Where's Al Gore?

A lot of excellent work as been done over the past 24 hours at DailyKos with regard to the Bush comments in the Israeli Knesset. The reprehensible commentary of Bush, and subsequently by McCain and his Vice Presidential hit man Joe Lieberman, prompted a powerful and unified response by the Democratic leadership. Pelosi and Reid spoke up. Biden was blunt and strong. Even Hillary Clinton stepped in to defend the Democratic Presumptive Nominee. Where in the world is Al Gore?

It is painfully clear now, as if it wasn't a month ago, that Barack Obama is the nominee of the Party and that the general election has begun. John McCain and his surrogates have been gearing up their attacks on Obama for quite some time, knowing that the safe bet has always been on Obama as his opponent. The ad-smiths and the backroom strategists of the waning Republican Party have been at it for a very long time by now, with thanks to the Clinton campaign for opening the door on some very juicy weak spots.

The problem has always been that the prolonged Democratic campaign allows the Republicans to sit back and plot their moves, raise their cash, and let the Obama and Clinton people beat each other to a pulp. On the bright side for Obama supporters, most of the damage has been minor and our candidate has shown a tremendous resiliency in the face of rather hot scrutiny. The media have worked both Clinton and Obama over in a ritualistic vetting of the would-be presidents, perhaps recognizing that the general election may be something of a formality in the end. A coronation, if you will.

The climate is right for the Democratic nominee and it seems that all that remains for the GOP is to drag the national debate between the Parties into the sewer, employing every dirty trick in the book to smear Obama, create more fear, and foster doubt at the ballot box about patriotism, strength against terrorist madmen, and the rest of the boogeymen that we've now seen for a generation. It worked for Reagan with the communists. It worked for Bush the senior with Hussein, to whatever degree a one term president can boast success. It worked for Bush junior with Osama bin Laden and again with Hussein. Now it's Iran and the plight of Israel.

The Party leadership did their duty by standing behind Obama and lifting a big fist in the face of the GOP attack machine today. Biden's fist featured a raised middle finger. The one voice that needs to stand up at this point, the one voice that could end all doubt and push back in the face of the Bush fanaticism is Al Gore. I'm sure he's been hoping to stay above the fray until all the voting is finished on June 3rd. He probably hopes to ride in on his white horse whenever there's signs of trouble for a brokered convention. Al Gore is the ultimate nuclear option for the Party with respect to settling dispute about our nominee.

The problem is, the nominee is clear at this point. Even with Michigan and Florida hanging out there and a Clinton promise to continue fighting, the reality is that she has no money (worse, she has less than no money), no mathematical path to the nomination, and a group of passionate if misguided supporters threatening to back McCain if she isn't the nominee. The internal conflict among Democrats is dying down slowly as more people are speaking up about Obama as their candidate. The reality is sinking in slowly but surely to the Clinton loyalists that this thing is over. She has every right to continue through June 3rd, and I expect that she'll gracefully step aside after showing a good face for Michigan and Florida and for the millions of women that have rallied to her side as a symbol of their own drive to break the glass ceiling. I think all of that is wonderful and great for our Party and our nation. Finally the Democratic Party is awake and standing up for the things it has always given lip service to in the past.

Al Gore really is of little value as a nuclear option at this point. He may see himself as a final word to be used in case of emergency. Kind of a "break glass in case of brokered convention" tool. The game has just changed. The Bush comments on foreign soil about our presumptive, presumptive nominee signal a war that has just begun for control of the nation itself. The neocons are firing the first salvo over the head of their own candidate, using Israel as a wedge, and aiming at Barack Obama. McCain is irrelevant. He's a puppet. He thinks he'll be the Republican President of the United States if elected, but the reality is that a group of neocons have been running this show for 8 years. Bush was a puppet. Cheney was pulling his strings along with the PNAC people and their ilk. They are fighting this war against Obama as much as their parallel universe representative John McCain is running against him. The neocons just signaled that there is an invisible campaign going on outside the political campaign of which McCain is a part.

Knowing that the invisible ideological battle has begun, forgetting the political battles of the Democratic Primary, or the general election, Al Gore needs to step up now and show that the entire ideological wing of America that includes the Democratic Party is behind Barack Obama. By performing this one major act, Gore could end the Democratic Primary, signal to McCain that the guns are loaded and ready to fire double barrel, and signal to the neocons that we understand the stakes here and won't be outmaneuvered by their puppet, speaking on foreign soil against an American presidential candidate that stands in their way.

It's time Mr. Gore. The ideological battle of our lifetime started from the Israeli Knesset yesterday and we need you on board to fight.