For Gore, an opportunity to change politics.
Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 01:41:19 PM PDT
Okay, so I've read Al Gore's book. It's impossible to sum up in a few sentences, but I'll try: Television media, with its top down structure and one-way form of communication has screwed up our democracy. Citizens have essentially become passive consumers of political propaganda/advertising and pointless celebrity gossip and are thus so distracted and misinformed that they are unable to make the kind of reasoned judgments necessary for democracy to function. Hope lies in technologies like the internet which allow people to communicate and exchange ideas encouraging a more active, engaged citizenry.
And I've been hearing what Al's been saying in the media when posed every 30 seconds with "the question." In some of his responses, as the other night on KO, he seems to be saying that, for the very reasons he outlines in his book, he doesn't feel he would make the best candidate.
He may be right, I don't know. Personally, I don't care because I don't want Gore to run a conventional campaign. I'm sure most people would agree: when I say I want Al Gore to run I mean I want the contemporary Al Gore, not the Al Gore of 2000. And why? Because this time he has an opportunity to run a vastly different campaign, one that could actually help us get out of the situation he describes so eloquently in his book.
So let's say that Gore is correct and the rulebook of today's politics, dictated as it is by the TV media, says someone with his personality isn't viable. Here's what I say: throw out the rulebook. Fire the consultants. Think different, Al.
And here's what I believe is the key: moral authority.
With the exception of Edwards, who I will support if Gore doesn't run, none of the other candidates has an ounce of moral authority about anything. Political candidates seldom do. Gore is a rare breed, a former politician who has over time, through activism over a cause (global warming) earned moral authority. Carter comes to mind as a comparison, although he did this in his post White House years.
It's this moral authority that I think can transcend the trivialities of today's politics. I remember watching the Oscars, seeing Gore up there on stage. If you were a cynical Washington elite pundit, a Chris Matthews, a Maureen Dowd, it might have been a great moment to offer some trivial, snarky commentary. Gore in Hollywood, basking in the limelight with Leo and winning an Oscar. But then Gore simply said that we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue. Hmmm. How do you snark about that? Well...what's his political angle? There isn't one.
Let's face it, if you're at all a decent person, or just a TV pundit that wants to appear like one, it's hard to cut down a guy who spends all his time trying to save the planet.
So, using this technology that may or may not save our democracy, I say run, Mr. Vice President. But then, don't run. Be a candidate, but then don't be a candidate. Make it about saving the planet. What do you need consultants for? Who cares what they say on Hardball? The usual rules about looking good on TV apply only to those who have nothing else to offer but the usual: a small dose of timid policy proposals and a heaping dose of personality. You've got something more to offer, a cause.
As a country we've been adrift for quite a while. We need a good cause to rally around and global warming appears to be it. Its a cause that appeals to both our morality and our reason. But it's also where the opportunity lies to transform politics. Global warming isn't just a moral issue, it's THE moral issue and it just may be the thing that wakens this country out of its stupor.
There are certainly second acts in American politics. A Gore (non) candidacy for us, though, could mean a second act in modern American democracy.
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