Asks crowd to remember anger & disappointment
of 2000 outcome;
patches up with Clinton
BOSTON--We've just received the advance copies of Gore's imminent speech to the convention. In the running for the most interesting moment of the speech is his direct appeal to those who voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in the last presidential election--votes that were said to have cost Gore victory in the 2000 election.
"I...ask tonight for the help of those who supported a third party candidate in 2000. I urge you to ask yourselves this question: do you still believe that there was no difference betweeen the candidates? Are you troubled by the erosion of some of America's most basic civil liberties? Are you worried that our environmental laws are being weakened and dismanteld to allow vast increases in pollution that are contributing to a global climate crisis? No matter how you voted in the last election, these are profound problems that all voters must take into account this November 2nd."
While argument ensues among the pundits on whether the Dems should avoid bashing Bush, Gore appeals to the party faithful to summon their experience of the loss of 2000:
"To those of you who felt disappointed or angry with the outcome in 2000, I want you to remember all of those feelings. But then I want you to do with them what I have done: focus them fully and completely on putting John Kerry and John Edwards in the White House."
Then, referring to his friends, Gore finally offers the kiss that might have saved him had he made it four years ago:
"There's someone else I'd like to thank, and that's the man who asked me to join him on the ticket at our convention 12 years ago, my friend--and my partner for eight years--President Bill Clinton. I'll never forget that convention or that campaign--the way we b arnstromed the country, carrying a message of hope and change, believing with our whole hearts that America could be made new again."
I'll never forget that convention either, the image of those four young, smart, smart people bopping around to the strains of "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow". Did it really happen--or were we all just trippin'?
BTW, in the current context of wars over gay marriage, your blogstress notes Gore's use of the word "partner".
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