I'd Vote for This Nashville Cat
Last night I was up with the stomach flu, and so it was a good opportunity to catch up on my reading. One of the articles was the Rolling Stone piece on why Al Gore should run for president.
Over at Silly Humans, there's been a lot of talk about the possibility, and with Obama as the sideman. Now that would really be alright with me.
At about 70 percent recovered from my intestinal escapade, I hung out after the kids were in bed to watch just a wee bit more of the Oscars as it had stretched into songs. One was Melissa Ethridge's song Wake Up from Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
No question about it, Al Gore is one of my favorite Nashville cats, and he's not even a musician (although his daddy was a fiddler). But he is an oscar contender, which I find hilarious considering how dull and pasty everyone thought he was. But he's not. He's Southern, he's smart, he's very funny. I can forgive Tipper's affair with labeling if it means putting Gore in the driver's seat.
He throws his hat in the ring, and I'll throw a party for a WEEK.
But right now, I'm just gonna go to sleep. Because before too long it will be time to wake up.
posted by Mando Mama @ 9:41 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
Mando - I don't know. I'm not sold on Al Gore as Presidential timber. I think the 2008 election is going to be one of the weakest fields since I've been alive. The problem, as I see it, and I may expound more on this on my blog, is that candidates today are just celebrities. I'm not sure people like FDR or Truman could get elected today. Gore's not a bad guy and I think e has some decnt ideas, more so perhaps than most of the other candidates, but I don't see him as a commanding presence. I'm tired of having presidents that are not respected in the rest of the world. The US should be an example and we should have a president who can really energize our allies. I don't see Gore in that role. Unfortunately, I don't see any of the other candidates this way either. They're all media products like human equivalents of glossy brochures.
Hey Doc,
Thanks for popping up! I think the notion of celebrity is a good point. The "making" of leaders no longer resides in the mettle of what they do but largely in how it is perceived by the public -- and that in turn is so often at the mercy of the big corporate media. There was a time when this all didn't exist, and you made your name on your position and your principles. News traveled more slowly but it was different, and candidates had more access to the public. When Abe Lincoln was president, one woman who met him on a train told him he was so ugly he should stay home.
Gore took about the worst possible beating any candidate could take: he was selected by the American public as first choice, but through whatever rigging Shrub could wrangle, lost the election on the electoral college. To continue on in the face of that mess and to continue to make valuable contributions takes integrity and nerve. He's smart as hell, and I think his gloves are off. And I think because he carries a certain progressive popularity he has a great shot at being our most mature candidate. He has enormous experience, and passion. Given the opportunity, I'd say he stands every chance of being a great president. Picking a running make who is as smart and measured as he is will be tricky.
I didn't stay up and watch any of the show because my little dog wakes me up every morning between three and four. This morning when he whined to wake me up, I came first to the computer to see if Al won. Reading that he did, I was smiling the rest of the morning. Trust me, there isn't much that would make me smile at that hour of the day/night.
Like you, I would go crazy with happiness if Al and Sen. Obama teamed up.
Hopefully by winning the Oscar, more people will want to see the film.
Woopsie, I meant to add that I think Americans bear a great deal of responsibility for the fact that our presidents are not respected. We're not perceived by the world as capable of choosing effective leadership. No self-respecting nation would elect George Bush, arguably the stupidest and worst president in our history.
Americans have to develop and exercise a capacity for real judgement independent of the blither they are handed every day so that we are seen as capable of being an example. That's a lot to put on one person -- and maybe even less doable than fixing the deficit or our relations with the Middle East.
Al Gore is probably my top pick, so I hope he runs or gets drafted. I think he's just what we need in the this country. He's not perfect, but I sure do like him. It doesn't matter to me who the VP would be. Obama, Clark and Kucinich are the ones I like best. A winning ticket with brains, compassion, and ethics (as much as is possible in politics, what a dirty business) is all I want.
Right on, PoP and Blue. Being a globally-respected leader is good for presidential fodder, but so is relevance, smarts, and experience. Blue, I like your criteria.
And frankly, I'm ready for a little passion in the White House. No, not the kind that got Monica Lewinsky in trouble. John Edwards has passion. Obama has passion. Gore has passion. I'd like someone with a little fire in the belly about something other than their stock portfolio or military career. I'd say that on the job spec, getting congress up off their butts to work together and put this country back together ranks ahead of making our allies feel good.
I know where DrDon is coming from, but I think Gore does have the qualities which no other president since Kennedy? Ike? has been fully-equipped with.
Nixon may have been of that caliber, but he was total paranoiac. Bush 41, Slick Willie and the idiot of dribble-down economics, Teflon Ron, each had bits and pieces, but none was the complete package. My hero Jimmy Carter included.
Gore'd also make an excellent mentor to someone like Obama, who appears a good man but lacks experience like nobody's business.
Not that Al is without reason not to run. I do be hoping he does though.
To clarify, I do think Gore would be a better candidate than our other choices. But I don't know if that says more about him or them.
Obama is a good example. Yes, he energizes people but has he really said ANYTHING yet? Not that I've seen. A lot of rhetoric, a lot of feel good platitudes, but I still don't know what this guy really thinks about a lot of issues except the Iraq war. On that, he stands where a lot of other people do today.
Again, he may turn out to be a fantastic choice. I just don't think we know enough yet to justify the lather people seem to be working up about him.
We'll see. I hope one of these people steps up because otherwise it is going to be a pretty depressing election for me and we may just find ourselves talking about President Guliani
OH MY GOD....bite your tongue, Don! Don't bring it on!
Excellent point...if we compare Gore to any of the other contenders, he looks stronger and the safe choice. Measured on his own merit, he's still not perfect. But he probably has more experience than the rest of the potential pool combined, except possibily Kucinich legislatively speaking. But I don't know if Dennis can get along with anyone. I want to like him but something makes me see him a bit like Ralph Nader. I live in Cleveland and I've had enough cranky.
Thanks much, btw, for getting the ball rolling and for sharing your thoughts. Smart folks should check out your blog.
MM
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