I didn't get a chance to see Gore's speech live last night (I did see clips of Bush, and the first thing he needs to work on is looking into the camera and not staring at the telestrator incessantly) but as I was going to sleep, I thought of how Gore may have missed out on an opporutnity to be a thorn in Bush's side throughout his first two years as President.

I think Gore should have started out saying he was through and blah blah blah, let's unite the nation. He did that last night, and very well I think (from reading the transcript and clips of the address). But having spent a minute on the above, I think he should have taken a page out of Clinton's book. Early in his first term, Clinton realized the most powerful thing in his political arsenal was his state of the union address. It gave him the opportunity, at the start of every year to effectively set the political agenda. He used this tactic to consistently outflank the Republican congess on myriad issues, and implicit paint them as partisans who want nothing but the ruin of the country in the process. Imagine if Gore had said something like the following:

"I'd like to call on my fellow Democrats still in Congress and on the majority of the populace of America who voted for me to continue working for the issues on which I campaigned. We have a nearly dead even Congress and now is the time for us to effect our most meaningful legislation. Let us learn from this past election campaign and pass meaningful campaign finance reform. Let us take the lessons of California's power problems and legislate in favor of cleaner, more environmentally sound forms of energy. And as the economy slows down from the remarkable proseperity of the last eight years, let us temper our desire to fritter away a surplus that may not hold with tax cuts and renewed spending intiatives that will once more imperil the economy..."

He could renew his populist agenda and put the onus on the Republicans to not look partisan and fanatical. He had the unique opportunity in being the guy who won the popular vote but won't be inaugurated to help set an agenda for next year and dare the republicans to once more defy the wishes of the country. Finally, he knew Bush would never respond to this because there simply wouldn't have been time to rewrite his speech in less than an hour. I think his speech was very good and heartfelt, but I think he missed an opportunity that would have preserved the legacy of his campaign and keep his agenda in the mind of Americans until the next election.
- posted by levinson @ 12/14/2000 07:33:00 AM