On November 11, 2000 I cast my first vote for the President of the United States. After voting I worked as a poll-watcher for the Democratic party the rest of the day. I had gotten kicked out of school a week earlier and I had very little to do with myself. That night I went to a "victory" party at the Sheraton in Bailey's Crossroads, VA. I watched with horror as George Allen (now FORMER, One-Term Senator of Virginia) defeated a good man, Chuck Robb, for a US Senate seat. I watched the returns roll in and about midnight I decided to call it a night (I had recently turned 21, and I was bit drunk so I thought it best to go home). I woke up in the morning to an undecided election.
With nothing to do, I obsessively watched the news. I got really invested in the outcome. When the Supreme Court decided our election for us, I was devastated. I vowed to support Gore until the end.
But back then I wasn't as involved in politics as I am today. I hadn't really known much about Gore except that he was running against George Bush and Bush scared the crap out of me. Al Gore stood for a continuation of the Clinton years, which except for the stupidity of our media, had been great years for me. I had laughed along with the Kewl Kids in Washington when they joked about Al Gore "inventing" the Internet. I had never heard the original quote, that being Al saying he "took the initiative in creating the
Internet." I thought it was usual hyperbole from a political candidate. I had messed with the Internet in the early 90s and being in my early teens didn't realize that things like that didn't just happen.
So now I find myself reading about Al Gore. Reading an email by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn. You might not have heard of them. These two guys managed the building of the protocols that underpin almost everything we use on the internet today. You can read the letter here. Interestingly enough they make it clear that through legislative action and interest dating back to the 70s, Al was intimately involved in the promotion of the most vital communications tool of this century. Before I was born, Al Gore worked to build the network that has given me and many Americans great jobs that pay well.
I didn't know Al had served in Vietnam. He did, even though he had gotten one of those elusive National Guard deferments--check out his Wikipedia article.
I know this all old news for a bunch of people here. When Al ran, I was more into Bill Bradley (my folks liked him and I hadn't really gotten down to defining my own views at that point). Being from the Washington, DC area I had heard so much about Clinton and Gore over the years that they were boring.
I think there are a great number of younger progressives that don't know much a bout Gore. We support him as a symbol of what went wrong in 2000, and not for the truly visionary politician he is. I heard his speeches in 2002 against the war and I saw a man that knew what was happening and wasn't afraid to speak out. I see now that that was a common refrain for Mr. Gore throughout his career.
I'm glad I took the time to find out more about Al Gore. If nothing else, I appreciate one of our great visionary leaders. I now understand why older people get so angry about what the media did to Al Gore. Bill Clinton may have been the most gifted politician we've seen in a long time, but Al Gore is the kind of visionary statesman that keeps our nation going. I remember the Saturday Night Live skit where Al gave a parody speech about what had happened in the last 4 years. I thought it was funny, but pretty unrealistic. I mean, one politician being smart enough to fix all that stuff? Whatever....
Now I realize that perhaps it was hyperbole, but I underestimated the man. Al Gore is one of the brightest shining lights of America, let alone the Democratic party. I'm even more angry we were denied his Presidency. Right now I'm supporting Obama, but now that I've read a little more about Al Gore, he's my first choice.