DNC Day 4: The Al Gore speech

Al Gore is and and always has been a favorite politician of mine. When I saw the lineup for Thursday included the 2000 Democratic nominee I could barely hold my excitement. Gore and Obama in the same event is about all I could ask for. After Bill Richardson wrapped up his speech and Stevie Wonder left the stage, out came the Nobel Prize winner himself,Al Gore, Jr. The Mexican journalists seated behind me were talking too loud, so I had to give them the stink eye. There was no way I was going to miss the Al Gore speech.

Al took the stage with supreme confidence. He really found himself as a speaker after the 2000 loss to George W. Bush. He speaks with the conviction of a man who knows he stands on the side of science, knowledge, and reason. Watching his delivery, one could not help but wonder what might have been had Al found his voice during the election rather than after it. The crowd gave him an appreciative, long standing, and well deserved ovation. I was all smiles standing up for the majority of the speech.

To open, Al reminded us how different things might have been had he won a few more votes in Florida. We would not be in an economic crisis, an unwise war, or shredding the Constitution were he president. But that is not what brought Gore to Invesco. Al was there to give his support for Barack Obama and to idict the Republican party for their abysmal redord. He took direct, hard shots at the Bush-McCain record.

Today we face essentially the same choice we faced in 2000, though it may be more obvious now, because John McCain, a man who has earned respect on many levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them. The same policies all over again?

Hey I believe in recycling, but that's ridiculous.

Gore continues to body punch the Republican brand with accusations of indifference to facts, and subverting the public interest for the interest of a few.

I believe the election is close today mainly because the forces of the status quo are desperately afraid of the change Barack Obama represents.

Of course it would not be an Al gore speech if the did not bring up his most personal of causes, climate change. This issue gets shoehorned into being a simple issue of environment versus business by way too many intelligent Americans. As Gore points out, this is a national security issue. As a superpower, it behooves our interests for the world to be in a position of political stability.

Military experts warn us our national security is threatened by massive waves of climate refugees destabilizing countries around the world, and scientists tell us the very web of life is endangered by unprecedented extinctions...

... And it just so happens that the climate crisis is intertwined with the other two great challenges facing our nation: reviving our economy and strengthening our national security. The solution to all three require us to end our dependence on carbon-based fuels.

The crowd roared with each Gore line. He still had one more good kick in the pants for the Republicans on energy.

So how did this no-brainer become a brain-twister? Because the carbon fuels industry - big oil and coal - have a 50 year lease on the Republican Party and they are drilling it for everything it's worth.

I was really starting to like Gore the attack dog. As Democrats, we tend to be the nice guy too much, and count on the American public to see through the lies. Obama is obviously more comfortable not playing attack politics. He needs respected politicians like Al Gore to lay out a fierce indictment of the failed policies of the last eight years. Gore did not disappoint.

We can tell Republicans and Independents, as well as Democrats, why our nation needs a change from the approach of Bush, Cheney and McCain. After they wrecked our economy, it is time for a change. After they abandoned the search for the terrorists that attacked us and redeployed the troops to invade a nation that did not attack us, it's time for a change. After the American principle first laid down by General George Washington, when he prohibited the torture of captives because it would bring, in his words, "shame, disgrace and ruin" to our nation, it's time for a change.

I could not have said it better myself, Al.