http://www.washingtondispatch.com/article_9683.shtmlClinton and Gore lead the Bush-Bash
Commentary by Richard Mullenax
July 30, 2004
Before the Democratic National Convention began, John Kerry notified Democratic speakers to avoid ''Bush bashing." In spite of Kerry's words, Al Gore was the first to ignore it on the first night of the convention.
Gore’s speech was monotonous, as he seemed to pity himself on stage, using lame jokes as a front to complain about the 2000 Presidential Election. According to Gore, "You win some, you lose some. And then there’s that little-known third category." Shortly after, Gore claimed that he wasn’t going to live in the past, by counting and recounting sheep.
To put it mildly, Al Gore should get over his loss. After all, this nominating convention was not about him, but about John Kerry. Then again, what does Al care about Kerry? He endorsed "Screaming" Howard Dean.
Hours later, Bill Clinton arrived on center stage as the main event speaker. As usual, Clinton was dashing and charismatic, and charmed the Democratic crowd. It was surely a glimpse of the past, as Clinton seemed to be enjoying the limelight once again. But don’t think that even Clinton could escape some bashing of Bush and the GOP.
To condense Clinton’s speech was simple. Democrats: Good; Republicans: Bad. In spite of this condensed version of Clinton‘s speech, I should elaborate on two noticeable points.
Clinton believes that Democrats are a "uniting people" while Republicans are ''dividers." To take this point even further, he claimed that Republicans need a divided America. With all due respect to our former forty-second commander-in-chief, he is manipulative.
Just because the majority of Republicans fight for what they believe in, doesn’t mean they are dividers; it makes them leaders of conviction. Just because the majority of Republicans want to fight for the life of every unborn child doesn’t make them dividers; it makes them leaders of compassion and discernment. And just because the majority of Republicans believe that marriage is between one man and one woman doesn’t make them dividers; it just means that they are respecters of the morals and values on which this country was founded.
However, it’s foolish to believe that Clinton would know anything about morals, which brings me to my next point. Clinton loosely quoted a passage from the Bible. The Arkansas native said, "Remember the scripture: 'Be not afraid.' "
For Bill Clinton to even quote scripture is insulting for many of the Christian faith. He used the biblical verse out of context to make a political point. The quote doesn’t refer to politics, but to the trust we should all have in God.
As for other speakers at the convention, I was pleased that most of them stuck to the issues and not the excessive bashing of the GOP and President Bush. At least some took Kerry’s advice. Perhaps Gore and Clinton could learn from them.
Richard Mullenax is young freelance writer based in Cleveland, Ohio. An advocate for traditional values, Richard helps stable-minded Conservatives fight against Secularists that try to take God out of our country. Richard was also recently published in the Freestone County Times newspaper in Fairfield, Texas.