Daily Howler on 2008
GORE’S LEGACY: Why might Gore be reluctant to run? Not being the dumbest person in history, we can easily imagine, although we don’t know what he’s thinking.
At present, Gore’s legacy is honorable—and tragic. (Indeed, you saw it played out on Saturday Night Live.) He’s the guy who actually won the election, but was kept from office by an historical fluke. And oh yes—as time goes by, Gore will increasingly be seen the guy who was right all along on the major issues. Bush will be seen as history’s worst president—and Gore will be seen as the guy who was right. And to the extent that Gore is accepted as a visionary on global warming, this legacy will be advanced even further. By the way, even the press corps will largely grant him that role—so long as he doesn’t seek office.
But what if Gore runs again in 08? Simple. The corps will drag out its brain-dead old scripts—the ones we liberals still won’t discuss (more on that tomorrow). Gore will be trashed in the three thousand ways he has been trashed since March 99—and we liberals will be sweetly silent, too blindingly stupid to describe what is happening. (Many of our career liberal writers will be in the bag for this mainstream press process, just as they have been in the bag for this process since March 1999.) Who knows? Gore could get clobbered in the Dem primary (certainly, he could lose to Hillary Clinton, if each chose to run). And even if Gore got the Dem nomination, he would then face Saint John McCain. The two great scripts would come face to face. Which script do you think would prevail?
Why isn’t the following true? Gore will be cast as the Stiff One, Unhinged, the Dissembler, Fake-and-Phony. McCain will be cast as the Great Earthly Saint. Would you subject yourself to that—knowing how little support you would get? Knowing that, right to this day, liberals refuse to discuss the manner in which you got slimed during Campaign 2000 (and after)? Would you choose to go into battle again, saddled with perfect born losers like we are? “Fastened to a dying animal,” as Yeats so memorably said?
For ourselves, we’d love to see Gore decide he could run. But to help that along, isn’t it time we began to discuss the real shape of our American politics? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the childish ways the press portrays McCain? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the ways our White House elections get lost? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the scripts which make Democrats losers—the script which will send McCain to the White House in January 2009?
At present, Gore’s legacy is honorable—and tragic. (Indeed, you saw it played out on Saturday Night Live.) He’s the guy who actually won the election, but was kept from office by an historical fluke. And oh yes—as time goes by, Gore will increasingly be seen the guy who was right all along on the major issues. Bush will be seen as history’s worst president—and Gore will be seen as the guy who was right. And to the extent that Gore is accepted as a visionary on global warming, this legacy will be advanced even further. By the way, even the press corps will largely grant him that role—so long as he doesn’t seek office.
But what if Gore runs again in 08? Simple. The corps will drag out its brain-dead old scripts—the ones we liberals still won’t discuss (more on that tomorrow). Gore will be trashed in the three thousand ways he has been trashed since March 99—and we liberals will be sweetly silent, too blindingly stupid to describe what is happening. (Many of our career liberal writers will be in the bag for this mainstream press process, just as they have been in the bag for this process since March 1999.) Who knows? Gore could get clobbered in the Dem primary (certainly, he could lose to Hillary Clinton, if each chose to run). And even if Gore got the Dem nomination, he would then face Saint John McCain. The two great scripts would come face to face. Which script do you think would prevail?
Why isn’t the following true? Gore will be cast as the Stiff One, Unhinged, the Dissembler, Fake-and-Phony. McCain will be cast as the Great Earthly Saint. Would you subject yourself to that—knowing how little support you would get? Knowing that, right to this day, liberals refuse to discuss the manner in which you got slimed during Campaign 2000 (and after)? Would you choose to go into battle again, saddled with perfect born losers like we are? “Fastened to a dying animal,” as Yeats so memorably said?
For ourselves, we’d love to see Gore decide he could run. But to help that along, isn’t it time we began to discuss the real shape of our American politics? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the childish ways the press portrays McCain? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the ways our White House elections get lost? Isn’t it time we began to discuss the scripts which make Democrats losers—the script which will send McCain to the White House in January 2009?
posted by ArcadesProjector at
9:33 PM
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