I've never been an Al Gore fan, but this guy recently has been excellent. I just watched his Democratic National Convention address and it was fuckin awesome. He was funny, loose and dead on. He had some funny lines:

  • But you know the old saying: you win some, you lose some. And then there's that little-known third category. I didn't come here tonight to talk about the past. After all, I don't want you to think I lie awake at night counting and recounting sheep.
  • I prefer to focus on the future because I know from my own experience that America is a land of opportunity, where every little boy and girl has a chance to grow up and win the popular vote.
  • By the way, I know about the bad economy. I was the first one laid off. And while it's true that new jobs are being created, they're just not as good as the jobs people have lost. And incidentally, that's been true for me too.

His speech hit some really good points too:

“In our Democracy, every vote has power. And never forget: that power is yours. Don't let anyone take it away or talk you into throwing it away. And let's make sure that this time every vote is counted. Let's make sure not only that the Supreme Court does not pick the next President, but also that this President is not the one who picks the next Supreme Court.“

“It is in that spirit, that I sincerely ask those watching at home who supported President Bush four years ago: did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for? Is our country more united today? Or more divided? Has the promise of compassionate conservatism been fulfilled? Or do those words now ring hollow? For that matter, are the economic policies really conservative at all? Did you expect, for example, the largest deficits in history? One after another? And the loss of more than a million jobs?”

“We have to be crystal clear about the threat we face from terrorism. It is deadly. It is real. It is imminent. But in order to protect our people, shouldn't we focus on the real source of this threat: the group that attacked us and is trying to attack us again -- al Qaeda, headed by Osama Bin Laden? Wouldn't we be safer with a President who didn't insist on confusing al Qaeda with Iraq? Doesn't that divert too much of our attention away from the principal danger?”

Gore even addressed the Nader issue:

I also ask tonight for the help of those who supported a third party candidate in 2000. I urge you to ask yourselves this question: do you still believe that there was no difference between the candidates?

The video of the speech is worth watching. The second I find it and a full official transcript (the above quotes come from a *gasp* Drudge *gasp* transcript), I will post that too.

UPDATE: [ Official Transcript | C-SPAN Video ]