October 15, 2007
A New Hampshire Write-In for Gore Can Win (Brent Budowsky)
Note: The following is an elaboration on an op-ed to be published in The Hill's edition of Tuesday, Oct. 16.
It is undoubtedly a long shot, but the voters of New Hampshire have a wonderful history of confounding the experts and changing the course of American history.
Dwight Eisenhower was enlisted in 1952 by voters in New Hampshire. Henry Cabot Lodge in 1964 won a pure New Hampshire write-in while serving as American ambassador to Vietnam, finishing ahead of Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller, who were both on the ballot.
In 1968 Eugene McCarthy stunned the world and began the tortured path out of Vietnam with a breathtaking triumph in New Hampshire, and in 2000, John McCain electrified the political world with a dramatic victory in the Granite State.
It has been done before; it can be done again.
The reason that New Hampshire is, and should always be, the first primary in the nation is that it represents the truest example of citizen democracy on the most important matter before American voters, the election of a president.
This will be truer in 2008 than ever before.
New Hampshire will be preceded by the Iowa caucus, a wonderful exercise in democracy, though with participation that will be limited to 10 to 15 percent of eligible Iowa Democrats.
The most important political day in 2008 will be Super Tuesday, which is a travesty of how a great nation should choose its leader, with its mass voting dominated by television ads and virtually no interaction between candidates and voters, compared to New Hampshire.
In New Hampshire there will be a true exercise of democracy, with thoughtful voters carefully considering the future of the nation, evaluating the candidates in a serious process that would make the Founding Fathers proud.
If the national Draft Gore movement and the significant, passionate and well-organized Gore supporters in New Hampshire roll the dice with a New Hampshire write-in campaign, the political dynamic creates a real opening for another New Hampshire stunner in 2008.
Here is why: From the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize award through Al Gore's acceptance speech in December, he will carry the mantle of world statesman and moral leader while the presidential candidates will campaign in a frenzy of low-concept politics, heaping negatives on each other.
It is this stark comparison, of the lowball politics of conventional politicians running against each other for president against the Nobel Laureate statesmanship and moral leadership leading into the most important speech of Al Gore's life, that just might appeal to the voters of New Hampshire if the believers of Gore make their stand in the Granite State.
Overwhelming numbers of New Hampshire Democrats and independents will be watching with admiration and pride as Al Gore addresses the world, accepts the Peace Prize, and issues his call to action.
In Oslo, Al Gore will speak the way presidents should speak; lead the way presidents should lead; conduct himself the way presidents should conduct themselves; and stand for the ideals that American presidents should stand for while addressing a world that wants to see America once again as a beacon of hope and light.
In one corner, the negative ads and campaign attacks that make Americans cynical about what our politics have become; in the other, the leader and the laureate speaking with conscience about saving the planet and building the peace.
What are the odds of New Hampshire firing the cannon that would be heard around the world and voting for Gore in a write-in shocker? Five percent? Ten? Who knows?
There are some things we do know.
First, don't believe a word the experts and pundits say. Remember what President Dean once said about President Muskie …
Second, don't believe the polls; they are without any meaning or predictive value. In December of 2003 Howard Dean was the overwhelming favorite, Wes Clark was surging and Joe Lieberman was running strong while John Kerry was virtually tied with Al Sharpton and ridiculed by the pundit class.
The polls in October, November and December of 2003 were totally and completely wrong even as the voting was imminent. Those at the top collapsed, while the two finalists and nominees for president and vice president were near the bottom and taken seriously by virtually no one.
Finally, New Hampshirites do not take dictation from Washington insiders and do not follow orders from campaign managers, consultants or the media. They do not appreciate being told what to believe or being instructed about what they must inevitably do.
The voters of New Hampshire may or may not agree with the views expressed here, but anyone with experience in national politics knows that these voters take very seriously their role in choosing our president
and a have long history of confounding the experts, and bless them for it.
If the believers in Al Gore roll the dice and reach out to New Hampshire voters to make their stand in the Granite State, they will be campaigning against everything the American people dislike in our politics and championing a leader with an extraordinary body of work for a lifetime, at the very moment he addresses the world and accepts the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Don't bet the ranch, but it can be done.
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Yes, what's not to like about Al Gore? He is passionate and statesman-like, and hell-bent on destroying the American economy by converting it to a "stop global warming" machine. Even the snake is better. She just wants to socialize the economy and raise taxes, at least she doesn't want to destroy it. God, what a choice!
Comment by Igor R. — October 15, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
Write in Howdy Doody while you're at it. It would make as much sense.
Comment by Robert Rosencrans — October 15, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
Tongue-in-cheek endorsements from 2 wing-nuts like Ignore and RR, guys who, zombie-like, will vote for whatever fruitcake the party of child-molesters and whores slithers out.
I thought they were humorless all the while!
Obviously though their slavish devotion to the fop now infesting the White House should have tipped me off to their status as sincere comedians.
Comment by fascismisdead — October 15, 2007 @ 7:01 pm
Goodonya again, Brent
Don't forget that herev in California. orporate media have ignored the new effort to do MUCH more than 'beg' Gore to run with the 'draft Gore' campaign. Now, we are pushing hard for a write in of our own, a more powerful way to force the noblesse oblige. See
California4Gore.org
Pass it on.
Comment by bree walker — October 15, 2007 @ 7:04 pm
Bree, that's just cheesy! Talk to BBoxer, Goracle was helping this CalGal out when he got the good word. Why with his hi-tech board memberships, he is quite the California liberal dandy. No wonder the damn "corporate media" is ignoring this poor wallflower.
Comment by Igor R. — October 15, 2007 @ 9:50 pm
Dead fascist, humorless? You don't say. Your brand of humor is just of the right kind to make people die of laughter, or something.
Comment by Igor R. — October 15, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
Brent,
Drafting Al Gore is a noble idea, but useless unless you are prepared to deal with the reasons why he would be a fool to run.
When the media Kool Kids go on the attack, who is prepared to answer them and shut them down.
I'm sure they have a collection of lies that they didn't get around to using last time around. If not, I'm sure they will invent a new collection.
Media Matters catches many of these lies at their inception, and the media echo chamber echoes them even after they have been proved to be lies.
Unless we are prepared to run these guys out of the media, there is no point for Gore or any other honest politician to run.
Comment by GM Pierce — October 16, 2007 @ 1:11 am
I wonder if the public became accustomed to the bar being as low as it is, that anyone looks better than the current 'decider-in-chief'.
Al Gore stands out from the rest — maybe it is because he appears detached from the fray of politics and fear.
A true statesman can be loosely defined as someone whose knowledge is grounded in education tempered with rational and reasoned logic — communicates sensibly and intelligently, has acquired diplomatic negotiating skills, etc… but there is something more that is not as easily definable by word alone; it is a person's stature and sense of self who sees the nuances within the big picture and cares about world justice, freedom and peace.
Comparatively Hillary on the other hand appears more rehearsed and groomed for the part. I often wonder if she is in it for the power or because she wants a better America and a peaceful world? She never really takes a stand on controversial issues per se. She tries to please everyone without going out on a limb. Is she committed to justice and peace or perpetual war?
Gore's actions present a man invested in the health of the world community and devoted to America. He is the type who would refrain from rushing the nation into more wars. As president, Gore would be a huge influence on re-establishing intelligent discourse (rather than the ridiculous talking points that dumbed down the conversation Americans now engage in). Imagine actually having a leader whose intellect, reason, logic and common sense transforms the public's sense of the world from black or white into the realms of differing shades of gray.
Not everyone is perfect, yet I would trust Gore to lead the nation. For 7 years we've heard talking points about policies that were nothing more than hidden agendas for political gain. In contrast to being "managed" and manipulated, Gore would govern and lead the way forward. I don't know where Hillary will take us, I get the distinct feeling it would be a mixture leaning more toward similar tactics used the past 7 years rather than the latter.
A candidate whose standards are higher than where the bar is now means little. A candidate who lives and acts on his/her statements qualifies as a viable candidate. Gore not only says things, he acts upon them. Hillary, Iam not so sure. Currently we know that is not applicable to the decider-in-chief. We don't need a "decider", we need a statesman, a leader whose words mean more than political cover.
The problem being, Gore said he will not jump in unless he sees Hillary faltering. A lot can happen in 3 months. Time will tell.
America is not a place. It's a belief that gives hope for humankind. The belief all humans have the inherent right to freedom and equality transcends nationality, politics and patriotism. As Americans our responsibility is translating those words into actions, living it by treating every one equally under the law and protecting all human's inherent natural right to freedom.
One day all human beings will freely live in a just and peaceful world or a world where war continues in a state of perpetuity.
The next president will be a determinate factor in shaping the prospects for tomorrow.
This is no longer about just us. It's about what is to come. Choose wisely and carefully with future generations in mind.
Comment by serena1313 — October 16, 2007 @ 8:00 am
We who seek to convince Al Gore to run for President are not waiting. We are taking action to place his name on ballots, with committed delegate slates and we will go to Denver to seek his nomination. In California we are well organized and we are in the process of collecting signatures, not on straw polls, but on Nominating Petitions, county by county, in order to submit 500 valid signatures of registered California Democrats in each of the 53 Congressional Districts in the State, by Dec 4th 2007.
Thank you Dr. Dean for showin' us how…
While I cannot speak for the rest of the State and we are indeed just beginning this effort, bayarea4gore began collecting signatures at Flint Center in Cupertino, where Mr. Gore addressed capacity crowds of 2800 on 10/8, 10/9 and 10/11 as part of the ongoing Celebrity Forum Speakers Series. We fielded volunteers each night and manned a table with banners, buttons and stickers. Over the course of the three nights of appearances by Mr. Gore we collected almost 600 signatures from a number of Bay Area counties. The response from the people in attendance, who sign up for a several months long program which has a years long waiting list and are not exactly a cross section of Progressive Democrats or indeed even Californians, was good on Monday, better on Tuesday and off the charts by Thursday night. We are now prepared and ready with a small army of experienced volunteers to quickly complete the Bay Area counties and reach out to more remote areas to help other groups.
In 2003 Al Gore asked us not to do this, he said he would not be a candidate… He quit shaving and endorsed Dr. Howard Dean, and we listened. He has made no move in 2007 to do this, although we are far more visible and active now than we were in late 2002 and early 2003. If he asks us to cease in this cycle, we will listen and let me assure everyone that we will remain committed progressive Democrats. But as far as I can tell he is shaving everyday, looking great and is by now the most practiced and relaxed stump speaker in America, and he has a message of overwhelming moral imperative.
We are not kids, this ain't our first rodeo and we aren't partial to tiltin' at windmills… We are quite serious and we know where the
levers are and how to use 'em… You could ask Richard Pombo, but he is unavailable for comment just now… We believe not only that Al Gore is the best choice to be the 44th President; we believe that
what we are doing right now is the most important thing we could be doing, right now, to elect a man of wisdom and stature, a man capable not only of healing the wounds and depredations of the recent years of war, neglect and avarice but also of leading our
nation on a sure path to a future where America is always part of the solution, a future where America can be believed and believed in again.
Go New Hampshire! Believe it!
RGJ/Dallas112263
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayarea4gore/
Comment by Dallas112263 — October 16, 2007 @ 11:15 am
Ignore,
It's not in my portfolio to make people die of laughter, or whatever.
I'll leave that to you girls on the lunatic right.
Comment by fascismisdead — October 16, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
THAT would TRULY be a BREAKING NEWS story. A true SHOCK and AWE story.
A DREAM COME TRUE
Comment by Connie Manes — October 16, 2007 @ 10:09 pm
I would be all for it, however I totaly disagree with the Idea that NH always be first, Both it and Iowa are not realy representiative of the country,
neither has a major city and no
significant minority population. Should not other states both large and small have a chance at being first?
I hope the Gore write in campaing succeeds.
Comment by Michael S Smith from NJ — October 17, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/13/1191696238792.html
Comment by Igor R. — October 17, 2007 @ 8:05 pm