Gore's Endorsement: Worthless?

[K8-EEE]

Kinda seems like it...it sure doesn't seem to be doing Dean any good!

[Clark Can WIN]

1. or worse. eom

[mlawson]

2. Apparently, and I am somewhat surprised. n/t

[PROGRESSIVE1]

3. Gore's endorsements are worth....

nothing.

[K8-EEE]

4. It Kind Of Bugged Me That People Acted Like He Decided It

After the endorsement, before one vote was cast...I was like, who the heck cares what HE thinks, he lost to GWB and ran a lame campaign IMO...I voted for him anyhow but know a lot of Dems who didn't.

[ramapo]

5. Yup

Dumb move...all the endorsements before a vote was cast.

[kalian]

6. Got that right....

but then again, when the odds have been stacked against you via
the corporate controlled media...what else can a candidate do but
lose?
Its amazing how quickly Dean has disappeared. Reality or "arranged"?
:shrug:

[anti-NAFTA]

7. I support Dean, but Gore's endorsement made me

cringe. Let's face it: No man has done more to stifle debate between the two major parties on free trade than Al Gore. I liked his recent speech on civil liberties and the Patriot Act, but I will never forgive this man.

[w4rma]

9. Except President Clinton (n/t)

[anti-NAFTA]

18. Same thing.

Part of the same plot by the corporations to kill any dissent about this issue.

[K8-EEE]

15. The Most Frustrating Thing About Gore

Is that when they had that NAFTA debate with Ross Perot, now I'm going back....well I did not agree with him but enjoyed the debate and he freaking KILLED Perot in the debate.

So, I was really looking forward to him giving the same treatment to GWB at the debates and he was weak, weak, WEAK! I was literally SCREAMING AT THE TV with the whoppers he let GWB get away with.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

8. I don't think Gore's endorsement was worthless. Dean squandered it.

I would like t be able to express myself without getting this post removed and will try my hardest. There are many GREAT people who have supported Dean on this board and with whom I have had a great relationship...but Dean tapped people's anger and instead of creating real hope out of anger...the anger became untamed, unharnessed and unmanagable and misdirected....just as it is reflected by him lately.

He got OFF message.

The media coverage of the scream was ridiculous and did a great deal of damage, but that was not the only factor and he had already lost one race by the time that happened.

I think his ORGANIZATION in many states was overestimated. I hope he does better on Super Tuesday...for the sake of people who do believe in him.

[Dookus]

11. I agree

it was squandered. But the bigger question is WHY did Gore do it? If, as seems most likely, that Dean will not get the nomination, I think it totally destroys any future credibility Al Gore might've had.

I really believed he may run for President again in the future, but I think he's precluded that option now.

[TexasPatriot]

12. absolutely...

once it was obvious Clark was going to get enough money to silence most of the 'invisible primary' talk... he should have held the card.

[Dookus]

17. I think

he was taking a big gamble. If Dean does win, Gore looks like the kingmaker. But the repercussions of being wrong are pretty disastrous to him. Dean could still pull it out, though, so nothing's decided yet.

[Maddy McCall]

16. I was going to say the same thing...Gore's endorsement on any other...

candidate could have been put to good use. It failed to pull Dean out of the hole the he dug for himself.

[loudnclear]

23. Yet the polls indicate that "anger" is what most of the voters are motivat

motivated by. So how do you explain that? People want to be angry in a nice way?

Dean, in my opinion, set the Dem message: against the war, against NAFTA, against Bush, and inspiring the people that they have the power.
He's just not as likeable as Edwards or Kerry. But we owe a lot to Dean for framing the message.

[ShaneGR]

10. No, bad timing

Saddam's capture was two days later.

[JaneQPublic]

13. Bingo! (nt)

[Dookus]

14. two days

wasn't long enough to get the news out?

[theboss]

19. It was the tone of the endorsement that hurt Dean

I was wavering on Dean until the endorsement. But Gore treated it like a coronation and made me say, "Hey, let me make up my own mind."

It's hard to explain how the tone was wrong, but it didn't feel like he was saying Dean is good for America because of x, y, and z. It felt like, "Vote for Dean because the Great and Powerful Al Gore has spoken."

I also felt like it was a slap in the face to Lieberman who I didn't think deserved it.

[Hippo_Tron]

20. I told you guys Al Gore didn't matter except for fundraising...

Gore became old news after he announced that he wasn't running again.

[Democat]

21. Worse than worthless, it's a curse!

Probably not, but it seems that way at this point. :)

[John_H]

22. I bet Clinton is laughing his ass off.

Poor Al thought he was going to get the drop on TBD by endorsing the winner loudly and first, while the media was speculating that Clark was the Clintons' puppet candidate.

Clinton, probably sensing that Dean was not going to do it, wisely held back, IMHO waiting to see what Clark Aand Kerry did. He probably won't come out for anybody the way it looks now. But he ain't looking like 300 pound jockey on a 14 hand gelding either.

I love Al but his ear is 24K tin.

[hedgetrimmer]

24. the kiss of death! just kidding, Dean sunk himself and Kucinich helped

by the iowa thingie....

[frustrated_lefty]

25. The endorsements both helped and hurt.

The rapid fire endorsements built up a temporary sense of inevitability to a Dean nomination. They reached a tipping point, and turned people off...the process began to feel like a coronation. In retrospect, I think the endorsements Dean received just came like machine gun fire, and didn't have the desired effect. Superdelegates every day, Gore, Harkin, AFSCME, etc. They were the right endorsements to aim for, the pacing was a little off.