Vice President Gore, Please Endorse Barack Obama
Dear Vice President Gore,
Thank you for your lifelong commitment to our country and our planet. As a parent, as an environmentalist, and as an American, I am deeply grateful for all you have done. I write to ask you to do another thing for our country: endorse Barack Obama for President.
I was heartbroken by the election of 2000. My faith in this country and in my own ability to make a difference fractured. It wasn’t until 2003 that I dared to believe again, when I met a man who spoke of our need to be our brother’s and sister’s keeper, how when any of us endure injustice we all are diminished, how we each can be the change we need to see in the world. A man who had been working to be that change for over a decade, on the streets of Chicago and in the halls of Springfield. A man who made me once again feel empowered and inspired politically. A man who was running for the U.S. Senate, but I yearned for him to run for President. That man is Barack Obama.
The election of 2004 was almost as divisive and disturbing as the election of 2000. But in 2008 we have the opportunity to take our country back, by a landslide. By the thousands new voters are being turned on to the Democratic Party and to the political process, largely because Barack Obama has reached out to them, energized them to believe in the power of their own possibility, and inspired them to become involved. We are witnessing a kind of rebirth of America, one in which Americans are daring to dream again, daring to break down the walls of partisanship that have enabled a small group of people to wield a disproportionate amount of power over the rest of us. Republicans and Independents as well as Democrats are flocking to his campaign, desperate to believe not just in our country once again, but in ourselves, and in each other. And together we can do this. Yes we can.
If Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination, he will win the presidency, and by a landslide. No other candidate, Democrat or Republican, is likely to do the same. And with the mandate of the vast majority of the American people supporting him and his platform, he will be able to tackle the great challenges that face our nation and our world. Issues that are dear to your heart will finally be addressed in a thoughtful, intelligent, comprehensive and effective way. You will be able to play a central role in addressing these issues, and we will be all the more grateful to you for it.
But in order for him to win the presidency, he must first win the Democratic nomination. Your endorsement of him will be critical to that end. You are one of the most respected leaders in the Democratic Party; indeed, you are one of the most respected Americans in the world. So many of us deeply, deeply regret that you did not become President, and so many great wrongs have been inflicted upon our country and by our country in the eight years that have followed that tremendous injustice. The time for change has never been more critical in my lifetime; Barack Obama is ideally suited to help deliver that change, and to empower us all to be part of that change as well.
I appreciate the great work you have already done, and you certainly deserve a respite from politics. But your country still needs you, Vice President Gore. The American people need you. Please help us take our country back. Please endorse Barack Obama for President.
Sincerely,
Maeve, Iowa