Reply #11: Middle America would not believe any Democrat on national

[drummo]

security unless the Reps screw it up big time.

And guess what?
The Reps screwed up big time with Iraq.

Gore has a very long an impressive resume of getting it right while others got it wrong on national security matters.
But it should not be his job to market his credentials.
It should be done by us and the people who work for him.

The candidate has to stay above it all. Self-praise never works.
Bush's people praised him in 2000 all day and all night long.
Gore didn't have that benefit. Moreover the media by distorting his words created an image which deprived Gore from taking credit for anything he did.
That can be changed in 2008, not the least because by that time the country -- and the press itself -- will be sick and tired of Bush and the Reps.

You don't need Middle America to win. You need the states that Gore won 2000 and you are president. Nothing more is needed. Not Arkansas, not Tennessee not Kentucky. To hell with them.