If Only It Could Have Been

The September 2000 issue of Rolling Stone has as its cover a picture of Al Gore. This is a lead into a very long and wide ranging interview with him in the run-up to his election in November 2000 as the legitimate president of the United States.

Among the many profound things that Al says in the interview, there is an endorsement of Gore by Rolling Stone. I have retyped it verbatim here. Read it and weep. This is how it was supposed to be. Notice also how Rolling Stone predicted much of what is currently out of kilter in the country today because of Bush and his policies.


Al Gore For President

An Editorial by Jann S. Wenner. Rolling Stone, September 2000 issue.

It is with hope and confidence and excitement that we endorse Albert S. Gore, Jr. for President. Al Gore has all the tools – the vision, the energy, the experience – to be a truly great president.

Al Gore is the environment’s most visible champion since Theodore Roosevelt. On this issue, the differences between the two candidates are fundamental and reach deep into their records and philosophies. One candidate, Gore, has gone to Kyoto, Japan, and forced an international agreement that provides a framework for addressing the threat of global warming. The other candidate, George W. Bush, has dealt with his state’s mounting air-pollution problems by asking oil companies to agree to voluntary controls. In response to rising oil prices, Gore talks about investing in new technologies and curtailing our extravagances; Bush advocates expanding drilling in the Alaskan wilderness.

Gov. Bush is pushing a backward-looking agenda, in great part shaped by extremists, that is deeply at odds with the values of mainstream modern America . At least three seats are likely to open up on the Supreme Court during the next four years. Should Bush become president, he will put the court in the hands of social conservatives, who will be interpreting our laws for the next twenty-five years, and they will most certainly overturn Roe vs. Wade.

That’s the potential cost – the recriminalization of abortion – of a protest vote for Ralph Nader. Nader has been a friend of this magazine, and one of our heroes, for many years. His candidacy has caught the imagination of many disenchanted young voters. But “Mr. Nader’s misguided crusade” as the New York Times labels it, is a self-indulgent exercise that is distracting voters from the clear-cut choices.

Taxes: Bush proposes a tax cut that will chiefly benefit the wealthy. Forty-three percent of his proposed reductions would benefit the richest one percent of taxpayers. Gore’s plan will make it easier for middle-class Americans to pay for college and give the breaks to single mothers and others who need it now. Million-dollar-a-year income earners don’t’ need tax cuts now.

Education: The regrettable fact is that failing big-city schools can only be fixed through massive influxes of tax money. Schools need to be repaired and rebuilt, class sizes must be reduced, and teachers need to be hired and paid top-notch salaries. No voucher plan – Bush’s solution – will ever help a parent deal with these problems.

Campaign Finance Reform: Gore promised that sending the McCain – Feingold bill to Congress will be his first act as president. Starting to eliminate soft money is essential to major progress on important new legislation. Bush will give us the same masquerade on the subject as Newt Gingrich did: a mouthful of yes and a handful of no.

Gun Control: Gore would require registration of new handguns and that gun owners carry licenses. Bush has been and will be the willing tool of the National Rifle Association.

There are a few policy areas where we would like to see Gore’s position evolve. As we have pointed out many times in the past eight years, the War on Drugs is a travesty – a cruel and ineffective multibillion dollar sinkhole. Gore has so far toed the line on drug warriors; he opposes any relaxation of drug laws. But he has also spoken sensibly about the need to shift more federal drug dollars toward treatment programs and away from prisons. So, for now at least, we will give him the benefit of the doubt.

This one’s a no-brainer. We are living in an era of profound and rapid change. Al Gore understands the implications of these changes – from global warming to exploding population growth, the human genome to the fuel-cell engine. With huge government surpluses piling up in Washington, the federal government will have the resources to launch major programs that will better the lives of millions. Gore’s eight years as vice president have not only tested his loyalty but have also given him truly unparalleled knowledge and experience. As president, he will at last have the opportunity to carry out his own vision. I urge you to vote for him.