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And who are those people with the placards? "Partisans." That's how the people who care about what is happening in Florida are labeled on TV: they are partisans, which is to say narrow little people who desire not what is best for the country but what is best for their party. The media derision for the protesters, most of whom are Republicans, reached comic heights when a generic CNN anchorman became testy on the air because protesters were making too much noise. Who are these people to be getting in the way of my narration?
Well, they're Americans. And they don't think this is all a joke. And they don't think they are being irresponsible in taking part in this story. They think they are being responsible. And in spite of their anger, and in spite of their real fear at what is happening in our country, they are protesting in the only right and helpful way, peacefully and lawfully. They not only care, but they're caring in a responsible and constructive manner.
Mr. Gore is showing history who he is, and what he is showing is really, truly sad. The comfortable Americans who look down on the activists from a great height are showing history who they are, and that's sad too. But there's one group that seems to me to have distinguished itself with its protests, and that is the old silent majority that in its latest incarnation has refound its voice. And they're not partisans. They're patriots. They're acting out their protectiveness toward a great Republic. Too bad Gore couldn't.
Peggy Noonan is the author of The Case Against Hillary Clinton