Al Gore's comeback continues...
Watch Al Gore here on Saturday Night Live from last night. Gore is in top form, making fun of himself, blasting the Worst President, and showing his loss in 2000 has turned out bad for our nation and perhaps the planet--but it was good for Gore in terms of refocusing Gore away from Martin Peretz and the Democratic Leadership Council and toward the Paul Wellstone "Democratic" wing of the Democratic Party.
As I wrote here and here some months ago, in which I discussed this Gore comeback looking like Nixon's comeback scenario, let's not assume that Gore winning in 2000 would have kept us out of Iraq--for Gore was heavily invested in the Joe Lieberman wing of the Democratic Party at that time.
However, this analogy of Gore to Nixon, in the technical sense of Nixon coming back in 1968 after losing a close election in 1960 continues to develop. Remember Nixon appearing on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, a forerunner of Saturday Night Live? I saw that in real time and was shocked to hear Nixon use the show's famous tag line, "Sock it to me!" except he did it with a slight questioning inflection. Nixon still looked uncomfortable as he said it--unlike Gore last night.
One more thing: Watch Gore's speech on SNL to the end and note his genuine and beautiful smile. Gore may be finally comfortable in his familial shoes, the same type of shoes his father, a New Dealer, once wore.*
* Though his Dad, a Southern New Dealer, did vote against one of the civil rights bills (only one) in 1964, after supporting such bills before and after, and also was in bed with Occidental Petroleum. Nobody's perfect, but Al Gore, Sr. was a great man who I have always admired.
posted by Mitchell J. Freedman @ 6:14 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Saw Al Gore on SNL last night, it was a great monologue he did. I really don't know how I feel about him, or how genuine and deep his progressiveness truly is. Let's not forget, he had a fairly conservative voting record as a Senator and ran a pretty lame campaign in 2000.
Do I agree with almost everything he's been talking about? Yeah, pretty much. However, a lot of what he's been saying is basically him piling on to Bush after a scandal, I don't hear a lot of original criticism or policy ideas, and I'll be skeptical in judging his potential political candidicy in '08.
Steve,
I too know his record as one big DLC-a-thon. It is why I voted Nader here in CA in 2000. I also bitterly recall Gore's corporate shiling for NAFTA against Perot in 1993--and Gore's cowardly refusal to debate Nader that same year when Nader was willing to go toe to toe with Gore on the subject of the NAFTA and WTO.
On the other hand, I remain fascinated by Gore's college writings that were released in 1992 or 1993, which showed a streak of independent thought, with a left economic bent and a more rational and humane foreign policy viewpoint.
Maybe Gore needed to lose in a heartbreaking manner and lose his corporate donors, neo-con advisers, and cynical political consultants to find his college student age voice. I do plan to see his new film to see if he can articulate a public policy that recognizes the interconnectedness between techology and environmental protection, and a recognition that government is supposed to ensure a humane balance in favor of workers against rapacious capital.
Dear Mitchell and Steve . . .
I think for too long Al Gore let others guide him. I suspect his lose helped in realize the importance of trusting oneself.
I fear his conservative past; yet, I wonder if his defeat did not help him more than anything else might have.
He certainly is gaining ground and I cannot imagine ever voting for Hillary. For now, I lean toward Feingold. There is much time and more to learn.
It is only the giving that makes us what [who] we are. - Ian Anderson. Jethro Tull . . . Betsy
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