Gore, Al Gore
Can you dig it?
Who's the cat who won't cop out when there's danger all around?
Gore, Al Gore
That's right...
Al Gore wants to relate to you, whoever you are. If you're in the South, he wants to fight "fer" you. If you're Latino, he wants you to know he knows a few palabras of Spanish. And if you're African-American, he wants to impress you with his righteous Black Church testifying.
Of course politicians seeking the White House have always had to chew their way through yards of kielbasa, haul themselves through endless St. Patrick's Day parades and plumb the thesaurus for new superlatives to express the depth of their affection for Israel. But Gore's attempts to adapt his voice, syntax and vocabulary for different audiences appears to have opened a new dimension to the art of electioneering.
Proclaiming himself "home" at the NAACP conference earlier this week, the vice president mustered the fire-and-brimstone cadences of a revivalist preacher as he denounced his opponent and pledged to fight on behalf of (or "fer," actually) "our people." As audience members egged him on with yells of "Preach!" Gore looked to the Book of James for a biblical attack ad on Governor Bush: "Yea, a man may say thou hast faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." In other words, judge Gore by his deeds and look skeptically on his opponent's words.
The previous week, his message was the same for the National Council of La Raza, an umbrella group representing Latino voters. Except he referred not to Bush's words, but to his palabras.
So is this insulting and patronizing, or does it reflect a genuine attempt to reach out to voters traditionally underrepresented in America's political conversation? Where will Al Gore stop? Share your thoughts on the discussion board below.