Clinton, Gore and Machiavelli

A central part of Machiavelli's teaching, and a leading principal of current political commentary, is the notion that we need to take men - and not just men, but women, too - not as we wish them to be, but as they really are. It is important to keep this in mind when trying to understand why Al Gore has thus far remained neutral in the race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination.

When he agreed to become Bill Clinton's running mate in l992, Gore, like other vice-presidential candidates before him, was promised ready access to the president and a major role in government. He was not told that he would from almost his first day in office be locked in a power struggle with a new first lady who made no secret of her belief that she was part of a co-presidency and that this would be an administration in which only the president's voice would be more powerful than her own. This was bad enough, but then Bill Clinton lied.

Gore claims not to have any further ambition for the presidency. He has said both publicly and privately that he does not have the gift, that he is not very good at the political arts of campaigning. Even if he has come to believe that about himself, he cannot have forgotten that he won the popular vote in 2000 and but for rampant malfeasance in Florida, Clinton and Obama would now be running to succeed eight years of a Gore, and not a Bush, administration. He certainly cannot have forgotten that after helping the Clintons capture the White House, Clinton's inability to restrain his own compulsions cost him the chance to win the presidency for himself. And perhaps more than anything else, he cannot have forgotten that when he confronted Bill Clinton with the allegations of a sexual relationship with a young intern, Bill Clinton looked him right in the eye and said that none of it was true.

But perhaps all that has been, as they say, 'put behind him,' and that, in that other wonderfully meaningless phrase, he has 'moved on.' He has unquestionably done a good deal more than most other former vice-presidents, won an Oscar and then a Nobel Prize for his important work on global warming, and become in the process widely respected not just in this country but around the world. He is now perhaps the most respected person in the Democratic Party, someone others have begun to look to for guidance about how to decide whether the chance at the presidency this time should go to another Clinton or to someone who, when he lists the great Democratic presidents of the past, does not mention Clinton at all. Perhaps, when it comes time to make a decision, Al Gore will put out of mind the indignity, and the injury, he suffered at the hands of the Clintons and rise above any thoughts of revenge. But then, as Machiavelli reminds us, it is wise to take human beings as they are and not as we might wish them to be.

Machiavelli would certainly not have hesitated to do what was necessary, given the chance to make a fundamental change in the equations of power. In one of his writings which few people now read, he describes a situation in which the failure to act against someone you suddenly have in your power has, to say no more, unfortunate effects. In 1505, Pope Julius II, violent, ambitious, and, like his predecessor, Pope Alexander VI, the father of Cesare and Lucretia Borgia, driven by syphilis into insanity, went with his army to Bologna to expel Giovampagolo Baglioni, the ruler of Perugia, so he could take back his lands for the church. Machiavelli was a witness to what happened.

Julius, "carried along by that fury with which he governed all things," did not wait for his army, but entered the city unarmed. Baglioni, who could have "crushed his enemy at a stroke" and "done a thing whose greatness would have surpassed all infamy," did not know "how to be honorably wicked or perfectly good," and, faced with the glory and reputation of the pope, lay down his arms and surrendered.

There is a lesson in this. The Clintons cannot get back to the White House and return to power without first winning the Democratic nomination, and they can no longer do that without the support of the great majority of the super delegates who have yet to commit to either side. No one wants this to go on to the convention; everyone wants to avoid the political equivalent of civil war. The only Democrat with the moral authority to stop it by telling the others how they ought to proceed is Al Gore, which means it is now in his power either to help Hillary Clinton to the nomination or to crush her ambition once and for all. It is not difficult to anticipate what the former vice-president is likely to do, not if we remember that it is not necessary to have studied Machiavelli, or even to have read him, to know how to be Machiavellian.

Comments

[Jay20]

what will be machiavellian is the fact he doesn't like the Clintons maybe, if thats even true at all, but he has to give it to Hillary because Barack Hussein Obama is completely unelectable.

[Kwaayesnama]

Could it be that the American people know that if it was not for the Clinton"s filth and scandals that Al Gore would be completing his second term in office.

[Kwaayesnama]

Dear Bill Clinton:
I would like you to know why I would never vote for your wife?
YOU!
You see I remember your last administration.
You shamed this nation worldwide.
I often wonder how you could still show your face publicly?
YOU and only YOU destroyed the Democratic Party.
If it was not for your disgusting habits Al Gore would have been president today.
So Governor Richardson, Al Gore and The Democratic Party owe you nothing¦..

[KareninSM]

Al Gore is passionate about climate change. Turning around climate change will require countrywide and worldwide cooperation. Hillary Clinton is abhorred by a sizable group of Americans; over 60% think she is dishonest, for which she has her own history of constant lying to blame; other nations were horrified by her reckless comment about "obliterating" Iran; and her history clearly shows that, like George Bush, her instinct when opposed is to fight tooth and nail rather than seek common ground. Gore cannot possibly think that she could get the action on climate change that we desperately need, so I do find it hard to understand why he hasn't endorsed Obama.

[burnt]

"Perhaps, when it comes time to make a decision, Al Gore will put out of mind the indignity, and the injury, he suffered at the hands of the Clintons and rise above any thoughts of revenge. "

... and yet you discount this possibility to the extend of total disbelief.

It is well within Mr. Gore's capacity as a compassionate human being and a renown communicator, to base an endorsement on his knowledge of self, family, country and world while excluding concepts of revenge, and do so honestly. It's entirely within his right to give or withhold endorsement and not have to answer to anyone but his own conscience for that decision. You give him little credit... especially in light of what he has given us over the last several years.

If he wants to directly affect this contest by showing support for a particular candidate, I am certain that he can do so without the motivation you suggest. Whether or not you can accept higher levels of reasoning, says more about you than anything else.

[TimmySlagle]

Al Gore is faced with a dilemma:

On one hand he knows that Obama cannot win in November, that his nomination will result in a MASSIVE defection to McCain.

On the other hand, endorsing Hillary would be like endorsing Exxon for a humanitarian award, after what she put him through for those eight years.

So he's sitting it out.

[aftershock]

Please explain Hilary's electability arguments given plus 60% untrustworthy numbers, 50% plus negative ratings, about 40% of people saying they will vote for her under no circumstance, and her dismissal of the black community and "activists" in the Democratic party? When you run as a faux-Republican against a Republican, the Republican always wins. She's alienated a good portion of the Democratic party, will not win the white blue collar votes (those Regan Democrats aren't coming back, get used to it), now has sub-50% black support, is loathed by the GOP (who will be fired up to take out the Clinton's) and Independents. Sorry, you can't win an election with old women...

[TimmySlagle]

Well it's highly unlikely that Obama will win the South or the Blue Collar vote.

He's a little too tan.

[Jay20]

thank god someone said it. I think we need to face the fact a black man is not being John McCain. Especially with his black power racist. There is no way he is winning any of those states because whites outnumber blacks in far too mnay to get Obama the electoral votes

[laksa]

If Gore has any influence at all, this may be the right time. His endorsement for Obama will help but the main issue at this moment not only for Indiana and NC but for the whole America is energy crisis which I think is related to global warming. Isn't this Gore's strong point? Why is he keeping so quite against Bush's nonsense? He should come out and talk about the ineffective gas tax holiday. A word from him is worth a thousand from others. Come on Gore! show us you really mean it when you talk about global warming and not just to get an Oscar!!!

[BillZBubb]

There is great irony in your commentary. You, on the one hand cite Machiavelli as a model to study, then on the other you criticize Senator Clinton for what can best be described as her Machiavellian use of power in the Clinton administration and her "ambition".

Unfortunately, we need a Machiavellian character to win against the Uber-Machiavellian Republicans. Sending up Senator Obama against them is like sending David to slay Goliath without the sling.

Gore knows that. His decision will be Machiavellian in that he'll look to see who can really win the presidential election before he pushes anyone. He's pro-Democrat and pro-America first before getting revenge on the Clintons. Being an astute politician, he knows Pennsylvania was a huge warning sign about Obama's chances. If Obama also loses Indiana, Gore won't be telling Supers to back Obama. Gore's next move may not be as easy to predict as you think.

[hopeless277]

Gore is a wimp. He'll let Billary slide just like he did the Florida recount. Traitor.

[BillZBubb]

Spoken like a true "Democrat". Let's see, you hate the Clintons, you hate Al Gore, you hate every Democrat who says something nice about the Clintons. Only the pure Obama followers for you!

[apoyo]

Crush.