida victory. And this isn't fooling ourselves - this is a fact.

[EV1Ltimm]

59. you're fooling yourself.

we're not talking about winning the next election. we're talking about what cost gore the last one.

and you're not talking about the fact that a statewide recount, which is mandated under the florida constitution if the top 2 candidates get less than 50% of the vote, was kept from happening.

research shows 10,000 votes were lost for bush because of the media in the florida panhandle? What about the potentially MILLIONS of votes al gore would have had if the same media that cost bush 10,000 votes didn't harp on gore for believing the lies that he supposedly said he "created the internet" on all the late night talk shows or being too dull or being vice president under bill clinton... which would lead into a montage of senate judiciary hearings, monica lewinsky poparazzi shots and brief mentioning of faux-conspiracies that never had a leg to stand on, but somehow made it to CNN, msnbc and broadcast news networks.

"What good is a handful of votes in either direction in an election of millions?": the election would have come down to a "handful" of votes to win florida. And by your logic, gore should have won considering he won the popular vote by 500,000+

I say a little righteous idignation is justified.

And my own internal research shows that 76% of internal researches are made up.

[Solomon]

61. "Bush lost 10,000 votes when media announced Gore the winner"?

What utter bullshit. I hate this one almost as bad as the other excuses for Bush. How the fuck does announcing a winner, when only 2% or so of the polls are counted, going to keep people away from the polls? It's sheer stupidity not to cast your vote. Nobody took away these people's right to cast their votes. This is the most lame excuse I've ever heard. If they stayed home because they heard a "news" prediction, then they weren't so enthusiastic about their guy. A prediction has never made be decide to stay home, no matter how bad the predicted loss.

[Lexingtonian]

16. Gore himself

I knew how I was going to vote but that didn't make those debates any more unwatchable for me. Bush was unbearable, but he was _really_ grating.

There was the primary campaign against Bill Bradley, where Gore won with unfair attacks- if Bradley had been ept he would have found a far more effective response than the whiny "you're lying about my record". But Gore let the media run away with the image that cast him in, as a distorter and prevaricator. Gore didn't have a comeback to that.

Worst of all, I don't think Gore really understood what the Clinton years represented. He thought everything about the society was pretty much as it had been in '80s and didn't understand the massive shifts (both progressive and regressive) in politics and the culture ultimately rooted in the hugh Hispanic population growth. That gave him that tin-eared approach and aire that reflected that it was all to him mostly a scaled up version of his Tennessee 1986 campaign.

[deminflorida]

19. It was Gore's to lose from the begining and he lost it.....

Florida was just a passing train in the night. If you count on Florida...hang it up, although I feel it will probably go for the Dems this time around. I think the way Gore lost it was by changing on issues, and allowing the GOP paint him as a "Flip-Flopper" or have the public perceive him as not to be trusted as president.

Note:

"Vice President Al Gore has flip-flopped on tobacco. The Democratic front-runner once touted his past as a tobacco farmer, and he also has benefited from tobacco-industry contributions. But at the 1996 Democratic convention, Gore gave a heartfelt speech about the death from lung cancer of his sister, a longtime smoker.

"The impact his sister's death took awhile to really seep in and what it meant about the impact of tobacco," Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said. "There is no one who has been a more outspoken critic of the tobacco industry than Al Gore."

http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/home.pat,local/377419c7.c22,.html

another interesting statement in this article is this:

"Politicians such as Bradley and Gore often are susceptible to flip-flops because they have such long track records."

Remind anybody of somebody else that's currently running, if not well just open up the parody site: www.deanforamericans.com

Take note Iowa and N.H. you could be dooming us all again.

But you know maybe that's what Gore wanted anyway, there's one issue I'm sure he'll never flip-flop on, he want's to be president someday.

[Cheswick2.0]

67. he won it

got facts?

[Megrim]

20. Clinton baggage is what killed Gore

With a roaring economy like Gore had to run on, even a chimpanzee could have beaten Bush. There can only be one explanation for the loss: People were really tired of Clinton's conduct in the White House. Had Clinton done the right thing and stepped down in 1999, Gore, the incumbent, would have won in a walk. He'd still be president, and we would not be in Iraq, AND he would be the prohibitive favorite next year. Clinton killed us, and guess what.
He still is because his influence (through Terry McAwful) has cost us in every election cycle since.

[spooky3]

28. I disagree.

The right thing for Clinton to do was to tell people when asked about personal affairs that they are asking personal questions and he does not discuss such matters. Under oath in a sexual harassment case he should have exercised his Fifth Amendment rights and told the truth when he did answer. This is what any private citizen would be expected to do, and the President should have the same rights.

Gore's biggest mistake was to distance himself from Clinton. Because of this, he did not get credit for the Clinton economy; Clinton did. He was unable to benefit from Clinton's campaigning skills. And there are many other examples. People who were beside themselves over Clinton's sexual conduct were not going to vote for Al Gore no matter what he did, so he should not have been concerned with them and instead concerned himself with voters who were interested in the economy, environment, etc.

[spooky3]

30. by the way, I've alerted the mods

After searching for your other posts as a newcomer, I detect a RW talking point pattern that I think they will also see.

[Megrim]

84. That's a pretty convenient way

to react to points you disagree with. Just label them right wing. Then you don't have to do any mental exercise. Although you did state why you disagreed in this thread, which is more than most whiners do. But I have a couple ofquestions for you concerning your response. If people thought so highly of Clinton for the economy, why
did his pollster Stan Greenberg advise Gore that he should avoid mention of Clinton in his stump speeches in '00? And why did the Democrats lose most of the Senate races last year in which Bill Clinton was a highly visible campaigning presence. There were a number of polls in 2000 which suggested that the primary voter issue was 'integrity and truthfulness' which placed higher than the economy, which was most unusual during an election year. How would you explain that?

[Jerseycoa]

51. Baloney

Clinton had the highest approval ratings of any outgoing president. The country disapproved of his personal life, but people knew how to separate that from his job as president. Yes, the election was stolen in Florida and, yes, Gore won the popular vote. But if Gore hadn't turned away from the Clinton/Gore record by exiling Clinton from his campaign, the popular vote would never have been as close as it was to begin with.

Gore would never have gotten the nomination over Bradley if he hadn't been Clinton's VP and claimed to be more Clinton than Bradley. Gore ran on the Clinton record in the primary and then dropped it in the general election. That's why Gore lost.

Gore dug his own grave and ours. He kept Clinton from campaigning in key states (except for California), not only for his "own man" self, but for Dems in Congress, and as a result we bottomed. He didn't even have the guts to back the Congressional Black Caucus when they wanted to fight for those votes in Florida and for him.

And don't even get me started on his demented cave-in on teaching creationism in science courses, or that Cuban kid in Florida he wanted to let the RW in Miami hold onto as a poster child rather than return him to his OWN FATHER.

Gore is pathetic. He killed us, not Clinton.

:dem:

[Megrim]

85. So how do you explain the 2002 senate races

in which Clinton was a highly visible presence? It wasn't Gore.

[BeachBuckeye]

94. ;For you to even suggest that Clinton should have stepped down

identifies you as a real horses ass who has, obviously, licked Rush's boots and every other Right-Wing jerk that spouted such nonsense. Step down for "sex with that woman"? Please! When you admit that Reagan should have stepped down for Iran Contra, Poppy Bush for the same thing and Jr. Bush for his monumental lies to embroil us in the Iraq conflict, then we'll entertain your suggestion as legitimate. Until then, get serious.

[Iverson]

21. broadly, electoral fraud

greyl's links in response #1 are a good place to start.

[Mountainman]

22. The media's constant attacks on Gore and the passed given to Bush

The media had a feild day attacking Gore. They did not like him. Even when he won the debates they said that Bush won.

It was incredible how the media backed Bush against Gore.

[nannygoat]

41. Here are two excellent resources about the right-wing media's coverage

of Al Gore:

WHY GOOD GUYS SLEPT (PART 4)! Why did “good guy” pundits sleep? Citizens should demand explanations:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh122002.shtml

<snip>

The data were startling. In Bush’s case, the positive theme—“Bush is a different kind of Republican”—was the dominant theme by far, found in 320 stories. By contrast, the most common Gore theme was negative—“Gore is scandal tainted”—which was found in 344 stories. On balance, Gore’s negative themes appeared far more often. The contrast between the two hopefuls is stunning. Here was the actual breakdown:

Gore: 613 negative stories, 132 positive stories
Bush: 265 negative stories, 320 positive stories
Those numbers paint a startling portrait of the coverage in the spring of the year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR IN REVIEW! A year—and a puzzling era—are over. We offer some quotes for review:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh123102.shtml

<snip>
The press corps’ coverage of Gore:

JOE SCARBOROUGH, Hardball, 11/18/02: I think, in the 2000 election, I think were fairly brutal to Al Gore…If they had done that to a Republican candidate, I’d be going on your show saying, you know, that they were being biased.

KAREN TUMULTY, Reliable Sources, 9/28/02: When you compare to the kind of press treatment that George W. Bush got, I think that—you cannot argue that that was not uneven.

JOSH MARSHALL, Reliable Sources, 8/10/02: I think deep down most reporters just have contempt for Al Gore. I don’t even think it’s dislike. It’s more like a disdain and contempt…And this was, you know, a year-and-a-half before the election, I think you could say this. This wasn’t something that happened because he ran a bad campaign. If he did, it was something that predated it.

NEAL GABLER, Fox NewsWatch, 12/21/02: I can’t think of a single major presidential candidate who was as savaged by the so-called liberal media as this man was. This guy was savaged…They gave him terrible, terrible press.

[bowens43]

23. Nader was the deciding factor because of Florida but....

not the reason that Gore isn't in the oval office. Gore was a piss poor campaigner and he made the mistake of trying to distance himself from Clinton. Gore should have won easily. He blew it.

[trumad]

26. Even to this day my fellow Demcorats are delusional about Gore

As evidenced by the posts up above...

Gore was behind by 15 points at the beginning of the election and came back to win strong by 500,000 votes! AND that's with the most biased whore media coverage in the history of politics....

Gore did nothing wrong in 2000 but he did come back from big odds and Kick Dubyas ass....

Shame on you folks above for not knowing that.....

[Solomon]

66. It's no use Trumad. Sometimes the media drum is just as

effective on us as it is on the other guys. People have bought the big lie. There's only one reason why Gore is not president, election fraud. He had every right to campaign the way he did and still win. All this woulda coulda shoulda is ridiculous in the face of the fact that the election was stolen. I for one, wish like hell we had his "lockbox", don't you? Yet he was ridiculed for the statement "lockbox".

[Cheswick2.0]

71. nonsense

He had to run against the right the left and the media and he won the election.

Got facts?

[mandyky]

24. A combination of things that = a bad campaign

I think the sighing at the one debate was the final straw for many.

[BeachBuckeye]

25. He lost because he wasn't Al Gore all of the time

He listened to advisors and kept trying to "re-invent" himself. Just good ole' Al would have been the big winner. I hope our candidate, whoever he or she is will have learned that lesson.

[nannygoat]

44. "Reinventing himself" is one of those right-wing talking points about

Al Gore.

If you're interested, see the excellent series, WHY GOOD GUYS SLEPT (Parts 1-4)!

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh122002.shtml

[Nlighten1]

27. Picking LIEberman

I never could understand that move...or maybe that move was calculated by the DLC...

[Killarney]

29. I agree with those that said media attacks

Some people still say, "Oh, Gore... the guy that INVENTED the Internet? Hahahaha." Like he's a joke. You know what's a joke? The fact that he never said that. The right-wing media twisted his words and perpetrated the lie over and over to make him look like a joke and a liar.

Yet, they are faced with the facts of Bush's inumerable lies and just close their eyes, put their fingers in their ears and scream nanananananananananana.

[soup]

31. In the end, the Supreme Court

specifically:

Rehnquist, O'Conner, Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas

--------------------------------------------
a recap of just one day during the insanity:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/15/president.election.03/
--------------------------------------------

Why weren't we in the streets?

[KG]

32. the clincher was

St William of Clintons self indulgent affair with an intern.

no blow job = no bush. to think otherwise is delusional.

[Solomon]

69. I would tend to agree with this statement if he lost fair and

square. But the election was stolen.

[snippy]

34. Allowing the RNC to define him.

Nothing is more important in republican party politics than the principle that it must be the republican party which creates the definition of the democratic party and democratic candidates in the minds of independent voters.

With Gore, the RNC placed a huge emphasis on ridiculing him.

[TomNickell]

52. Yes, defining Gore +

defining the issues and the terms of the debate.

Gore played 'small ball' and tried to win the arguments on the terms defined by the media and the Repubs. He never broke out of the box.

It would also have helped if he had sounded passionate about at least -one- issue.

And a joke or two about Clinton's penis would have helped.

[phillybri]

35. Joe Lieberman

ANYONE ELSE on his short list would've been a WAAAAAAY better choice!

[Silverhair]

36. He acted like a spoiled brat in the debates. n/t

[nannygoat]

42. And * acted like an ignorant, spoiled brat everywhere else...n/t

[caledesi]

37. Three things they he did wrong:

Not mentioning Clinton
Not fighting back when lies were told about him
Letting his handlers run the show in terms of clothes, behavior etc.

Let it rip, Al!

[retyred]

40. The man beat himself

The only reason gore was even in the running was because of being VP and was considered an incumbent shoe in, he was a middling VP at best and in a field of lesser candidates, he was the best we had.

The man tried to sell himself as a continuation of what we had with nothing new except his change of clothes and his proclimation that he was his own man, which many thought was not something to boast about.

I was appalled at his head in the sand attitude while the right tried to crucify Clinton and then to come out taking credit for all the good Clinton had done while at the same time trying to distance himself even more from the one person he was baseing his achievements on, IMO he showed a serious character flaw. Instead of making it a non-issue, he amplified it.

The man was/is an incompetant buffoon, looking once again to align himself with someone that can make him into something he's not....somebody!


retyred in fla
“good night paul, wherever you are”
So I read this book

[3rdParty]

43. Clinton

By not embracing the clinton economy but instead shunning him away was the thing that hurt him the most. We never saw them together even though clinton wanted to be there & help.

The people that didn't like clinton would never vote for gore anyways so why even bother trying to get their vote???

Many other reasons but that is the biggest!

[CWebster]

49. Clinton was critical and really not supportive

It doesn't suit Clinton to be a has-been. He can't help himself.

[retyred]

73. "Clinton was critical "

And offered to campaign more than once for gore, but gore was busy trying to "be his own man" and refused what many saw as a must have in order to win, BTW: had gore not tried to depict himself as holier than thou, he would have picked up a lot of the red states and Florida would not have mattered. The man had no idea of what it took to win.

And contrary to what you believe: Clinton will never be a has-been, then again this IS a question about a has-been and not Clinton, isn't it?



retyred in fla
“good night paul, wherever you are”
So I read this book

[goodhue]

45. Lieberman

Disagreeing with the populist tone Gore was starting to take over the summer was unfortunate and explains a lot about the deterioration of their relationship.

[reachout]

46. The debates

When Gore turned the debates into a big love-fest for the Bush agenda, going so far as agreeing with Bush 36 times in one debate, he told the American people they could choose the Republican or a Republicanesque Democrat. Given that choice, many people will vote Republican. If he had actively defined himself as the *opposition* to Bush and really attacked him, he would have run away with the election.

[ACK]

47. He ran a crap campaign and yes the media sucked

The man had no fire in his belly. He even said he wished he had "let it go" so please don't bother going there.

Honestly, Nader should NOT have made a difference. 10 years of peace and prosperity and Gore was there for all of it. Still, he could not win going up against a man like Bush. Give me a break.

Sure, the media had a hand with the laundry list of stories pandering to the right's smear campaign. But that was not enough.

A good man ran a bad campaign.

[CWebster]

48. Clinton's tarnished legacy. nt

[FlaGranny]

50. Off the top of my head -

what hurt Gore the most was innumerable lies and mistruths perpetrated by the "news" media.

Edit: After posting my response, I read the rest of the thread. There are a number of great Republican/neocon talking points here. I can't believe that "democrats" have so fallen for the the neocon propaganda. No wonder Gore "lost" if Democrats believe that crap.

[trumad]

53. I sit here and read this thread in disbelief

Did I actually read up above about his handlers handling his clothes.... Again you would think that any Knowledgable democrat would make Bob Somerby and the Daily Howler a daily read...WHY! Because Bob blows away the silliness posted up above such as the Al clothing story.

Ignorance is bliss I guess!

[Solomon]

72. Hi FlaGranny!

:hi: As I said in a reply above, the fact that so many "democrats" bought the big lie is what boils me to no end. I don't mind republicans saying the bullshit on this thread, but so-called democrats... It's disheartening to sya the least.

[soup]

82. I'm going to stop reading/responding to this thread

before my head explodes - but first

:loveya: trumad, fla granny, Cheswick and Solomon among others here -

Why are we fighting this same fight 3 years on? and here of all places?

[FlaGranny]

86. I guess because

someone will always keep bringing it up and someone will always come along repeating the republican propaganda. :shrug:

:loveya: back

[jpgray]

54. Nader was the least of his worries

His media image was horrible, and no matter how little of it had merit, it was a major factor.

[DACT]

55. not campaigning with Clinton

That was the worst.

[GreenPartyVoter]

62. He appeared spineless and his platform seemed muddled.

I wanted fire in my presidential candidate and he gave only the barest wisp of smoke.

And of course, there were the other issues, like the scrubbed voter lists etc.

But the reasons I personally did not vote for him are above.

[Cheswick2.0]

70. So said Nader and the Green party

if you had listened to him rather than the Green party campaign propaganda you would have voted for him.

[GreenPartyVoter]

77. I did listen to him

I wanted something different from that. (Have you read Michael Moore's "Stupid White Men" chapter on the Clinton/Gore admin?)

Did you actually listen to Nader? Why did you not vote for him if you did?

Sometimes listening isn't enough. You have to like what you hear.

[retyred]

74. But he did conceed well

So well he did it twice!!!

Leaving his supporters to make excuses for him afterwards was the mark of a great leader and I will allways remember with great fondness working my ass off only to be left holding a "Don't blame me...I voted for the winner" bumper sticker.

Many here are saying "Just go away Ralph"....well I'm here to say "Just go away Al"


retyred in fla
“good night paul, wherever you are”
So I read this book

[terrya]

63. The media was Gore's worst enemy, IMO.

Christ, what a double standard. The media obsessing on things like "I created the Internet" (which had a basis in fact, actually) and "Tipper and I were the inspirations for the main characters in "Love Story" and other real trivialities...which painted Gore as some sort of serial liar. And giving George Bush a completely free pass on HIS lies.

The media had it in for Gore from the start. They hated Gore...which I could never understand.

[NicRic]

64. Theiving repugs stealing the election !

Nothing more nothing less .A win is a win ,and Al Gore recieved more votes inspite of Nader, not winning his home state and any other reason that we have all heard B/4 ! The bottom line is they stole the election and the supreme court ,handed the White House to bush with their outrageous ruling ! I thought the repugs ,where all for states rights , oh thats right ,only when its to their benifit !

[kerryistheanswer]

75. Al Gore himself

I would suggest that everyone go to CSPAN and watch the 2000 debates again - Al Gore could have crushed George Bush if he wasn't such a slimy know-it-all candidate. George Bush probably said some of the dumbest things I've ever heard a candidate say--- but Gore just countered like a bully. If Gore was more likeable he would have crushed Bush.

Also, not having Bill Clinton on your side is a BIG mistake.

[trumad]

81. Gore won those debates easily

What's wrong Kerryistheanswer... You don't like smart canidates? Gore countered Bush with facts and you didn't like that? Stupid fricking post!

[Stuckinthebush]

76. James Baker

followed by the Supreme Court.

[Corgigal]

78. The American non-voter

who was too damn lazy that day to vote. Who didn't pick up the newspaper or read the internet to see what was going to happen if Bush gets elected. I mean it not hard to look at Bush's record in Texas to see where we would be. I even knew there was going to be a war but you couldn't tell the lazy people that. They were more interested in Survior and other non-reality shows.

Apathy, pure and simple. The Republicans are maxed out in voters.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

88. His performance in the debates

He agreed with Bush on too many points, and he was too "nice."

Why else would about 1/3 of the voters been "undecided" a couple of days before the election?

[Q]

89. I find it hard to believe...

...that some of these answers are coming from Democrats. And if they ARE coming from Democrats...we're in a shitload of trouble.

- We're in trouble...not because of the negative comments about Gore...but because too many Democrats have swallowed the lies about the 2000 election.

- So much for 'informed consent'.

[Hep]

90. The MEdia

No contest.

[John_H]

91. The media and idiotic campaign strategy. were the systemid probs. Nader,

just enabled Chimp to prevail anyway.

[Q]

92. Wow...you guys really don't get it...do you?

- How can so many be this ignorant of the facts? I guess many of us have underestimated the power of the Bushie media to influence the Left.

- Of course all these things were factors...but Gore, Democrats and the American people lost in 2000 because of ELECTION FRAUD. And there's a good chance it will happen again in 2004 because no one has been prosecuted for their crimes in 2000. Judging from these posts...they got away with it.

[grannylib]

93. Not having all the votes counted...he won, remember??

[bobbieinok]

95. MEDIA LIES 24/7.......and rep vote set-up fraud in FL

Media and vote fraud in FL, GA and........

[catherineD]

97. Beltway Dems like Gephardt who didn't get behind him after he won

Since Al Gore did actually win the election, I think it's reasonable to analyze what went wrong in the post-election period, when the Bush people bullied their way into the White House. While the media followed the Bush people's talking points of "why won't Gore just concede?" there were very few Dems who fought for not only Gore's right NOT to concede, but knew that it was Bush who should be attacked for not conceding. People like Mario Cuomo, Ann Richards and Ed Koch knew how to be a real Democrat. Congressional leaders like Gephardt were thinking about how they wanted to run for election in 2004. Did you hear that at the Florida Convention, where every other Democrat acknowledged that Bush had stolen the election, Gephardt hedged away, refusing to agree? If prominent Dems had come out fighting, the way the Repubs did, chads would have continued to be counted and Gore would be in office today.