MANCHESTER, June 13 - Former Vice President Al Gore returned to his first political event in New Hampshire since running for president nearly four years ago for a dinner Sunday night. Many of the Democratic Party's rank-and-file attended, but a select few decided to stay home protesting Gore's decision to back Howard Dean in the most recent presidential primary here.
Gore was in the Granite State to keynote a dinner celebrating state Democratic Party chairs Kathy Sullivan's 50th birthday. The annual Flag Day Dinner is sponsored by the Manchester City Democrats.
At the speech Gore told Democrats he couldn't remember an election, like November's, where stakes are so high and that America 's stature in the world has been significantly lowered following claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and the apparent abuse of prisoners at a prison there. "It's hard to find the words to describe the feelings of outrage that many Americans have about some of the things that have been going on in the Bush-Cheney administration. They have taken our country down a dead-end road. And we've got to turn around and take a different direction," Gore said.
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Some people just can't get over the primaries. Gore is out there doing what it takes to help Kerry and he continues to get bitched out by whiney children that are still sad Gore took that crazy man Dean to the dance and not their boy.
Demers pointed out that Dick Gephardt, John Kerry and John Edwards all campaigned for Gore in 2000, and obviously, Joe Lieberman accepted the offer to run as his vice presidential nominee. In early December Al Gore endorsed Dean in Harlem before holding two rallies in eastern Iowa. He never campaigned for Dean in New Hampshire.
"I am one of many that are surprised and disappointed that Gore took sides in the primary," Demers, who served as Gephardt's state chair, said. "I think Al Gore had a right to do what he did. But it didn't make it right. And to this day I am still very angry at what he did. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't think it you say thank you to the people like Dick Gephardt, John Kerry, John Edwards and especially Joe Lieberman by getting involved in any other candidate's campaign."
Lang said that along with Demers he too was upset that Gore had endorsed Dean back in December, something he saw as very offensive to Gore's former running mate, Lieberman. Lang's union backed Kerry.
But not only that, Lang said he was also upset that Gore never thanked firefighters or even reached out to them after the 2000 election even though they publicly backed him and supported him in the primary.
"Before he comes back to New Hampshire apologize to a whole bunch of people who work hard for him for not reaching out to them," Lang said.
And looking back, not even Dean seems to have liked Gore's decision to back him in the primary. In an interview with the Associated Press over the weekend, Dean said the beginning of the end of his own presidential campaign was the moment that Gore endorsed him.
But Gore's decision was something that was in the past for Billy Shaheen, who at the time was one of the most upset that Gore endorsed Dean.
"I don't think he needs to ask for anyone's forgiveness," Shaheen said. "I think he made a mistake, but none of us are perfect."