Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Gore gone haywire
The former Vice President slammed Miami mayor Alex Penelas for being "treacherous and dishonest" during the 2000 campaign. Penelas is running against Florida Rep. Peter Deutsch (who Gore supports) for the nomination in the race to replace Senator Bob Graham.
The charge has real substance to it. As one Miami Herald article notes, Penelas was conspicuously absent from Gore's campaign rallies in Florida in 2000 - particularly in the crucial autumn months. He had just won his own race in the late summer, so his seat was assured for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, Penelas went on a 2 week vacation to Spain, and skipped Gore's election-eve rally in South Miami.
It all did come down to Miami Cubans in 2000. Gore suffered from his association with the administration's decision in the Elian Gonzalez case. But after Elian was sent back to Cuba, vital months remained in which the Gore campaign sought to rebuild links with the Cuban community. Any efforts to do this required the assistance of Penelas. By sitting this out, Penelas helped to elect George W. Bush. Gore's totals in Miami that night were far worse than Bill Clinton's in either election.
So, is Gore justified in feeling this way? You betcha. Does that make his venting a good idea? Doubtful.
Florida is, once again, going to be a battleground state in the presidential race. Its population has increased by one million since 2000. To win it, Kerry will need to avoid negatively galvanizing the Cuban population - which didn't appear to be a problem. Al Gore could very well change that. Whatever happens in the senate race the winner - and John Kerry - will need Penelas' bloc of voters to win in the fall. Gore might just have destroyed Penelas, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory if this undermines Kerry in Florida. And somehow I doubt that Gore really considered this before venting.
The former Vice President slammed Miami mayor Alex Penelas for being "treacherous and dishonest" during the 2000 campaign. Penelas is running against Florida Rep. Peter Deutsch (who Gore supports) for the nomination in the race to replace Senator Bob Graham.
The charge has real substance to it. As one Miami Herald article notes, Penelas was conspicuously absent from Gore's campaign rallies in Florida in 2000 - particularly in the crucial autumn months. He had just won his own race in the late summer, so his seat was assured for the foreseeable future. Nonetheless, Penelas went on a 2 week vacation to Spain, and skipped Gore's election-eve rally in South Miami.
It all did come down to Miami Cubans in 2000. Gore suffered from his association with the administration's decision in the Elian Gonzalez case. But after Elian was sent back to Cuba, vital months remained in which the Gore campaign sought to rebuild links with the Cuban community. Any efforts to do this required the assistance of Penelas. By sitting this out, Penelas helped to elect George W. Bush. Gore's totals in Miami that night were far worse than Bill Clinton's in either election.
So, is Gore justified in feeling this way? You betcha. Does that make his venting a good idea? Doubtful.
Florida is, once again, going to be a battleground state in the presidential race. Its population has increased by one million since 2000. To win it, Kerry will need to avoid negatively galvanizing the Cuban population - which didn't appear to be a problem. Al Gore could very well change that. Whatever happens in the senate race the winner - and John Kerry - will need Penelas' bloc of voters to win in the fall. Gore might just have destroyed Penelas, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory if this undermines Kerry in Florida. And somehow I doubt that Gore really considered this before venting.
