At certain moments of President Bush's State of the Union, I could have sworn that Al Gore was giving the speech. It seemed that the President last night relied heavily on Gore's campaign platform of 2000, the platform that won Al Gore the popular vote. By flip-flopping on isolationism and energy, the President has admitted that he was not fit to serve in 2001.
President Bush sneaked into office in 2001 claiming that he would not engage in nation building. He campaigned and contrasted himself with Al Gore's stance of America retaining an active role in world affairs. During Bush's first eight months in office, he isolated America from the world and ignored all warning signs of al-Qaeda. In fact, we should all remember that when Clinton tried to kill Osama bin Laden in Sudan, Republicans attacked him. It was Bush's isolation, bad advice from Condi Rice, and proposed budget cuts to terrorism intelligence that allowed 9/11 to happen, not because Bush couldn't spy on Americans. Let's be realistic, if Bush had that power in 2001, would he have really used it? He never saw the al-Qaeda threat. Luckily, Bush now agrees with Gore that America must be active in the world. However Bush's activism has really created isolationism as America has become viewed unfavorably in the world. Remember when Richard Hollbrooke stepped down from the UN and got a standing ovation? Imagine that happening now.
Al Gore has campaigned his entire life on trying to improve the environment. The Republicans treated him as a tree hugging wacko during the 2000 campaign. The Republicans again ridiculed him for pushing for investment in alternative fuels. Bush's 2000 solution for the energy problem, invest in Enron and drill in Alaska. Finally, Bush has accepted the Al Gore philosophy.
If only we had Al Gore elected in 2000. There probably wouldn't have been a 9/11 because we wouldn't have been isolated. We would not have a social security crisis because Al Gore's lock box would have been implemented. We would not have massive deficits because gore was never a big spender. The tax burden would have remained on the richest 1% and not the middle class. We could have made excellent progress by now on energy independence. At lest last night for a few minutes President Bush tried to be Al Gore. How nice it would have been last night to have the original.