He's anti-gay, anti-choice, very conservative and may not bring his home state.

[Drunken Irishman]

Talking about Tim Kaine?

No.

Albert Gore.

When Clinton selected Gore as his vice presidential candidate, he was one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. Gore supported silent prayer in school, voted against federal funding of abortions while in congress and voting against a ban on interstate sales of guns. He consistently called himself the Raging Moderate and while in the senate was only one of ten Democrats who voted for the Gulf War.

By the time he decided to run for president, Gore's policies had shifted to the mainstream of the party and he became less a conservative voice and now is considered to be one of the greatest examples of modern liberalism in America today.

My point? People change, policies are altered and Gore clearly drifted more to the center and then to the left during his two terms as Vice President and his run in the 2000 presidential election. Which explains why so many on here love Al Gore and would enjoy seeing him as Obama's Vice President. However, had Al Gore from 1992 been Obama's choice, many of those same people would have slammed him for it.

Pretty interesting thing to think about, if you ask me.

[saltpoint]

1. Recommended.

[DevonRex]

2. Thank you SO much. A voice of reason. Betcha it won't be

heard or responded to by a lot of folks.

[Skittles]

3. uh huh

[dsc]

4. The choice of Gore is why, for the sole time in my adult life, I refused

to work for, or give money to, our nominee. Kaine is worse than Gore BTW since at least Gore didn't run a gay baiting campaign.

[Skittles]

5. I believe Kaine is a current homophobe n/t

[Colobo]

7. Nah.

[Skittles]

11. Yeah.

[KittyWampus]

13. you spent the primaries trashing Obama & know jackshit about Kaine except he'd give you

an opportunity to display your ignorance. Too bad you don't stick to the Lounge. People think you're amusing there.

[Colobo]

17. Every chance to trash Obama is good for some.

[Skittles]

19. it's a lie about me

read over my history and you'd see I have defended Obama many times

[Colobo]

34. That's fair.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MonkeyFunk]

42. No she didn't

not adoring him isn't the same as trashing him. You really need to learn the difference. One's reality, one is paranoia.

[TheWraith]

45. It's not paranoia when some people are still working to sabotage our nominee. nt

[MonkeyFunk]

51. How is a discussion of Kaine's positions

sabotaging the nominee?

It's insane what this place has become. It's as bad as Freerepublic in 2000.

[TheWraith]

52. When it's based entirely on bashing the nominee based on a rumor.

And based on lies and fabrications about Kaine's positions.

[emilyg]

26. Hi Skittles

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2006/01/22/democratic-governor-favors-ban-on-gay-marriage-national-gay-groups-silent/#more-549

[onenote]

29. which explains why he campaigned AGAINST the amendment banning same sex marriage in VA

And why gay groups in virginia (all actually closet homophobes I guess) were pleased at his election:
http://www.washblade.com/2005/11-11/news/localnews/va-election.cfm

[Drunken Irishman]

6. I can understand that.

However, many here love Al Gore, yet they forget Al Gore was pretty conservative.

[Tarheel_Dem]

12. DI, you miss the point, for some....it's Hillary or nothing. I'm sure she

was strongly considered, but I have a feeling Bill wasn't onboard, and there may have been some vetting issues.

[Political Heretic]

9. That tuned out to be a stupid ass choice on your part, didn't it?

[KittyWampus]

10. He didn't run a gay baiting campaign. But you like that narrative. Some gays like to play victim

enjoy.

[newmajority]

15. Uh oh

I believe the excrement is about to hit the rotary air moving device :hide:

[dsc]

16. He said his opponent, who happened to have a high pitched voice,

wasn't being straight. Sorry, but that is gay baiting, take it from one who has been gay baited.

[PM7nj]

31. His opponent was a rabid homophobe.

500X worse than Kaine could ever be. That may have been a bad choice of words but I don't think he meant it to be anti-gay. My GAY uncle used to say that all the time. He just meant that someone was lying. Is that one comment your basis for stating Kaine ran a gay baiting campaign?

[dsc]

44. words are chosen for a reason

There were numerous articles raising the issue of his voice and inflection. Look, he is better than Kilgore would have been and surely is better than Nunn but that doesn't mean I think he is a good choice or nto a homophobe.

[sniffa]

47. So many ignoreds in this subthread

It really not worth the time or effort for some.

[Tarheel_Dem]

14. Bush was a much better choice for the GLBT community...right?

:eyes:

[Name removed]

23. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Bush/Quayle '92 was definitely the way to go in terms of gay rights

Just think of all the progress we could have made with two Clarance Thomas clones on the Supreme Court.

:eyes:

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. Funny isn't it? Some people will never let go of the primaries. Any excuse

to trash Obama, and this is all speculation anyway. I can't wait for the pout-rage when he actually names his choice.

[Tarheel_Dem]

8. k&r........nt

[Cha]

20. Thanks DI..you won't change

any minds here but this is good information to have.

[bbernardini]

21. I have to wonder if he and Tipper look back on the whole PMRC thing...

...and realize that they looked like total asshats.

[Benhurst]

22. Of course there's no guarantee a person will change, or if they do,

will necessarily drift to the left.

Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston, for example, started off as progressive Democrats and drifted to the right, the far right at that.

[Hippo_Tron]

36. Ronald Reagan was a Republican Governor of a Republican state

Al Gore was a Democratic Senator from a Republican state. Just like Tim Kaine today, Al Gore had obvious political motive to conceal his liberal values from his constituency. Reagan had no such motive.

Plus Gore's transition happened rather quickly. Reagan's happened over a period of time and long before he came into political office.

[Benhurst]

38. Your point? I was merely saying we shouldn't count on

Kaine, a devout Roman Catholic, or any other politician changing once in office. There were actually those who thought Clarence Thomas would change once he got onto the bench. Yeah. Sure. That really worked out well for us.

Like their stands or hate them; but don't count on any politician changing or "growing in office," which usually means little more than coming over to your point of view.

[salonghorn70]

24. I Loved Al Gore From The Beginning

I was a Gore delegate to the Texas state convention in 1988.

[jobycom]

25. Keep drinking whatever you are drunk on, and pass it around DU tonight.

:thumbsup: Excellent post.

[Raine1967]

27. Not a Kaine fan, but I see your point

FDR ran on a conservative platform... he was NO progressive -- not by a long shot.

But conditions changed. The FDR that ran compared to the FDR we have loved are 2 very different people.

[PresidentObama]

28. A voice of reason on DU? THANK YOU.

[onenote]

30. Recommended

[PM7nj]

32. K&R!

[Solon]

37. Actually, he didn't really shift that far to the left until after he left office entirely...

I was never a big fan, really, but he seemed to have mellowed out since leaving the Vice-presidency. I still voted for him in 2000, but more because he wasn't a Republican, which was his only plus to me, at the time.

[democrattotheend]

39. I didn't even vote for him in 2000

Before you all jump on me, no, I did not vote for Nader. I was 16, so I didn't vote at all. I think I voted for Gore in some sort of mock election at school though.

[Solon]

40. I turned 18 in 1996 and voted for Bill Clinton...

since that time, I've been used to disappointment, from both parties.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

41. Well said

In any case, the Obama administration is going to be about the man in the Oval Office, not a Veep with his own cabal and power base like DicKKK. There are no strings on Barack Obama waiting to be pulled. Just another way in which he is the polar opposite of Smirko the Wonder Chimp.

[liberalpragmatist]

43. Politicians reflect their constituencies

Presidents and Vice Presidents tend to move ideologically towards the center of their party once they're out of statewide office and in the White House. Gore was on the right flank of the party and moved to the center of the Democratic Party by 2000 (and has since moved to the left-liberal wing, at least on most social issues and some economic issues, although it appears he's still a free-trader).

Likewise, George H.W. Bush had a moderate record (though that didn't necessarily reflect his constituency, as he was mainly a political appointee) and moved to the right, towards the center of the Republican party as Vice President and President.

I'd still prefer Obama not pick Kaine. And frankly, between Bayh and Kaine, I prefer Bayh, who has an equally conservative record but did have some major accomplishments in Indiana (where he was the state's most progressive governor in decades) and more experience. BUT, even though I wouldn't be thrilled by a Kaine or Bayh selection, what you said is very true -- it's very possible they will move leftwards if in the Vice Presidency. Hell, Bayh has ALREADY moved leftwards over past few years as a senator as he first attempted to run for president and now attempts to become vice president.

[WyvernBaby]

46. I disagree on Al gore being "very conservative"

If anything, Al Gore was a liberal, generally speaking.

[trewsx11]

48. They also said Al Gore was "boring" and didn't bring regional diversity

Just like Evan Bayh.

But seriously, the comparison of Al Gore to Kaine is not very valid because Gore was a longtime legistlator running as VP to Bill Clinton, who served 3 terms as a chief executive and was a Washingon outsider. Clinton needed a Washington insider.

[ms liberty]

49. I'd love to see him do it...he could set his own terms...

He could accept and say that he'd do it for Obama's first term only, and would focus on climate change and alternative energy.

I don't really expect it, but he'd be a great asset in that way. He will be a great asset in any case.

[opihimoimoi]

50. Gore is needed for the most important challenge facingHumanity...climate change

Happy as a clam...won Nobel, Oscars, etc...makes Bush like the shit he is...I don't see him accepting the 3AM phone call.