An Open Letter to Vice President Gore
By Anita Finlay ("Ani") on June 17, 2008 at 9:00 AM in Current Affairs
When so many of us begged you to run for office again this year, you jokingly stated you were a ‘recovering politician.’ Certainly, you have more than earned the right to walk away from what you consider to be a toxic environment. However, much as I appreciate your desire to remain neutral in this nominating contest, as you have sent me a fund raising letter on behalf of the DSCC, I feel I must now question your deafening silence in this most critical of primaries.
You of all people understand what it is like to be the far more qualified candidate and be on the receiving end of ridicule by the drive-by hit squad media. You have rightly stated that television is a one-way medium, not encouraging discourse, critical thought or active participation. This year, we see even more clearly the influence and effect that favoritism of one and vilification and misogyny toward another has on the voting populace, as junk food is fed to a citizenry struggling to make ends meet, at points overwhelmed by their own responsibilities, without time to dig deeper for the truth of the story.
It is both amazing and unconscionable to me that some educated people, possessing a master’s degree no less, actually believe that Senator Obama ‘voted’ against the war. They are clueless to the fact he was not even a U.S. Senator at that time.
Yet, with all of the advantages he had going into this year: the DNC clearly gaming Michigan and Florida in his favor, the media offering pillow fluffing soft stories about him, rather than vetting him, while exaggerating Senator Clinton’s every step to negative effect, he still was not able to close the deal until the Super Delegates raced to forcibly shut down this process.
Senator Clinton won all the large states, save Illinois. She won all the swing states and has the popular vote and electoral map victory in her pocket. She leads in all the crucial demographics we need to win this election in November. Even by Republican standards of winner takes all delegates per the state’s popular vote, she would be our nominee.
The majority of Senator Obama’s pledged delegates were earned back in February, before we knew anything of Wright and Pfleger, Auchi, Ayers, Rezko, Bitter Gate, NAFTA Gate, even Sweetie Gate. Since then, despite the DNC elite riding shotgun for him in every conceivable way, the mainstream media shouting from the rooftops for months that “this contest is over” and his outspending her 4 to 1, Hillary Clinton still managed to finish better than the presumptuous nominee.
What is the explanation, then, for the absolute mugging that took place at the Rules and Credentials Committee Meeting on May 31st? A candidate not only gets delegates apportioned to him when his name was not even on the ballot, but is awarded extra delegates belonging to the other candidate based on faulty exit polling information. Senator Obama is also not penalized any delegates in Florida for breaking his pledge not to advertise there, running $1.3 million worth of ads. An accident, he said. Guess there’s no favoritism there.
It seems the DNC has unanimously adopted the media’s talking points that whatever this newbie Senator from Illinois does is above reproach while every negative tactic in the world is attributed to Hillary Clinton. Please, let’s not pay any attention to the fact that his campaign employed the tactics of race baiting, divisiveness, trashing her record and misrepresenting her policies. He also loudly trashed one of the best administrations we have ever had ˆ and by extension, he also very unfairly trashed you, Mr. Vice President. You were a great part of all of the wonderful achievements of the Clinton years. This was a team effort. Senator Obama kicked your winning team to the curb. He did this without anyone questioning him. Not the media. Not the cowardly and biased Democratic Party leadership.
How can it be that Hillary Clinton, the candidate with the bold, progressive policies and clearly the most qualified of the bunch has also been unceremoniously kicked to the curb? Where are our ethics? Where is our common sense? Where is our love for the working people in this country who would most benefit from the amazing skill set, expertise and compassion she brings to the table?
The Democratic minority in the Florida legislature consented to move up their primaries to obtain a paper voting record. How can you, of all people, not defend their rights to fair reflection and to count every vote and every delegate after you and every citizen in this country suffered through the election of 2000. Imagine if you or any one member of the Senate stood up at that time for the Black Caucus, so that we could have had full recount in Florida. In my estimation, you would have taken your rightful place as the President of this great country and we would have had another eight years of peace and prosperity. Certainly you would never have chosen Bush’s reckless road to ruin.
Whatever mistakes were made about not choosing to have Bill Clinton campaign for you or running on your wonderful record together, well, that is a decision that was yours to make and I have to respect that. While I neither discount nor pretend to understand the ill feelings engendered by, or the motives behind, the depth and breadth of the DNC’s apparent Clinton Derangement Syndrome, I still find the animosity confusing particularly in light of the debacle of the Bush/Cheney years and how these two have so defamed our country and our Constitution without receiving so much as a slap on the wrist.
Surely the Clintons have earned the right to better treatment at the hands of their own party. Surely Hillary Clinton who has worked tirelessly her entire life on behalf of children, women’s rights, veterans, first responders, education and health care, deserves better than the treatment she has received, and should not be forever punished for any personal transgression of her husband. I think she has been punished enough. Wouldn’t you agree?
Now that the principles of fair reflection and democracy have been tossed aside by the DNC, I can no longer be a member of this party and my husband and I have now registered as Independents. We are people of good conscience. We put country before party and as such, can never vote for this dissembling and divisive nominee. We can ill afford another arrogant, inexperienced trainee in the White House. Surely, whatever step you are on in your recovery, you might have taken a moment to stand up against this outrage.
The Presidency is bigger than any one person. It is not about sex, race, or age. We face some of the most serious challenges in our lifetime and cheap talk is not going to get the job done. With the unique perspective you possess, I would have thought you, of all people, would not allow another travesty of wrong, weak or questionable leadership to be foisted upon the American people.
by Ronald Scott
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