Abstract

Gore's a Dean Man Now

This article explores the endorsement of Howard Dean as the Democratic nominee for president by former Vice President, Al Gore. Gore endorsed Howard Dean for President for the same reason that so many other Democrats have: He wanted to be where the action is in his party. We need to remake the Democratic Party, we need to remake America, we need to take it back on behalf of the people of this country. The former Vice President went on to chide other candidates for piling on Dean in increasingly desperate attempts to stall the momentum of a candidate who, polls suggest, is positioned to sweep not just the first primary state of New Hampshire but the critical contests that follow in the late winter dash for delegates. That remark about Dean being the" only candidate" able to inspire passion cut to the heart of what ails the candidacies of Joe Lieberman, John Kerry and Dick Gephardt--with whom Gore has longer and better relations than with the former Vermont governor, who made noises about opposing him for the 2000 nomination. Those other candidates, and their amen corner in a Washington press corps that still can't quite accept that the Dean insurgency is for real, struggled mightily to come up with a spin that would allow them to dismiss the Gore intervention.