Al Gore 2000 in Vanity Fair

Here is an excellent long form article in Vanity Fair that you should check out. It focusses on the press coverage Al Gore received duing the 2000 election. It's good evidence of the self-flagellation that the United States is currently putting itself through over the Bush vs. Gore decision. Here's a few random thoughts to accompany the link:

• Man, I hated that election. I hated both of those guys so much. I thought Al Gore was a self important opportunistic exaggerator at the time as well. Mea Culpa. In addition, I had a history of being mad at Tipper Gore over her work with the Parents Music Resource Centre ("PMRC") to get labels on music albums.(I no longer have any such problem with it, frankly). At the same time, George Bush had received favorable magazine article coverage. They talked about his ability to reach bipartisan consensus with the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, as well as his proficiency with Spanish. Then I saw him speak for the first time and realised immediately his... intellectual deficiencies. So I went into 2000 not caring who won. I thought it would be a disaster either way. I've been officially proven half-right I think.
• 2004 happened. People like to forget about it. The United States didn't just elect Bush. They re-elected Bush. You might remember echoes in your head of the name "John Kerry". But John Kerry didn't win. You know that. What you might not realise is that Hillary Clinton is complicit in this re-election. She and Bill control a large swath of the organisation of the Democratic Party. Their plan to get Hillary into the White House required John Kerry to lose. I have no direct evidence that her organisation sat on their hands in 2004, but let's be serious, I don't need it. Go watch the tepid stump speech Bill Clinton reluctantly and eventuallty gave for John Kerry. Then send her a "thank you for the four more years" card with some excrement in it or something. (I do need to point out that incumbent presidents do win re-election almost all the time. So don't give her all the blame. But give her a good healthy dollop.)
• September 11th changed everything. The 2008 election will be the first real evidence of this. People have a bad....and by bad I mean VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY STUPID STUPID STUPID BAD BAD STUPID BAD BAD.... habit of looking at world events ahistorically. For example, they tend to forget there was ever a cold war when wondering why the US armed and trained Osama Bin Laden. They tend to forget (or not know) that the 1990s Iraq War never actually ended when discussing the foolishness of going "back in" in the 2000s. Likewise, one MUST view the 2000 election as happening at the very end of what I (and not only I) refer to as our recent "summer vacation" between the cold war and the war on terror. For a while the US really thought it had the leisurely latitude to vote for its president based on criteria that would normally be appropriate only for the election of a high school president. This year the opposite is occurring with Barack Obama being pinned to the wall at every opportunity for not having a resume that's as tall as he is.
• Speaking of high school presidents, watch the movie Election starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. It predates the 2000 election, but is an absolutely eery analogue for it. The Gore anologue is the bad guy. Boy, times sure do change.

Anyway, as I said, just some random thoughts. Go read the article. It's a good one.

p.s. Sighing heavily is a perfectly reasonable response to listening to George Bush talk about issues. It's someone not sighing that should concern you.