Al Gore Speech
Rock the Vote interns took a break today to go hear Al Gore speak at the DAR Constitution Hall.
Wow! That was such an amazing experience! I just got back from seeing Al Gore speak about the environment and what we can do to help solve the energy crisis that we are currently facing. The DAR was packed! There were only a few seats left empty. The seats were filled with people such as will.i.iam from the Black Eyed Peas, Al Gore's daughter and wife and several other important members of congress.
Today, Al Gore said "never have I seen so much wrong simultaneously". He spoke about changing the way we live our lives and that the answer to several of the problems that we currently face is ending our reliance on Carbon based fuels. Gore said that this solution, and other environmental solutions are in actuality, the answer to sky-high prices everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store, problems with taxes and problems with employment.
Next, Gore posed a challenge to America. He challenged us to commit to producing 100% of electricity from alternative energy sources (i.e, non-carbon based fuels). Ryan Lee, 21, who also attended the speech thought that Gore's proposals were realistic and could be achieved.
He continued by saying that America has an appetite for a "new, different and bold approach". That is where Gore and I differ. I strongly disagree with him. I think that Americans are hesitant to change their old habits that they have grown up with and become accustomed to.
The excitement for me however, started after Gore's speech. I met will.i.am and even talked to him about Rock the Vote. He seemed very impressed with what we are trying to do and liked and approved with our main missions.
As if I wasn't star struck enough, I then met and interviewed Congressman Bob Barr. In regards to what Gore spoke about, Barr believes that he is deeply sincere. He believes Gore has nothing politically to gain from talking about and helping to solve the current environmental issues. I then asked Barr about youth vote and what his views are on its importance and its role in politics. Barr said that "[the young people] are the future of politics and cannot be overemphasized". He also noted that young people tend to be much more "open" and they "look down the road towards long term solutions." When asked the weight that young people will play in the upcoming presidential campaign, he responded by saying "pivotal".
-- Jane Maglaque
Wow! That was such an amazing experience! I just got back from seeing Al Gore speak about the environment and what we can do to help solve the energy crisis that we are currently facing. The DAR was packed! There were only a few seats left empty. The seats were filled with people such as will.i.iam from the Black Eyed Peas, Al Gore's daughter and wife and several other important members of congress.
Today, Al Gore said "never have I seen so much wrong simultaneously". He spoke about changing the way we live our lives and that the answer to several of the problems that we currently face is ending our reliance on Carbon based fuels. Gore said that this solution, and other environmental solutions are in actuality, the answer to sky-high prices everywhere from the gas pump to the grocery store, problems with taxes and problems with employment.
Next, Gore posed a challenge to America. He challenged us to commit to producing 100% of electricity from alternative energy sources (i.e, non-carbon based fuels). Ryan Lee, 21, who also attended the speech thought that Gore's proposals were realistic and could be achieved.
He continued by saying that America has an appetite for a "new, different and bold approach". That is where Gore and I differ. I strongly disagree with him. I think that Americans are hesitant to change their old habits that they have grown up with and become accustomed to.
The excitement for me however, started after Gore's speech. I met will.i.am and even talked to him about Rock the Vote. He seemed very impressed with what we are trying to do and liked and approved with our main missions.
As if I wasn't star struck enough, I then met and interviewed Congressman Bob Barr. In regards to what Gore spoke about, Barr believes that he is deeply sincere. He believes Gore has nothing politically to gain from talking about and helping to solve the current environmental issues. I then asked Barr about youth vote and what his views are on its importance and its role in politics. Barr said that "[the young people] are the future of politics and cannot be overemphasized". He also noted that young people tend to be much more "open" and they "look down the road towards long term solutions." When asked the weight that young people will play in the upcoming presidential campaign, he responded by saying "pivotal".
-- Jane Maglaque
Labels: al gore, bob barr, global warming, young voters
posted by Julia at 6:10 PM
4 Comments:
It seems that Mr. Gore has changed his marketing message. While he still makes multiple claims that are a little hard to substantiate, he doesn't seem to be making the wild claims he did in An Inconvenient Truth (see http://globalwarming-factorfiction.com/2007/10/26/35-inconvenient-truths-the-errors-in-al-gores-movie-part-1-of-5/)
Now, Mr. Gore is taking the energy independence tactic. This is much more realistic and more people are likely to make "sacrifices" for the sake of energy independence if we state that we have to break away from the Mideast and destroy their power over us. He seems to put a lot of his reliance on solar energy though and we should probably include nuclear and hydrogen in that discussion.
Wow. That is probably one of the most demeaning and smug entries I think I could have ever seen from RTV.
First, Bob Barr is running for President of the United States. He is NOMINATED (Obama and McCain are not) by the Libertarian Party. Is confirmed on 40 state's ballots and more to come. That footnote regales him to the "also ran" column 3 months before election day.
Do you honestly believe that you're being fair to a National candidate by including as an afterthought to an different event? Will you be mentioning Hilary Clinton & John Edwards in the same sort of "also was there" kind of attitude now that they have suspended their campaigns?
How about this for starters: "Libertarian Party nominee and US Presidential Candidate, Congressman Bob Barr (L) was there but since we don't care for his politics, he gets lower billing than 'will.i.am' ".
You can do better. So do better.
First, when one considers the actual amount of coverage received by will.i.am in the above post, it amounts to about a sentence. Bob Barr received far more coverage than that - the order of coverage, in my opinion, matters far less than the quality and amount of content. Also, I would imagine that the soundbyte clip posted in this blog is only a small part of longer interview, and this should be taken into consideration before criticism and judgement is espoused.
Secondly, Rock the Vote is clearly interested in exploring every aspect of the presidential race. But, let's be honest - Obama and McCain are the only contenders with a mathematical shot at winning the White House. The most interesting people in the race, though, may be people like Bob Barr. And Rock the Vote is willing to recognize this and cover people that YOU - not the blogger - term "also-rans." I find that the coverage of Barr on this site, in fact, far surpasses his coverage (or lack thereof) in other media outlets.
Lastly, if there is a tone that could be described as "smug" or "demeaning" on this blog, I would submit that it is to be found singularly in YOUR post, bellman.
I apologize. I left out some of the email I received from an RTV staffer who said:
>>>Thanks so much for your email. On our blog, you can find an interview that was done with Bob Barr (who ran into out interns at an Al Gore event): In addition, I will forward on your comment to our political department.<<<<
In other words, let's be honest, unless one of your interns just happens to stumble across Bob Barr, he will not receive and mathematical prominence in your coverage.
I am just aggravated.
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