THE SCORE ON AL GORE
* I don't believe a woman's freedom to live her own life, in all cases, outweighs the fetus's right to life.
Al Gore quoted in the Nashville Banner, 7/29/76*
* I have strongly opposed federal funding of abortions. In my opinion, it is wrong to spend federal funds for what is arguably the taking of a human life. It is my deep personal conviction that abortion is wrong. Let me assure you that I share your belief that innocent life must be protected and I have an open mind on how to further this goal.
Al Gore in a letter to a constituent, 8/22/1984. (In NRLC files.)
* I have always supported Roe v. Wade. I have always supported a woman's right to choose. And let me say that if you entrust me with the presidency, I will guarantee that a woman's right to choose is protected.
Al Gore in a debate with Bill Bradley televised on WMUR-TV, 1/26/00*
* We stand here proudly today to announce NARAL's endorsement of Al Gore in the Democratic race for President. We know that Al Gore will be a strong, effective and determined leader in the fight to protect a woman's right to choose. The next President will likely appoint two, perhaps three Supreme Court Justices and countless federal judges.
NARAL president Kate Michelman, 2/15/00
* I would look for justices for the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a living and breathing document, that it was intended by our founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people. The right of privacy, just to take one example, was found by Justice Blackmun in the Constitution, even though the precise words are not there. [T]he next president will appoint probably three justices to the Supreme Court, and that makes this court one of the major issues in this election. I'm pro-choice. I will defend a woman's right to choose, regardless of economic circumstances. I will not allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
Al Gore in debate with Bill Bradley, televised on CNN, 3/1/00, from Los Angeles with NARAL president Kate Michelman in the audience
* My counsel advises me that there is no controlling legal authority or case. [N]o controlling legal authority. [N]o controlling legal authority. I favor the so-called McCain-Feingold bill. The president and I strongly favor campaign finance reform. [N]o controlling legal authority. [N]o controlling legal authority. [N]o controlling legal authority. [N]o controlling legal authority.
Al Gore explaining his "dialing-for-dollars" White House activities to the press, 3/3/97
* A confidential report by the Justice Department's former chief campaign finance investigator, kept sealed by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno for nearly two years, accused senior Justice officials of engaging in "gamesmanship" and legal "contortions" to avoid an independent inquiry into Clinton-Gore campaign fund-raising abuses. According to an edited version of the document, former task force supervisor Charles LaBella also faulted Reno's top advisors for using "intellectually dishonest" double standards. Among those getting special treatment were President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and former White House aide Harold M. Ickes.
Report in the Los Angeles Times, 3/10/00
* I have a passion for campaign finance reform that is fueled in part because of those mistakes. [Asked about testimony that he listened "attentively" to discussions about making calls to raise "hard money" for the 1996 campaign:] That's old news. [Laughing at the idea that there should be a new investigation of his actions:] This was all reviewed three years ago.
Report in the New York Times, 3/12/00
(*Quotes distributed by the Bill Bradley for President Committee)
This is a long list of quotes, but it gives you Al Gore in full bore: Early in his political career, he is opportunistically pro-life because he represents a socially conservative district as a congressman. Later, as a presidential candidate endorsed by NARAL, he "evolves" into a determined defender of Roe v. Wade ("I will not allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned"). And Supreme Court Justices who "find" new "rights" in the Constitution "even though the precise words are not there" are just the kind of justices Al Gore wants to appointat least three of them.
After being entangled in illegal campaign fundraising activities, he becomes "passionate" for campaign finance reform. The man who found "no controlling legal authority" in existing campaign "reform" laws wants you to believe that he will find "controlling legal authority" in new lawslaws that will abridge your First Amendment rights and give the "institutional" media a monopoly on the information stream. You have to admit: The man has the shameless audacity of a Bill Clinton.
He also lies as well as Bill Clinton. For example, in 1984 Gore voted for the Siljander Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1984, which stated that "the term 'person' shall include unborn children from the moment of conception." (The amendment failed.) When Gore was a candidate for the presidential nomination in 1988, he was asked on NBC's Meet the Press (2/21/88) whether he didn't vote for that Amendment. Gore: "No, no. I did not." A blatant lie.
Two weeks later, Newsweek (3/7/88) quotes a Gore advisor, "Since there is a record of that vote, we have only one choice deny, deny, deny." Four years later, Gore is reminded of the vote, again on Meet the Press (9/6/92). Gore protests, "That was not what [the amendment] dealt with; that was a measure related to hospitals and procedures in the third trimester." Another lie. Last year, on ABC's This Week (10/31/99), Gore is once again reminded of that vote and asked, "Would you vote that way today?" Gore responds with more falsehoods: "First of all, that was a procedural vote. I have always supported Roe v. Wade."
If this man scares you, shouldn't he also scare your friends, neighbors, and co-workers? Do they know the truth about this man? Should this man appoint federal judges and justices to the Supreme Court?
It's time for your letter to the editor of the hometown paper--complete with quotes and sources.