posted @ http://democraticunderground.com
amelia (38 posts) Jan-17-02, 03:29 PM (ET)

"Gore is our best choice"

I have posted this message before in response to another board but I'm going to post it again because I have decided to post it whenever I see any Democrats decrying the role of Gore in the Great White House Robbery. I have also revised it somewhat. The forum discussion was DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS FINISHED - William Pitt. I have learned from the GOP that when you take a message and repeat it over and over then it has a tendency to sink in. So, here it is and I apologize in advance to anyone who has already read it:

As I read some of the postings here, I feel compelled to add my comments to this discussion and defend William Pitt because he is singing my favorite song, and I am not one of the "silent majority" Democrats in Congress!

As I was looking at all the postings on the Breaking News Forums, I thought, "What is this nightmare we are living in now?" We were at the doorway to the 21st century and we're now at the doorway to Hell.

Just over a year ago, I was very hopeful of the future, it seemed exciting and filled with the promise of an even better life for not only Americans, but also the whole world. Remember that feeling you had on Jan. 1, 2000 - when Clinton was still President, and we knew Gore would win the election, and the world had never seemed more united? It was the feeling that we were destined for things unimaginable in our future! The spectacular promises of wind and solar power, technology, medicine, science, and the Internet. The very real hope of saving our earth, eradicating poverty world wide, and maybe, world peace. We could see the limitless exploration of space and new discoveries. We could see the future and it looked great!

We had this future because Clinton/Gore had led us to it, and they had never looked back, once, during the 8-year trip.

I have always compared Clinton to one of those ice-breaking ships that clear a path through the ice for other ships. He is the only man I know of that had the strength and fortitude to break the way through the frozen corporate mass of Washington politics, and create a path for real Americans like you and me. We couldn't have found a more suitable champion. He was smart, a little bit ruthless, and politically savvy. He was very caring and understood the needs of the common people because, having come from the common people himself, he knew exactly how we felt. Hey man, he REALLY knew what it was like to be poor!

Even his libido was, in a way, a help, because it opened America's eyes to how ridiculous it is to judge people by what goes on in their bedrooms. The majority of people don't really want to hear any details about politicians sex lives anymore. (Unless it's abnormal or criminal behavior) Or maybe I should say that I think the time for sex stories, to be used as a campaign tool, is almost over.

He never backed down from the Republicans and would work with them if he thought it was the only way he could open the path to an issue that, in the end, would benefit us. I didn't agree with him sometimes but that was okay, I agreed with him about 95% of the time, and that's way more than I agree with my husband about anything! I figure that's a pretty good percentage for any candidate and me. The most important thing about him was that he was willing to listen to us if we spoke loud enough and then he would take what we said to the drawing board. He always knew that he worked for the people.

He took a major beating for us, and I, for one, will never forget it; and never forgive those who were a part of it. Bill Clinton will go down in history as a great president, no matter what his detractors say.

Al Gore is the perfect man to come along behind Clinton. He is THE President for the future. No one that I know of, in politics, has such a handle on the issues for the future. Technology, the environment, space, health care, unions, abolishing poverty, science, and campaign finance. These aren't just campaign issues for Gore; these issues are his way of life. He really lives the way he talks.

When he first ran for Congress, he sold all his stocks, mutual funds etc. because he felt that in order to represent the people fully, he couldn't be in a position that may have a tendency to influence his vote one way or the other. For 25 YEARS this man never owned any stocks or funds! He sat on the sidelines and, thanks to a budget that he helped to create, watched that budget help the stock market make fortunes for regular people, the corporations, the Republicans, and the Bush family. He made $150,000 a year as the Vice President of the U.S. and that's what he lived on. He really did live paycheck to paycheck. When he ran for President, his retirement account had $8,000 and he owned some property that totaled less than a million dollars. (money.com) Sept. 2000

When he was a Congressman he started the concept of Town Meetings. No place was too small for him to go and sit for hours to listen to the people. He still does this to this day. People, we are talking hours and hours here. This is true dedication to the phrase, "Listening to the people".

When he was a Congressman for Tennessee, he spent Saturday nights in his Tennessee office filling out countless forms for coal miners who were sick, so they could get their Black Lung benefits without having to hire a lawyer they couldn't afford. He set up an office in the lobby of the building so these men wouldn't have to climb the stairs and drag their oxygen tanks with them, and because some of them weren't able to climb the stairs at all. He enlisted his friends to help him, whether they wanted to or not. This story came from one of those friends, who is a retired judge who spent some of those nights helping Gore.

(salon.com) Jake Tapper Oct. 2000.

We all know his record on the environment. No more words needed.

I honestly have to say that I believe Al Gore is what I would call a "good and honorable" man. I just can't picture any other politician standing by his convictions for 25 years, that, if he doesn't own any stocks, then he can truly vote on bills in Congress without being influenced by any corporations. I don't know if I could do it, especially with the last 8 years of prosperity.

Gore was elected the President, but because a group of thieves hijacked the media, and the State of Florida, and thus the election, it was literally stolen from him. I think he did all he could do. The Bush courts took every opportunity away from him, to fight back. He asked twice on national TV for all the votes in Florida to be counted. He couldn't get the Supreme Court to let them count just 4 counties or just the undervotes! The Florida Supreme Court couldn't get the votes counted, and they tried twice! He couldn't even get the 176 recounted votes from Palm Beach County, added to the final total! So to all of Gore's critics out there, just how in the hell did you expect him to get a statewide recount? What more could he have done?

Gore got more votes than any other President did in history except for Reagan, and if you watched him on the campaign trail; he fought for every single one of them. This man fought a battle in politics that has to be one of the most vicious ones that has been fought in a long time. He was fighting a Republican owned media, Karl Rove's dirty tricks, the huge corporations, the oil men, and one of the most corrupt families in the history of politics. He fought them and he won! Look at what these same people did to Clinton. They impeached him for a blowjob!

Come on now people, just how effective do you think Gore would have been by getting on the Republican owned TV networks and saying "I won, and they stole the election from me!" and "I'm going to fight this, but I don't know how yet, unless there is an uprising from the people who voted for me and we will fight together!"

Of course, since we didn't have an uprising, he was standing alone. Only a few elected Democrats spoke up for him during the whole recount fiasco. They should have all been decrying the theft of this election and screaming from the halls of Congress over this criminal act against the Constitution. Most Democrats stayed silent and forgot that our ancestors died for the right for us to vote as a democracy. We forgot that these ballots were covered with the blood of people, spanning from the American Revolution to the 1970's. They died so that our votes would count.

So, I'm going to ask you people, how much did you fight for your vote to count? Did you make your ancestors proud? I will admit that I didn't do enough, I tried to, but it's hard to stand in public and fight alone. I should have done much, much more. And no, my ancestors are probably not very proud of me either. As for Clinton and Gore, they were good men and they worked diligently for the common man. Both of these men are loyal to the Democratic Party. Yes, there were times that we didn't agree with some of the things they did. But you know what, my fellow Democrats? Sometimes you just have to go through the center to get to the left.

As for the people who voted for Nader, yes I support your right to choose whom to vote for, but you are Democrats first. Nader is a Democrat. I know that you have some issues with today's Democratic Party, but the best way to get your message across is to support the party and elect the people to office who will support your issues. Right now, the Green Party is not able to sustain any kind of candidate in a national election and probably never will. The only way to YOUR left, is through the Democrats' center, and then through the Democrats' left of center, where you will finally arrive at YOUR left.

I just want you to know that however you want to travel through the Democratic Party, to get where you want, I will be supporting you even if I don't always agree. I will do this because I believe the basic issues of the Democratic Party and the Green Party are the same. I will always support the Democratic Party because it IS who I am as a person, and it always will be.

As for our elected Democrats, if you don't think that Clinton and Gore are worth fighting for, then I think you need to be replaced in the next Democratic Primary. If you don't think that you can do the job of fighting for what is right for the people of this country, then you need to be replaced. Believe me, none of you will ever have to go through what these men did. Quite frankly, right now, I think that there only a few of you that have the fortitude it takes to be able to battle the Republicans for what is the true issues for America. We Democrats know who they are, because they are our heroes, the ones who got before the cameras and said the words for us common folks. They are the Black Caucus, Terry McAuliffe, James Carvelle, Joe Anderson, Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson etc. You know who we mean. We want our elected officials to have the testicular fortitude that our heroes have. If you don't have it, then get out of the way and let somebody else in your place!

As for the Democrats on this board, you need to register every friend or relative that you have. (Please, only the Democrats and not the Republicans) We all know at least one person who isn't registered or who is but doesn't vote. Get the forms for them to fill out and then mail them back or drop them off. Check with your state's requirements.

Make sure that you keep them informed of the issues and don't let them get their information from just the networks or local newspaper. Make sure that they vote. Go with them. Make sure that you explain the voting process completely to them because if they are nervous or feel that they don't have a clue, then they won't vote. Make sure that you tell them if they make a mistake, then they can get a new ballot. Just inform them completely on your state's voting process!

If all of us just register one person to vote and then makes sure that person votes, do you know how many more votes that would mean? This is so important for people to do in the states where Bush won or where it was close. This is a very simple way to help the Democratic Party and I believe it is one of the most important. Remember, the majority of the American population leans to the left. That's why if you have a high voter turnout then it benefits us and if it's a low turnout, it benefits the Republicans.

So rack your brains people and think of your friends or relatives who don't vote. I bet we all have at least one. Make sure you pass this along to other Democrats and post it on other boards or email it. The best motivation I can give you is to turn on your TV and watch the news about the state of our world as it is today. I think that is enough Motivation for everyone.

Sorry this was so lengthy, but I needed to say some things and to let William Pitt know that he is not alone, and that many people are listening to every word he says.