I wasn't old enough to vote for the Gore the first time, but I would have.
For years after the election I didn't think much of Al Gore, other than to lament of what could have been. Then I caught a rerun of Futurama when he guest stared and I started reading up on things he was doing. Then a year ago I saw An Inconvenient Truth. It was good, I liked it. I didn't necessarily learn any new facts, but I was very impressed with what an extremely talented teacher he is. I gained a whole new perspective and that kind of teaching I really do admire. I love when people can learn from someone they wouldn't expect.
On a side note for a really interesting perspective on teacher/student intellectual relationships, check this out. If you think Al Gore is amazing and you just can't quite figure out why, it may give you a little perspective.
Either way I started warming up to him and thought it was fun that everyone wanted him to run. I thought it would be nice, but it wasn't in the forefront of my mind.
But then I read The Assault on Reason.
Ah....The Assault on Reason.
Actually it was the first politicians book I have ever read. Don't get me wrong, I just never really trusted anyone in recent politics to write something I could learn from. If you haven't read the book already I would recommend it above anything else. If you can't afford a copy, I will send you mine. I think books should be shared if it brought you joy in any way. I've lost about half my Vonnegut collection three times already. I don't care, I'm sharing the love.
It's not so much that I want Al Gore to run, but I basically feel that he needs to run. But not for why you might think. I have little hope for things to be different. I'm stuck in a position in life that unless there are some huge changes and major overhauls, I will be crawling my way out of it for the rest of my life. I've even contemplated if moving overseas would allow me a greater advantage to live my life the way I always dreamed it would be. Not what it is now. A family generations into poverty, ridiculous student loan debt, obscene taxes that favor people with the kind of money I have never witnessed before, and corporations with so much money and power that they are actually considered to be people. I'm advertised to by some company for what seems like every waking second of my life. Every place I fucking look there is someone trying to sell me something.
I'm broke!
Leave me alone!
I have no more money to give to you.
I can't afford your shoes, car, prozac, happy meal or that 500 dollar bottle of wine. But I'm sure you'll give me a credit card! Thank god for credit. And disgustingly high interest rates. And credit scores. And freecreditreport.com.
The people on the bottom are stuck in perpetual state of poverty and systematic misery, while the people who have accumulated all the money in the world are working on getting that last dollar they can pry from the hands of the poor. Hell, they're even getting money you don't have yet! And they have the backing and the support of the politicians and the government. Huzzah for indentured servitude! Middle class, your next. Your six figures is nothing compared to the millions and billions in their pockets. You might as well be poor to them.
So what does this have to do with Al Gore?
Al Gore knows this.
He wrote a whole goddamn book about it.
Al Gore knows this is going on, and by not running he is letting it happen to me. He is letting it happen to you. He's letting it happen because he knows better, he knows how to fix it and he knows he can get elected. So I'm 99% sure, based solely on hope, that he's not going to give up on me. Or you. That he is going to run. I'm hoping he is a moral man, and that his conscious is weighing on him.
I know he's sick of politics and "focused" on saving the environment and all that. Who knows, maybe he has some deep desire that he, above all other men, will be called upon by the people to serve them as a great leader, to be praised and written about for all the ages. But if that's all he wants. Not the power, the money or the fame. But if he just wants to be respected and called upon to serve his country by people in need, I say let him have it.
But he needs to run. I'm not sure if any other candidate has the right balance of experience, principle and integrity required to fully repair a democracy in desperate need of help.
I like Edwards, but I'm not so sure about that hedge fund thing.
I like Obama, but I'm afraid the political machine might crush him and ruin him. (VP anyone? He'd be perfect in '16 and would have learned from the best all the way.)
Hillary is alright, but I'm almost physically aching for a change.
Kucinich? Love his ideas, and I think he would be great in theory. Although, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is." (Jan L.A. van de Snepscheut). Biden ....maybe, but I think he's stuck in the same situation Kucinich is.
So I'm waiting for Al Gore.
I've saved up a $25 donation for when he runs, possibly $50 if all goes well. I'm waiting until I have no other choice but to settle for something less. It won't be so bad, kind of like marrying that sorta attractive guy down the street because he has a good job and would be great with the kids. It'll all probably work out in the end, but you'll always know in the back of your mind that you settled and it could have been better.
I'm watching the presidential candidates with a sort of outsider perspective at this point. I'm waiting for the candidate I want. I'm starting to grow impatient. Every time I think of my life 10 years from now I grow a little more impatient. Every story I read about the mess we've gotten into I grow even more impatient. Every time Gonzalaz can't quite recall anything to happen him in the last 30 years I get even more impatient. By the time I think about Abu Ghraib I don't know if I can wait any longer. Then I see George W Bush and his stupid smirk. That vile smirk. I picture Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns in that smirk. For six and a half long years. It makes me sick to my stomach.
It's getting close, and I know Al Gore doesn't want to participate in the campaigning circus, but I am so tired. I really am, and I want some proof of hope.
So.
I wonder how much longer it is going to be until Al Gore runs.