Reaction to Gore’s Endorsement of Obama: Underwhelming

Al Gore: Chicken Little or Just Chicken?

Reactions on yesterday’s endorsement of Barack Obama by Al Gore was underwhelming. They ranged from “Yawn” to “timid” to complaints of Gore’s “lousy timing”.

Perhaps one day someone will write a chapter about Al Gore in a new book titled “Profiles In Uncourage.”

Democratic presumptive Presidential nominee Barack Obama finally got what he and former rival Senator Hillary Clinton had pined for all these months — THE endorsement from former Vice President Al Gore.

But it came so late in the game that the person who’ll be most impressed with it will be Tipper Gore.
–Joe Gandelman, The Moderate Voice:
Obama Gets “The” Endorsement: The Lousy Timing of Al Gore

Al Gore unquestionably has taken to heart his role as an elder statesman — he stayed so far above the fray of the Democratic presidential race that the fray was fast becoming an afterthought when he finally bestowed his imprimatur on Barack Obama today.
–Don Frederick, LA Times Blogs:
Al Gore Wraps His Arms Around Barack Obama

Much the same reactions were everywhere on the Net.

And this a guy who could have ended the Democratic race in April if he wanted to. The fact that he stood on the sidelines and said nothing shows the absurdity in calling Al Gore a “leader.”
–Doug Mataconis, Below the Beltway:
Al Gore’s Portrait in Timidity

The timing of Gore’s endorsement is par for the course, at least for anyone that’s followed Gore in the past. But it seemed to surprise many writers.

Exactly what Gore was waiting for in the past two weeks since Obama sewed up his party’s nomination is unclear. Maybe he just wanted to go to Michigan where his prize-winning environmental pitch is so very less welcome than other places that don’t make so many large cars.

The belated endorsement of Barack Obama by former vice president Al Gore seems to have underwhelmed a number of early writers.

Or maybe he was waiting until his endorsement meant absolutely nothing.

Anyway, as The Ticket reported, Gore said all the right things in his endorsement speech, except he noticeably left out the last Democratic president, the one who chose to elevate Gore from has-been senator to his running mate and has been the only Democrat elected president twice since World War II, which is like the Middle Ages for today’s voters.
–Andrew Malcolm, LA Times Blogs:
Early reaction to Al Gore’s Obama endorsement: Yawn

One fact wasn’t mentioned by the above writers.

Al Gore has had so much practice the last 8 years playing Chicken Little, he might just have morphed into a chicken.

by Mondoreb
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* vegetarianorganicblog
* Cerrco

Tags: Al Gore, Barack Obama, chicken, endorsement, little, reaction, timid