# Is Al Gore really going insane since the '00 election was stolen from him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 30, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750 "2004-05-30T02:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/21 "2004-05-30T16:20:07Z")
I got a letter from my cousin who told me that a guy in St. Louis told her that his barber’s brother-in-law works for the guy who keeps poor old Al in a rubber room. ---
**Author:** ![SallyStar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SallyStar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyStar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/22 "2004-05-30T23:27:55Z")
> [@choie](#): > > … I’ve got to ask the OP: did you actually _see_ this speech, or are you getting your impressions strictly secondhand? I only saw some excerpts, more on MTP today, and have been trying to see if it is scheduled to be shown on C-SPAN. He appeared to be very angry, was asking the “whole” US Government to resign and seemed a little bit out of control for him … ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/23 "2004-05-30T23:46:43Z")
> [@RTA](#): > > Growing that big bushy beard after the election, that was rather peculiar I thought. I don’t think his beard qualifies as either big or bushy. [There are some great webpages about it, though.](http://www.vinceyoung.com/gore.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/24 "2004-05-30T23:47:46Z")
Qualified, I should say. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/25 "2004-05-31T00:46:08Z")
Can someone offer a halfway beleivable reason for thinking this is something other than cheap Pubbie agitprop? Cause that sure is what it smells like. ---
**Author:** ![Tigers2B1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc29f/32.png) [@Tigers2B1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tigers2B1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/26 "2004-05-31T00:56:28Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > Can someone offer a halfway beleivable reason for thinking this is something other than cheap Pubbie agitprop? Cause that sure is what it smells like. If it is it will “peter out” ----- and I can say “peter out” because this is about Gore’s insanity - not Clinton’s. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/27 "2004-05-31T01:43:23Z")
> [@Desmostylus](#): > > At this point, Bush couldn’t wipe the floor even if his opponent was a mop.Yes, Bush is worried about an opponent. Any opponent. It’s looking like people would vote for a ham sandwich rather than Bush. Anyone or anything but Bush. Sandwich/Mop in 04! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/28 "2004-05-31T02:57:31Z")
Hey, I was at that speech! Afterward I remarked, as did just about everyone else who was there, that old Al seemed decidedly more animated and passionate about his speech than he did during the days he was stumping. Yes, he did call for just about every Republican in the executive branch to resign, but it made sense in the context of his speech. Obviously (to me, in the audience), no one thought these people would _really_ resign on Al Gore’s say-so, but the gist of the remarks was that they had done a piss poor job on 1. 9/11, 2. National Security in general, 3. the war in Iraq, and 4. the prison scandal. If he was insane, it was in the Crazy Eddie sense (that’s a commerical where Eddie has prices SO LOW, they are INSANE, if memory serves). The most notable part was not what he said (what he said was pretty much what anyone would say if called upon to write a pro-Kerry, pro-Democratic party speech), but that he was surprisingly charismatic and enthusiastic, in contrast to his reputation. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/29 "2004-05-31T03:11:38Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > When he’s calm, they call him a “robot”, and when he shows some emotion, he’s “insane”. > > In other words, he shows a human range of emotion. What are they going to attack him for next, inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide? > > “Al Gore actually eats food and produces waste! HE’S INSANE!” Let’s clear some things up, here. I’m certain Al Gore shows the fullest range of human emotions possible, to his family and close friends. However, his entire political life, he presented to the world the image of a dullish policy wonk. That is why it is noteworthy to comment on things like the kiss at the convention and the speech a few days ago. They are wildly out of character for the man. Therefore, when he engages in behavior of this type, it shows that he is being stage managed or handled to a degree, or making a conscious effort to break with his old image. In politics, that’s news. And, since Al Gore’s life is one of “reinvention”, it isn’t out of line to criticize it to a degree. I don’t thing he was insane, certainly. But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. One has to ask why. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/30 "2004-05-31T03:28:01Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > In politics, that’s news. And, since Al Gore’s life is one of “reinvention”, it isn’t out of line to criticize it to a degree. I don’t thing he was insane, certainly. But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. One has to ask why. I think he WAS aiming at the political middle, and his speech wasn’t over the top. Two thirds of Americans now think that America under the Bush Administration is headed in the wrong direction. The last time the numbers were that great, the Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. Maybe the reason conservatives are crying “Insane!” is that they feel the ground shifting beneath their feet and don’t know what’s happening. It’s a crazy situation for them, so they project the craziness on to Dem politicians. ---
**Author:** ![iamme99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@iamme99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamme99)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/31 "2004-05-31T03:32:05Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. One has to ask why. Because, looking at Bush’s continually declining poll numbers, the middle is going to vote for Kerry. If things continue on course, I see Kerry winning big. And perhaps you would be interested in a little history… 😃 > [@](#): > > \***Curse of wartime presidents strikes G.W. Bush > Since World War II, no war-waging U.S. head of state has been re-elected** > > - Richard J. Rapaport > Sunday, May 30, 2004 > SF Chronicle > > Uncannily like his father and other presidents before him, George W. Bush is in the crosshairs of the curse of the wartime president. > > It goes like this: Since the end of World War II, America has fought in Korea, Vietnam, Gulf I and Gulf II. No president responsible for taking America into those wars, or escalating the conflict, won an additional term. > > In 1952, the Korean War forced Harry Truman to forget re-election. In 1968, Vietnam finished off Lyndon Johnson. In 1992, George H.W. Bush’s unwillingness to demobilize a presidency tainted by the perception of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory led to his humbling defeat. > > Like father like son, George W. Bush has cloaked himself as a wartime president. Like his father, the younger Bush fails to discern that there is something about America that does not love war or wartime presidents. Instead, Americans favor candidates who evoke the nation’s favorite three words, “peace and prosperity”.\* > > [Full article](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/05/30/INGE86ROJD1.DTL) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/32 "2004-05-31T07:39:10Z")
Calling for resignations in the Bush Admin is crazy? Hell, half of 'em ought to be _arrested_. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/33 "2004-05-31T11:06:57Z")
With all the vitriol from the Fox/Bush channel, nothing of substance was given to counter Gore’s points. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/34 "2004-05-31T12:06:14Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > I don’t thing he was insane, certainly. But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. One has to ask why. OK, here’s the [text of his speech](http://www.moveonpac.org/goreremarks052604.html). Tell us which parts were “way over the top.” I’m waiting with bated breath. I thought it was a helluva good speech, myself. He called for the resignations of Rumsfeld and three underlings (Wolfie, Feith, Cambone), whose fingerprints are all over either the failed war plan, the ‘torture lite’ orders that led to Abu Ghraib, or both. And he called for the resignation of Condi Rice, whose tenure as National Security Advisor has mostly been marked by inaction. Seems reasonable to me. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/35 "2004-05-31T12:18:16Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I didn’t see where **Sallly** said “Gore wuz robbed” or referred to Bush as having been appointed rather than elected. Just asked if someone who had had that many voters vote for him — more than those who voted for the Prez — doesn’t have a certain measure of political legitimacy. You might try reading the thread title _ **Is Al Gore really going insane since the '00 election was stolen from him**?_ ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/36 "2004-05-31T13:10:28Z")
In 2000, Gore needed to appear “presidential” and could not give such an impassioned speech. Just look at what happened to Dean this year, the voters do not want fiery speeches from their leaders. Now, Gore and other surrogates for Kerry can speak with all the fervor they want while Kerry stays above the fray. I think in Gore’s case, there’s a bit more going on. It must be very hard for Gore to watch Bush destroy the federal budget and march the army into the Iraqi quicksand. He likely feels a bit of guilt in that if he had run a better campaign in 2000, he could have spared the nation the incompetent leadership that it currently has. So after losing in a crooked election and watching Bush steer the ship of state into a reef, I believe Gore has every right to speak with passion. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/37 "2004-05-31T14:23:52Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#): > > But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. I would also like to know what was over the top about that speech. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/38 "2004-05-31T18:05:52Z")
I’d be concerned about Mr. Gore’s metal health if the prognostications weren’t coming from the usual right-wing propaganda blowhards. If anyone deserves to be declared mentally insane, it’s that bunch. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/39 "2004-05-31T18:50:44Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > OK, here’s the [text of his speech](http://www.moveonpac.org/goreremarks052604.html). > > Tell us which parts were “way over the top.” I’m waiting with bated breath. > > I thought it was a helluva good speech, myself. He called for the resignations of Rumsfeld and three underlings (Wolfie, Feith, Cambone), whose fingerprints are all over either the failed war plan, the ‘torture lite’ orders that led to Abu Ghraib, or both. And he called for the resignation of Condi Rice, whose tenure as National Security Advisor has mostly been marked by inaction. Seems reasonable to me. Wow - what a speech. The word “scathing” comes to mind. No wonder the republicans are freaking out about it. So has anyone come up with anything in the speech that isn’t true? I liked this particular paragraph - I think this says it all: > [@](#): > > There is good and evil in every person. And what makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have lead us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations more than the people any other nation. Yes, RULE OF LAW. Not “we do what we want, when we want.” > [@](#): > > Hazel: > If the new Gore (he of the passionate, hard-hitting speeches) is the real Gore, I wish the real Gore had campaigned in the 2000 election. He might have won decisively enough for it to stick. Gore 2000, unfortunately, was percieved by too many as being insuficiently different from Bush. I disagree. If anything, Gore _lost_ points for being too “condescending” towards Bush. In the debates, Gore took an aggressive stance and clobbered Bush intellectually, yet Bush was declared the “winner” by many. I think a lot of people preferred the “good ol’ boy” over the “snooty guy with all his fancy talk”. Had Gore been even _more_ aggressive, he probably would have fared even worse in the election. He did win the popular vote, after all. That’s nothing to sneeze at. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2004, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750/40 "2004-05-31T20:14:02Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > He did win the popular vote, after all. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Unhappily, it turns out that it is and we have an incompetent bungler in office to prove that it is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-al-gore-really-going-insane-since-the-00-election-was-stolen-from-him/247750.md?page=3)