Al Gore’s transformation from the most conservative Dem presidential candidate since Truman to the nation’s most high-profile liberal has been astonishing. I, for one, am thrilled to see it happen.
There are different schools of thought to explain Gore’s shift, but it seems to me that this is the Gore the presidential candidate was hiding, afraid that he couldn’t win. Emboldened by his new-found freedom, and anxious to say exactly what’s on his mind, Gore is letting it all hang out — and it’s all pretty liberal. Good for him.
In the latest example of his new commitment to American progressivism, Gore will team up with MoveOn.org to condemn Bush’s Iraq policy (or lack thereof) and call for the resignation of five administration officials and one military leader.
Mr. Gore will argue that Mr. Bush’s foreign policy has created animosity against the United States throughout the Islamic world and is putting Americans at greater risk.
Mr. Gore’s speech at New York University, the event’s sponsor said, will call for the resignation of five Bush administration officials — who were not named yesterday — as well as one member of the military command, whom he blames for the Iraqi prisoner abuse and for a failed policy in Iraq that is endangering American lives.
It’s certain to be a hard-hitting speech this afternoon, which will be the latest in a long line of aggressive political moves made by the former Vice President. Who knew?
It seems to have started in November 2002 when Gore, at the time still mulling another presidential campaign, announced his support for a national single-payer health care system.
After formally announcing that he would not seek the Dem nomination again, Gore has not only proven himself a sincere lib, he’s been far bolder about it.
In January, he teamed up with MoveOn for a blistering speech attacking the Bush administration’s environmental policies. A month later, Gore delivered a keynote address at the New School in New York on the “political uses and abuses” of fear. It was, not incidentally, one of the best speeches I’ve heard in quite a while.
Even the tone of his rhetoric is unrecognizable from just a couple of years ago. For example, Gore was in Idaho in March for a speech for the state party. There was no mistaking the palpable anger he has for Bush.
His Boise speech offered vintage examples of his ramped-up rhetoric. “The right wing … has now intimidated the formerly moderate Republicans,” Gore told the crowd. “The right wing has taken over the Republican Party…. In order to win their victories, the right wing relies on the politics of fear … and the repetition of big lies.”
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Then he lit into almost every aspect of the Bush administration. “I think this is the worst foreign policy that any president has ever made in the history of the United States,” Gore said. He called John Ashcroft “the worst attorney general we’ve ever had.” Because of his penchant for secrecy, “George W. Bush reminds me of Richard Nixon more than any of his predecessors.”
A few weeks earlier, Gore was in his home state of Tennessee, facing a crowd of Dems, many of whom were disappointed with him for failing to win the state in 2000. They weren’t disappointed, however, with what he had to say that evening.
The audience in the packed Nashville hotel ballroom grew throughout his speech as word spread to those sipping drinks outside that the famously staid Gore was stealing the show.
The crowd was on its feet as Gore quoted his father, after the elder Gore lost his reelection bid in 1970: “The truth shall rise again!”
Does this sound like the same centrist who chaired the DLC in the ’80s? I don’t think so.
Al Gore has taken his years of experience, his stature within the Dem party, and his national profile to position himself as the nation’s leading liberal. He was an unlikely candidate for the job, but I think he’s earned it.