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December 10, 2003Sprinting to Irrelevance.Since I am not finding readily anyone else in my corner of the neighborhood offering punditry on the Gore endorsement of Dean, I thought I’d take a moment to explain exactly how he goofed and what his strategic error is. Yes, I know punditry is not the modus operandi for this site, but my blood pressure is up on this one and I'm not even a Democrat. First, one must understand Gore. Gore wants to matter. He wants to be important whether its president, the power behind the DNC, or the kingmaker of post-Clinton administration era Democrat politics. He wants to be important just like Newt Gingrich and Co. wanted to be in important in 1998 and took a bloodlust to impeaching Bill Clinton for his sexual indiscretions. Working at a national political consulting firm in 1998, I witnessed what a lust to matter can do to someone. Without going into details, let me share this with you—Gingrich & Co. were warned in 1998 that their drive for impeachment was going to blow up in their face. They were briefed along with their top staff members exactly how the mood of the voters would turn against them over the impeachment issue, and they refused to listen. The 1998 GOP leadership wanted to matter and they thought impeachment was their ride. Gingrich & Co. in 1998 and Gore yesterday both overreached in their long-term goal to matter--to go into history. Newt for the most part became history; look for Gore to follow soon. Here’s the skinny. We would have President Al Gore if he had embraced the Clinton presidency and its record in the 2000 campaign. In his trepidation to avoid being tainted by the Clinton scandals, he forgot a rather important fact. The 1998 Congressional elections when Clinton and Monica was the topic du jour, voters very nearly returned the Democrats to the majority. Message: the public doesn’t care about the Monica-gate when it comes to running the government and, more importantly, they detest even more those who would make personal failures the key issue in an election. Further, the Gore campaign and/or Democratic operatives made the same stupid blunder when it attempted to plant stories in the last days of the 2000 election about Bush’s past indiscretions. So, now we have Gore viewing a front-runner Dean who the vast majority of establishment Democrats have not embraced. The Dean campaign is accurately portrayed more as a movement than a campaign. That movement is populated predominantly by far left to fairly far left people who do not normally operate within the Democratic party machinations. These folks are more interested in opposing anything Bush than a person. Dean happened to fill that void and became their leader and spokesperson. More importantly, those of that viewpoint do not get a person elected in a general election. The big, wide, cushy, fickle centrists decide the winners. Look back at the 2000 GOP primary, facing a rather strong surge of support for John McCain, the Bush campaign veered to the right and the center so much that it looked like a piece of modern art comprised of sharp, bold zigzagged lines. Dean’s movement has taken a sharp left turn and never looked back. Ultimately, the strategy may pay off for him in securing the nomination. With a field of nine candidates, the name of the game is to turn out the base of the party. And that Democratic base is liberal and Dean is singing their tune. However, Karl Rove and Co. have been licking their chops for just such a scenario. Dean has already said so many off the wall indefensible things that he will be roasted before he can even attempt to merge with caution back to the center. So what does this mean for Gore and his endorsement of Dean. In his desperate attempt to still matter, to be a power in Democrat politics, to perhaps someday be President himself, he has failed in every direction. His message resonated in 2000, to the tune of a popular majority. Every single Democratic candidate have fully embraced the Clinton administration and cite themselves as the best chance to return to the glory years of the Clinton era. However, Dean has espoused a number of policy positions that are diametrically opposed to Clinton policy. Clinton brought in a center-lean left to forefront of the Democratic party and won with it. The erosion of Southern governorships and Congressional seats to the D column are only now being stanched, and that after our nation came under attack and went to war. The Clinton New Democrats were a successful formula and allowed them to break into the crucial South. The only prominent thing Dean has extended to the South is a stereotype of us as beer drinking, shotgun slinging, pick up truck driving, Confederate flag waving good ole boys and gals. He is woefully wrong, and while that might play well in New Hampshire, we Southerners haven’t forgot that slight. Clinton understood that, Gore didn’t. Further, Gore has thrown his support for the one man not accepted within the Democratic establishment. While the main establishment is fighting over whether to back Leiberman, Kerry, Gephardt, or Clark , Gore runs in and backs the anti-candidate. How do you think the establishment is going to react? They will revolt! The strongest currency in politics is loyalty and Al Gore has now conclusively shown he has neither loyalty to his patrons (Clinton & Co.) or his faithful Democratic establishment (Gore campaign). He has turned his back and embraced the far left bluster and policy of Dean and left all of us in the center scratching our heads and saying to ourselves, “that’s not the Gore I remember.” Add to that the clumsy way the endorsement was handled due to Gore’s insistence on secrecy and surprise (even Rep Rangel – D – Harlem remarked about the utter lack of blacks at an event in Harlem), his failure to notify the other candidates, particularly Joe Lieberman, and you have the ingredients for the movement of Al Gore from prominent player in the party to irrelevance. Even if Dean is able to secure the nomination and clean out McAullife and the rest of Clinton & Co., do you really think the changes will stick after the embarrassment Dean will face at the hands of a wartime president, who has turned the economy around and had the luxury of running from the center for his entire re-election campaign? If it is as widely rumored that Gore’s endorsement was a shot across the bow at Hillary Clinton in 2008, Gore has most effectively blown off his own legs and cleared the way for Hillary’s ascendancy in 2008. Nice job, Al. Best of luck with that television network. Blog o'RAM linked with I Miss Kate! Southern Musings linked with Another day of CPE Somewhere on A1A... linked with Lieberman's Gain? Somewhere on A1A... linked with Lieberman's Gain? Comments
Thank you for your intelligent discussion of the situation. I have thought for some time that Gore was in a downward spiral. His behavior since the loss in 2000 has been erratic, to say the least. Too young to retire, he seems to have no purpose or goal in life since he is no longer a "public servant." His awkward endorsement of Dean is just another round in his spiral downward. Posted by: Ms Anna at December 11, 2003 08:11 PMI can't believe that so few have found this entry to link to. Seeing as I'm your only commenter, I want to say that you deserve a "Bravo." "...in his desperate attempt to still matter..." Exactly. Posted by: Key at December 12, 2003 01:17 PMVery good post, well thought out and it makes sense. I hadn't thought of why Gore did it. My personal view where voting is concerned is that I absolutely will not vote for anyone that had anything to do with the klinton administration. Just my .02. Jennifer Martinez sends Posted by: Jennifer Martinez at December 12, 2003 11:02 PMInteresting post. Posted by: Melissa at December 14, 2003 06:04 PMPost a comment
 
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