(Indianapolis, IN) - Well, it is official. Al Gore has lost all hope of ever getting my vote. I will not vote for him in May. I will not vote for him in November. I do not like Al Gore. I do not like him, Sam I Am.
The Vice President of this country has finally shown his true colors -a power-crazed, despicable man who will say and do anything to become President. He is attempting to confuse primary voters to the point where, out of frustration, they either won't show up or they'll simply vote for him because he's who everybody's endorsing.
Al Gore has adopted the Josef Goebbels campaign tactic - if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes believable. He has repeatedly lied about the effect Sen. Bill Bradley's health care plan would have on Medicare and Medicaid - as if ANY member of the Clinton administration is trustworthy on the issue of health care. He attacked Sen. Bradley on the issue of raising taxes only to do exactly what the Senator did: refuse to rule out an increase. He said Bradley's Medicaid plan would specifically - read: intentionally - hurt African-Americans, AIDS patients, and the disabled. Oh, and, by the way...he also kicks puppies, don'tcha know.
Gore's actions are everything that is wrong with American politics - greedy, ambitious, venomous men who want the office more than they want the power to do good that comes with the office. Al Gore feels an entitlement to the Democratic nomination. I'd be willing to bet that's how he felt about Daddy's Senate seat.
Let's face it, distortion has always been part of American politics. John Adams' supporters claimed that a Jefferson victory in 1796 and 1800 would result in godlessness and rape. Andrew Jackson's supporters claimed John Quincy Adams fancied himself as King John II (that, actually, might have been true). Stephen Douglas told crowds that Abraham Lincoln supported "mongrelization of the races."
But this isn't distortion for the sake of clouding an issue. It
is distortion for the sake of turning people off to this election.
Gore is
making the calculation that he has more organizational support than
Bradley, and that he wins when independents and others likely to be turned
off by a negative tenor just don't show up to vote. Distortion may
be an old American tradition; but creative, calculated voter suppression
sounds more like a Soviet idea to me.
So Al Gore has lost the ability to regain my vote even if he makes it
through this primary. Too bad...he's got such a vibrant personality.