The younger President Bush is one the public would rather not discuss unless it’s as part of an analysis of his father’s legacy or Al Gore’s political career. More attention has been paid to the scandals that broke out and the revelations they gave about America. Viewers assured themselves that the cutthroat capitalism of films like Wall Street was a work of fiction, but to an extent not seen since the Great Depression, that corporate greed had visible consequences.
Right as the Enron affair seemed to be past its media shelf life, the state of Texas faced unprecedented blackouts after the winter storm of March 3rd, 2002. Cameras fixated on Texans huddling in their houses, without sufficient heating and blankets to make it through the cold. Immediately, Texas’ deregulated energy market came under attack. Governor Perry’s comments about how his state was willing to suffer several more blackouts to protect its unique system were condemned across the board, leading to his humiliating loss in the 2002 election.
Ironically, the winning ticket in 2004 was composed of two individuals who lost to the president, but in light of then-governor Bush’s role in deregulating ERCOT, many had second thoughts about Dubya's place in history. Previously rejected ideas were brought back into the political discourse, allowing Gore to orient his campaign towards his environmentalist pet projects.
The election of Rick Santorum now seeks a merger of Gore’s conscious capitalism with the culture warrior rhetoric of the GOP. As has been typical for presidential elections as of late, much time has been spent on discussion policy relating to small details of American life. Despite the tech industry being crippled by the dot-com recession of 2001, Santorum latched himself towards fears concerning the internet. While attacked as a Luddite by prominent liberals, Democrats were as clueless to the feelings of American voters as they were in their long period of opposition in the 1980s.
Al Gore might have materialized many of his Atari Democrat dreams, but he could not have predicted the anxiety America felt at the thought of their lives being commodified into a series of binary 1s and 0s. Technology made apparent the contradictions of Ronald Reagan’s fusion of American Christianity and supply-side economics. When the free market comes into competition with family and faith, it has no regard for the sanctity of those institutions, or the people that make them what they are. The Republicans seem to be convinced that a free market should stop with the godless money catchers of Silicon Valley. Their voters will soon find out that the dark forces of technology are not the only ones interested in commodifying the individual.
2001 - 2005: George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican)
2000 def. Al Gore / Joe Lieberman (Democratic), Ralph Nader / Winona LaDuke (Green)
2005 - 2006: Al Gore / Ann Richards (Democratic)
2004 def. George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican)
2006 - 2006: Al Gore / Vacant (Democratic)
2006 - 2013: Al Gore / Tom Harkin (Democratic)
2008 def. John McCain / Matt Blunt (Republican)
2013 - 0000: Rick Santorum / Joseph Cao (Republican)
2012 def. Brad Carson / Russ Feingold (Democratic)
Right as the Enron affair seemed to be past its media shelf life, the state of Texas faced unprecedented blackouts after the winter storm of March 3rd, 2002. Cameras fixated on Texans huddling in their houses, without sufficient heating and blankets to make it through the cold. Immediately, Texas’ deregulated energy market came under attack. Governor Perry’s comments about how his state was willing to suffer several more blackouts to protect its unique system were condemned across the board, leading to his humiliating loss in the 2002 election.
Ironically, the winning ticket in 2004 was composed of two individuals who lost to the president, but in light of then-governor Bush’s role in deregulating ERCOT, many had second thoughts about Dubya's place in history. Previously rejected ideas were brought back into the political discourse, allowing Gore to orient his campaign towards his environmentalist pet projects.
The election of Rick Santorum now seeks a merger of Gore’s conscious capitalism with the culture warrior rhetoric of the GOP. As has been typical for presidential elections as of late, much time has been spent on discussion policy relating to small details of American life. Despite the tech industry being crippled by the dot-com recession of 2001, Santorum latched himself towards fears concerning the internet. While attacked as a Luddite by prominent liberals, Democrats were as clueless to the feelings of American voters as they were in their long period of opposition in the 1980s.
Al Gore might have materialized many of his Atari Democrat dreams, but he could not have predicted the anxiety America felt at the thought of their lives being commodified into a series of binary 1s and 0s. Technology made apparent the contradictions of Ronald Reagan’s fusion of American Christianity and supply-side economics. When the free market comes into competition with family and faith, it has no regard for the sanctity of those institutions, or the people that make them what they are. The Republicans seem to be convinced that a free market should stop with the godless money catchers of Silicon Valley. Their voters will soon find out that the dark forces of technology are not the only ones interested in commodifying the individual.
2001 - 2005: George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican)
2000 def. Al Gore / Joe Lieberman (Democratic), Ralph Nader / Winona LaDuke (Green)
2005 - 2006: Al Gore / Ann Richards (Democratic)
2004 def. George W. Bush / Dick Cheney (Republican)
2006 - 2006: Al Gore / Vacant (Democratic)
2006 - 2013: Al Gore / Tom Harkin (Democratic)
2008 def. John McCain / Matt Blunt (Republican)
2013 - 0000: Rick Santorum / Joseph Cao (Republican)
2012 def. Brad Carson / Russ Feingold (Democratic)