t r u t h o u t - Joe Conason | Gore's Moral Victory

Al Gore proved his moral courage yesterday. He didn't hesitate to say that he opposed Trent Lott's racist speech, that Lott had to withdraw those remarks, and that if Lott failed to do so, the Senate should censure the Republican leader. Having endured so many venomous attacks from a press that is openly biased against him and would surely relish another chance to sting him, Gore spoke out fearlessly. (It is also a triumph for him over his tormentors in the press. With some honorable exceptions, they waited too long to speak up against Lott's nostalgia for the barbarism of his political forebears.)

The silence on both sides of the aisle was appalling -- if not quite as bad as Tom Daschle's decision to break it by making excuses for Lott (who has issued a dishonest, mealy-mouthed "apology"). In a fashion entirely different from the Mississippian, Daschle has earned a permanent vacation from leadership. This episode was the final affront from a well-meaning but incompetent and pusillanimous man who doesn't know how to defend himself or his party, let alone fight back for the principles he is supposed to uphold.

Many readers wrote in to suggest (quite strongly) that I should endorse Gore because he alone measured up to my final sentence yesterday. I did write that the candidate who confronts Lott is the one who "should be running for president." And five hours later, Gore did exactly that. But while I don't conceal my political preferences, I don't "endorse" candidates. Anyway, what I say matters far less than what you, dear readers, think and say and do. By doing the right thing, Gore energized his supporters and won new friends. And he deserves them.