In 2000 how many thought Gore was boring, wooden, loser, did not care,

[illinoisprogressive]

couldn't get excited about his running, wished someone else was, saw him as a kinda Kerry style figure, remote, ect.
If you voted for him, and that's if, was it with excitement and conviction or was it a hold your nose sort of vote?
So, why all of a sudden are you obsessed with him running. Thinking of drafting him. Feeling he is the only one you absolutely want. Cannot see how anyone else could possibly run the country.
You cannot say the war. there were plenty who were against it. Dean. Obama. ect.
It is the glitter of movie star? the golden of oscar?
What if he made this movie and it flopped big time. Or never made it at all. Would you still be so insistent and so determined to think the hell with what he wants - he must run!
Truth time.

[hedgehog]

1. Although I'm supporting someone else right now, I can't help feel that

for the first time in a long time we're seeing the real Al Gore. It seems that almost every Democratic candidate since Hubert Humphrey has campaigned the same way - run to the middle and fall behind all through the general campaign, then say To Hell With It and run to the left the last few weeks. Amazingly, the numbers start turning toward the Democrat, but usually the change comes too late to do any good.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Because he stands head and shoulders above

every other candidate out there.
Need more?

[Ignacio Upton]

3. Gore was way too cautious

He deferred too much to his consultants. That, and the fact that there was the VRWC, Nader, Cruella, Jeb and the SCOTUS.

[salin]

4. I voted for him in a primary that didn't matter (so late)

but I heard him speak many times when he was in the senate and I was very impressed with his ability to make very complex situations understandable to audiences with little background. I will admit that I have gone from "supporter" to fan - ever since his reemergence after the 2000 elections at the Florida state dem convention when he gave a firey speech and seemed untethered from the "conventional wisdom" of safety talk ala the DC consultants (with which I spent a bit of time during my DC years).

My respect and support for Gore has grown over the years. While he does have a slightly odd speaking cadence, I have never bought into or agreed with the "wooden" meme from the rw talkinghead media.

[Rage for Order]

5. I did

I thought he was boring and wooden, but I didn't vote for him because I liked his personality. I voted for him because I thought he was the best man for the job in 2000, and I still think he's the best man for the job.

[jannyk]

6. I still have over 20 Gore/Lieberman teeshirts...

- I supported him from the get go - though I never like Lieberman.

[Raksha]

39. Those could be recycled--if it weren't for Lieberman! n/t

[lisby]

7. Loved him in 2000 and I love him now.

He has been my president for a long time. I'd like to see him actually occupy the house the people put him in. And I have no doubt he will occupy it to the benefit of us all.

Don't forget there were plenty of us who voted for Al before he dared to stand up on global warming. That was just icing to the cake.

Lisby

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

51. What you said! eom

[Prophet 451]

8. He's changed

Yes, in 2000, Al Gore seemed wooden to me, boring, detatched. Bluntly, he seemed to have a stick up his ass.

But he's not like that anymore. Either he's changed or, more likely, he's figured out that pols are allowed to have a personality, they're allowed to be passionate about things. He seems, gasp, likeable.

Besides, there's still the small matter of the fact that he won in 2000 and never got to serve. No, I haven't got over it and I think the blatant perversion of democracy is something we "get over" at our peril.

[mnhtnbb]

9. I voted for Gore in 2000 with great conviction. I had been reading

Molly Ivins for some time and took her warnings about GWB to heart.
I knew there was a HUGE difference between the two men, even though the MSM wanted Americans to believe otherwise.

[gratefultobelib]

11. Molly clued me in on that damned idiot, too.

[roamer65]

17. I couldn't stand Daddy Bush...

so I figured the halfbreed spawn of him and Ma Barker Bush would be twice as bad. I was orders of magnitude off for the worse.

[gratefultobelib]

10. I voted for him eagerly and hopefully because he's darned smart and I knew he'd be a fine president!

[roamer65]

12. I tried to tell people in 2000 that there was a difference...

but people were stuck in that stupid cynical "oh, there's no difference" mode. I knew Gore's background before 1988, when I wrote him in for president that November. Gore fought on the behalf of rural people with satellite dishes, when the cable companies were trying to put them in jail. Al isn't perfect, but he does try to do right by people. He loves to champion the underdog and I have the same tendency, so I'll always be for Gore!

[NYCGirl]

13. I've loved him since the beginning of the Clinton admin — in fact, would've preferred

Gore at the top of that ticket!

[meldroc]

14. I think An Inconvenient Truth did a whole lot for him.

Boring? Wooden? Yeah, I did think that. I also voted for him - I knew he is extremely intelligent, knows all the issues like the back of his hand, and is passionate about the environment.

I think his experience making and publicizing An Inconvenient Truth helped him learn how to reach out to audiences and voters in new ways, and how to make himself more lively and exciting to watch and listen to.

I really hope he runs. Gore and Obama right now are the best candidates I've seen in decades. Gore's also pretty familiar with the swiftboating tactics of the GOP, and has had his back stabbed a few times, so he knows who to trust and who knows his stuff. If he runs, he will be UTTERLY FORMIDABLE!!!

[karlrschneider]

15. I thought he came off a little stuffy but I knew he was a million times better

than the shitbag the Supreme Court appointed. I'm proud to have voted for him and would again if he gets the nomination...as I will for whoever does.

[OnionPatch]

16. It was the speeches

he made around the start of the war.

Don't get me wrong.....I supported Gore in 2000 but was not exactly excited about him. But I didn't actually know that much about him, either. Since then I have learned that Al Gore never said he invented the internet but actually he really did have a big part in it. But the speeches really clinched the deal with me. Sure, Howard Dean was against the war, but Al...his speeches were filled with the passion and anger and fire that mirrored my own feelings on the Iraq war and Abu Ghraib. (How DARE they??!!) When he supported Howard Dean over Lieberman, I knew he had really changed and now that he is doing so much to stop global warming, he has won me over in a very, very big way.

I guess there is another reason: The presidency was STOLEN from him. He should rightfully be our president now and I think he deserves another chance.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

18. Always liked him, was not wooden or boring (that was the media)

he did a fine job as VP too.

[MO_Dem]

28. I agree with you totally!

I supported him in his first primary run...was it '88? Then in '92, I was excited about the ticket, but I remarked more than once that I wished it was Gore/Clinton instead of Clinton/Gore.

We'd be rich if we had a dollar for every time an empty talking head on tv "misled" the public in 2000 about Al Gore being stiff/wooden/a liar/blahblahblah! I think it was Time magazine that did a story about Karen Tumulty and Tamela Edwards and one other bush bimbo that was covering Gore's campaign--and Tumulty on TV one day gushed about how much "fun" it was being snide and mean and negative about Gore. I often wonder if she's still having so much "fun" when she sees the carnage that her little bush buddy has wrought upon the world.

[TwilightGardener]

19. Fair question

I voted for him in 2000 mostly because I could see disaster coming with Chimpy, not because I was that impressed with Gore--he had some pretty ridiculous moments on the campaign trail and was overscripted/overconsultanted (I made up a word right there). Hopefully he would be more genuine and authentic this time around. He is a likeable guy.

[Erika]

20. Why are you hung up on the movie?

I've never seen it.

[Why Syzygy]

21. Yes . I thought he was stiff.

His running mate was a lead anchor too. I don't see him that way any more.
I think I fell for him when moveon.org had a film of one of his speeches. That was a few years ago.
It has absolutely nothing to do with an Oscar! I was proud of him BEFORE he did the film.
Your conclusions do not fit here.

[zalinda]

22. Was behind him in 2000, even hated Nader before it was cool

I knew that Nader was diluting Gore's message. Gore had the media telling lie, after lie about him. The RW noise machine was passing the lies along. ANYONE who saw the magazine news show (60 minutes, primetime, 20/20, I don't remember which one) could tell that Gore was not stiff or wooden. They also show cased his past, and he was remarkable even then.

zalinda

[flaminbats]

23. I'm willing to give Gore a 2nd chance if he runs..

I was extremely disappointed with Gore's campaign in 2000. in the primaries neither Democrat offered a plan for universal healthcare. Bradley proposed a plan to allow workers to buy into the health insurance policy offered to all federal workers. Gore proposed prescription drug coverage to those now covered by Medicare. Gore acted defensive when criticized for Clinton's tax increases, which resulted in huge surpluses in the late 90's.

I voted for Bradley in 2000 mainly because I was disgusted with Gore's cowardly approach on issues like healthcare reform. I held my nose while voting for Gore in November, but might of voted for Nader if he had been on the ballot in my state. But I am willing to give Gore a second chance if he supports the repeal of Bush's taxcuts, supports a healthcare plan that provides universal coverage, and gives us an exit strategy for Iraq.

Kerry ran a weak campaign in 2004..but at least he supported a healthcare plan that was similar to Bradley's, he supported the repeal of Bush's taxcuts, and was willing to hold Bush accountable for failing us on 9/11. I was disappointed with Kerry's position on Iraq. Modesty will not elect a Democrat in 2008, we need a candidate who will embrace the radical changes that a country like ours needs to survive!

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

24. Liked him then....

Voted for him. Like him now and would certainly vote for him again.

[Warren DeMontague]

25. I thought he was absolutely the right man for the job then. The problem I saw with his campaign

was that he was far too "careful", and listened to too many of the conventional wisdom natterining nabobs with their axiomatic bullshit. To be fair to Gore, the guy was running as the Veep of an extremely successful administration, the nation was at peace, in good shape, running a surplus, the economy was good, etc. etc. His opponent was a pinheaded sadistic frat boy who couldn't even run a baseball team.

So I understand, maybe, why he listened to the folks who said "don't rock the boat- this is yours to lose". A careful campaign was one mistake- tacking Lieberman on the ticket, as some kind of finger-wagging moral vaccine against the rampages of the Clenis, another- although it's always worth remembering that 2000 was a totally different era, before the Iraq war, etc. and Lieberman's name didn't carry the same neo-con implications.

But in addition to the fact that he did win the election, he was a GREAT choice even then, the guy has WHOLLY redeemed himself since then; not that he really needed redeeming- but almost out of the gate after the 2000 debacle, he displayed the fire in the belly that had been sadly lacking from his 2000 run. He has opposed the Iraq War from the get-go; and yeah, that's a big fucking deal. That's THE big fucking deal, right now. He endorsed Dean in 2004, ignoring the chattering of the "conventional wisdom" crowd and washing any residual odor of Ol' Joe Lieberman off once and for all. Anyone asking "why Gore" would do well to read the extremely powerful speeches the guy has given in the past 6 years.

Of course, the conventional wisdom crowd is still around. They've spent the past several years telling us that we lose elections because of the gays, or the atheists, or the pro-choicers, or the fact that we alienate the all-powerful "values voter". The LAST thing they want is someone like Gore; someone strong, someone outspoken, someone who has distanced himself from certain self-important power nexuses in our party, and someone who CAN WIN.

Al Gore was always the right choice, but now more than ever.

[InvisibleTouch]

26. I thought he was wonderful in 2000.

I did see him as a bit of a reserved intellectual, but I liked that - I like intelligence and dignity! I think it was a mistake that he put so much effort into trying to distance himself from that image, and I always wanted the opportunity to say to him, "Be yourself without apology! Who you are is great!" I do think he was influenced too much by campaign managers and those who wanted to mold him according to "what resonates with the public" and "what other people think" - at the expense of simply being himself.

He seemed a little uncomfortable in the limelight, but I liked that as well - I could relate to it and feel for him, could imagine how much effort it must have taken to overcome his natural reserve. And overcome it he did, tremendously: he came to my school in 2000 and I saw him speak, and he was by no means boring, wooden, or lacking passion. Quite the opposite!

These days I think he's much more relaxed and comfortable. Maybe he was that way all along, and it just didn't come across - but when you go through an experience like what he went through, it cannot help but change you. You put things into perspective, you realize you have to be true to yourself and your most overriding passions, and what others think of you just doesn't matter so much anymore. That's what lets people feel comfortable in their own skin, and makes others comfortable with them as well.

As I said, I loved him in 2000, but I can understand why not everyone might have. (And it's notable that he still won the election!) These days, he seems much more accessible and approachable.

[saracat]

27. I thought he was wooden, stuffy ,and the best man for the job!

We don't need a "personality kid" we need an competant and intelligent leader!

[TheBaldyMan]

29. GORE WON - BUSH STOLE n/t

[TheBaldyMan]

30. KERRY WON - BUSH STOLE n/t

[fladonkey]

31. In 2000....

I wanted to work for the Gore-Lieberman ticket but it was very unorganized where I live so I did my best to get the word out in my precinct and at my work. Gore made some mistakes -- the biggest of all was not using Bill Clinton. The second biggest mistake was getting off message - which should have been that the country had peace and prosperity for 8 years.

[TheBaldyMan]

34. He still won in spite of that, as did Kerry - Bush stole both elections

I'll say it again - the only mandate he has ever had is with Jeff Gannon.

[MannyGoldstein]

32. He's Changed - Not Pretending to be DLC Anymore

The old Gore was acting like a classic Republican - problem is, he's a true Democrat at heart. Like any non-sociopath, living a lie makes him wooden and flat.

He shed the DLC skin a few years back - and is much more comfortable and animated in his Actual Democrat skin. I really, really hope he doesn't change back.

[bridgit]

33. not me, though on the other hand we see what the loosey goosey, shit talking...

texas frat-boy, everybody's beer drinking buddy shtick has wrought as well

[helderheid]

35. Me. And I was unregistered to vote, though it was the first election I really paid attention to. I

registerd to vote for the first time (at 28) in 2003.

[midnight]

36. Good question. Suddenly a boring

Al Gore is being seen for the really intelligent, serious, man who was robbed of his presidency. Suddenly the boy everyone wanted to have a beer with and a good time appears to have lead us all to donkey island.

[John Q. Citizen]

37. I was very impressed by Gore's speeches to move on. Also his embracing single payer

fee for service universal health insurance system was a major factor for me.

Of the announced candidates, Only Kucinich voted against the war and voted against funding the war.
Obama spoke out against the war but wasn't in the Senate at the time. Obama has voted to fund the war consistently.

Gore and Clark both came out early and strongly against the war, and neither were in a position to cast a vote in congress. So there are 2 announced and 2 more potential candidates who opposed the war before it started. So that isn't lot's and Obama has the added nuance of having voted funding for the war he disagreed with.


There are only two radar candidates who have announced in favor of single payer fee for service universal health insurance, and those are Kucinich and Gore. This is an issue I have worked long and hard for, I know in my heart that the only way we are ever going to get a decent high quality democratic health delivery funding system is by going single payer fee for service.

One of the things that made the US great early on was it's sewers. It was an early environmental thing. Americans want a clean safe environment.

So he wants what I want in those ways. And he knows how to get what I want. So why wouldn't I selfishly want Gore to run? Gore could mount a serious and victorious return to the kingdom. The hero, his kingdom stolen by the evil and greedy bush crime family, returns to claim what is rightfully his and ours.

So what's not to vote for if he runs? Gore has time on his side and good street cred on a whole lot of different streets right now. When if not now? Who if not him?

I never thought Gore was boring wooden or a loser, I didn't like his toned down centrist (aka right wing) campaign content. When Gore went populous toward the end (much to the scorn of the DLCers) he did much better.

After Gore won the election, he teamed up with Move-On and did his speeches, started building street cred with activists, artists, scientists, politicians, and the people, and went out and did something, it just became organically obvious to a whole lot of people that Al Gore would be the best choice at this point.

I think a Gore/Clark ticket would be the strongest we could run. We could run at 'em through the South, right up the middle, and still get very strong support in the NE, the West, and the Mid-West, and the Rockies. Virginia is winnable, Ohio and Florida are winnable. They should run on single payer universal health insurance, strong environmental policies, fair trade, and peace.

[leftstreet]

41. Do you have any links for that?

Also his embracing single payer fee for service universal health insurance system

Not that I doubt you, I'd just like to read more about his position.

Thanks.

[John Q. Citizen]

48. I googled Gore and single payer and found lots of stuff on it.

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=express&s=cohn112202

This is a decent article from the New Republic on it.

[Jed Dilligan]

38. I surprised myself in 2000

with how much I actually LIKED Gore. He always came across to me as someone who was intelligent and committed to making the world a better place. I usually hate politicians, even the ones I support. Al's the one I wanted to have a beer with--not George!

I always felt like the stiffness or whatever the media ascribed to him was one of those weird things that middle America can see but I can't... Like McDonald's being food, NASCAR being a sport, or Toby Keith being music.

[ms liberty]

40. I never thought he was any of those things...

I would have voted for him in '88 if he'd gotten the nomination. I'd have voted for him in '92 & '96...and I did vote for him in 2000. I was thrilled to vote for him. I wanted him to run in '04 and I was heartbroken when he didn't. Everything he's done since 2000 has only made me want him to be President more. I also think he's the only one who can pull our country out of this miserable mess the Decider's gotten us into. Experience, intelligence, vision, and a statesman - not a politician.

I've always had a weakness for tall, dark, handsome, & smart men.

[nam78_two]

42. I never thought any of those things-I think thats the shallowest kind of reasoning

for picking a candidate.

I never thought he was any of those things, but even if I did, I wouldn't have cared. I hate, hate, hate voting for someone based on "charisma", "charm" blah blah.....
The media did a good hit job on him (Hey Maureen Dowd, still mad about his "earth tones" :eyes:)...

I also thought Kerry was a great candidate, witha great history of fighting corruption (BCCI, Iran-Contra) etc. I cannot get excited over someone because they give one great speech or have a great smile etc. Pity so many people vote based on crap like that....

[shadowknows69]

43. Yes actually

and I may have conceivably voted for McCain. I've seen such a transformation in this man though and I think the whole loss was extremely freeing for him. Most importantly to me it freed him of any ties to the mess of criminals and miscreants we have in government right now. Al can re-enter untainted. The RW will do their best but they'll never get past the fact that there's no way the country would have been worse off under Al.

[omega minimo]

44. You mean the smart, policy professional onstage next to the smirking, unqualified Good Ole Boy?

[joshcryer]

45. Vendetta.

[PhilipShore]

46. In 2000 Gore compared to Bush was a no brainer...

but you would not believe how many people were brainwashed in the Nader movement. They actually believed Bush - when he said he had concern for Global warming. I told them - that Bush was lying about that.

They assumed that Gore was Clinton, but he is not; sure Gore may of advocated some of Clinton's absurd positions, but Gore I knew was going to go into government to rock the boat.

[sandnsea]

47. Kerry was considered to add charisma to a Gore ticket

In the end, he wasn't chosen because he had recently married and had a history of dating lots of young glamourous women. They decided to go with someone safe, Lieberman.

The fact that you put 'Kerry style figure' means YOU were as duped in 2000 as you were in 2004 and consequently don't have much credibility discussing any Democratic candidate.

[seabeyond]

49. i am with you. he did NOT excite me in 2000. i liked kerry much better in 2004

2000 i even thought of voting mccain... (prior to the last 6 yrs of shit from mccain) because i was so unimpressed with gore. the sighing, the lock box, the totally looking at the "makers" to present his image... not to mention some things he did in clinton adm that made me think i shouldnt trust him, lack of integrity...

i understand peoples pressure for gore to run now, but i remember how i felt about his run and i dont have the enthusiasm for him.

[Jennicut]

50. I liked him immediately in 1992, voted for him in 2000, would do it again

I never understood the trashing he took in 2000. It was ridiculous. I think his campaign was not run well in the beginning but he began to find his way and beat Bush in the end (but that's a whole other story). I think he is the same person but people are just listening more clearly to him now since Bush ended up being such a loser. His friends say he is the same person except for maybe more relaxed and less worried about what people think. People who wer angry over any of Clinton's decisions in 2000 had to realize that Gore was V.P. had to did not have ultimate control over everything (unlike Cheney does, but that is another other story). If he runs I am there. If not, well who knows? Maybe Obama.

[Geek_Girl]

52. I really liked him in 2000

I thought he was an intelligent thoughtful person.

But unfortunately, too many Americans like stupid, crazy alcoholics to represent them. I guess that's what they identify with. It's a pitiful situation.