More Gore, please
newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
Posted by Frank James at 5:31 pm CST
Originally posted: January 16, 2006
Witnessing former Vice President Gore's speech today in which he basically accused President Bush of criminality for warrant-less eavesdropping on Americans was fascinating in part because it demonstrated just how spicy a Washington speech can be when the person giving it has nothing left to lose.
Typically, a big Washington speech is usually nuanced to the nth degree in order to be the least offensive to the greatest number of people.
But Gore, whose active career in the political career arena really appears to be over (that premature "Howard Dean for president" endorsement probably put the last nail in the coffin) didn't pull any punches, blasting the president in saying "What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the president of the U.S. has been breaking the law repeatedly and insistently."
For someone who had the reputation as a presidential candidate of always trying to have it both ways, of not even being able to choose his wardrobe without a consultant, it's striking to hear him make bold, declarative statements.
A woman I sat next to who said she was with Pacifica Radio and identified herself as a journalist, but then applauded after Gore's speech (strange since real journalists don't applaud at events they're covering) said something like "Where was this Gore when we needed him?" I took her to mean the 2000 campaign when he at times appeared to be sleepwalking.
Gore also seems a whole lot more comfortable in his skin than he was as a candidate. Today, he was supposed to be introduced by former Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican, a conservative who one of the capital's biggest Clinton haters during the previous administration.
Barr is big into privacy rights and against widespread government surveillance, national ID cards and the like.
Barr was to have been beamed by closed circuit TV to make the introduction. But the link failed and for several surreal minutes Gore was on the stage by himself with the spotlight on him while the event's sponsors were backstage trying to fix the glitch.
While the audience murmurs grew, Gore just sat there smiling, looking tranquil. At one point, he drew laughs when he turned around in his chair to look off-stage to see if anyone would be coming out to tell him what was going on.
Now many a politician or former politician, unnerved by all that dead air, would have risen to the microphone and launched into his speech. The old Gore probably would've have done that, if for no other reason to be seen as taking control because anyone with presidential aspirations has to always market himself as someone who can take control.
But that's not Gore's thing anymore. Which makes him much more interesting after the death of his presidential ambition than he was when that ambition was very much alive. |
