aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Monday, May 21, 2007

Presidents, Vice Presidents, Gore & Obama

I’m watching Al Gore with Diane Sawyer on GMA. He calls her on the logo behind him - “the frame for the discussion, the logo ‘Campaign ‘08,’ that’s not what this is about” - yet that’s the frame the show insists on.

In the 8 o’clock news segment, Chris Cuomo (has anyone forgotten his political pedigree?) sticks to the storyline, “Former Vice President Al Gore says he isn’t running for office but he sure acted like a candidate bashing the Bush administration.” I get that Gore knows what he’s doing, and that this is how the modern media/politico game is played. I’m ready for it to change.

I like Gore. I liked him when he ran for president. Then liberals complained he wasn’t liberal enough. I don’t expect him to run for office; no way will he win. (I came back and deleted that, not remembering why I wrote it I don’t agree with it now.)

I’m dreaming of a Hillary/Obama ticket. Which offers up another opportunity to quote Melissa Harris-Lacewell, this time on Obama’s presidential possibilities:

I don’t think Barack Obama’s going to win the American Presidency in 2008- right now he’s this kind of opportunity for lots of Democrats to say, “We want something different, we want something new.” But my bet is that, that sort of notion of new and different doesn’t quite carry over in the general election. I’d love to see him as the Vice President even though I know this irritates a lot of people. I’d love to see him as the Vice President because my bet is that he could win eight years later. And the reason is because we know a lot about black elected officials at other levels-at mayors, congressmen. And it turns out white voters get really comfortable after a black person has been incumbent when they realize that, in fact, no one opens up-- black officeholders don’t increase welfare payments or open up the jails and let all the black criminals out.

In fact, black people govern just about the same way that white people govern, and it tends to reduce white anxiety and increase the likelihood of white support when it’s a black incumbent.