Gore Still Has a Role to Play: Peacemaker

One of the rare points of postelection agreement between Republicans and Democrats is that when Al Gore finally conceded last week, he gave the best speech of his campaign, if not his life. By calling for the country to unite behind George W. Bush, he showed a grace and humility, as well as a broader vision of the country’s welfare, that had been largely absent from his candidacy.

But it wasn’t enough. If Gore really wants to bring the country together, he will give that speech again. And he’ll keep giving it until it sinks in.

Under normal circumstances, a single concession speech from a defeated candidate is all that’s necessary to communicate the need for healing and reconciliation. But when an election drags on for five weeks after the voting is done, the bitterness and recriminations run deeper. In order to salve the wounds caused by a month of recounts and court battles, one speech is insufficient. If Gore is serious about helping establish an environment in which the new president can govern effectively, he will keep talking publicly to his loyalists about the need for a political cease-fire.

Getting together with Bush in Washington on Tuesday wasn’t a bad start. But Gore should continue his peacekeeping mission in a meeting with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has raised the loudest voice against the constitutional process that decided the election. Jackson has promised to lead demonstrations in January, culminating in protests at federal buildings across the country on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Jackson’s attempts at provoking discord have been a constant throughout this post-election period. Immediately after election day, he rushed to West Palm Beach to organize street protests, until nervous Democratic Party leaders quietly urged him to leave town. Unable to take a hint from even his own political allies, Jackson has further inflamed racial tensions by comparing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling for Bush to the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision issued before the Civil War.

Jackson is far from alone in his refusal to gracefully accept the election’s outcome. Even while Gore urged comity, Democratic Rep. John Lewis of Georgia talked publicly about the potential for civil unrest. And polling conducted last week finds that almost one-third of all Democrats do not view Bush as the legitimate president-elect.

The good news is that only the most hard-core Democrats--the ones who would view a call for bipartisanship as a capitulation--continue to resist. A CNN poll indicated that the majority of Americans are standing behind Bush, and that his approval ratings are almost identical to those that Bill Clinton held when he took office eight years ago. But in politics, the squeaky wheel gets the media coverage, and the continued noise from the far left can serve only to undermine legitimate attempts at intraparty cooperation.

If Gore is serious about his own political rehabilitation, he must use this transition period to continue his call for appeasement. If Democrats and Republicans are able to work together in Washington, Gore’s actions will be remembered in a highly favorable light.

This may be the best that Gore can do now. Gore must realize--or soon will--what is obvious to the rest of us: His political career is over. As the post-defeat careers of Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale and George McGovern demonstrate, Democrats are quick to bury their dead. (The last unsuccessful Democratic nominee to be given a second chance was Adlai Stevenson in 1956.) By 2004, the prospects of a candidate who was unable to capitalize on eight years of Clinton-claimed peace and prosperity will be virtually nonexistent.

By then, Democrats will have moved on to their next fights: between Hillary Clinton and Dick Gephardt for the liberal soul of the party, and between Gov. Gray Davis and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman for its center. Forget about Gore as a future presidential candidate.

But if Gore is willing to establish a role for himself as a peacemaker, he can still find a place in the pages of history as a statesman.