Gore says logic, reason on the decline Nick Juliano

Published: Thursday May 17, 2007 Print This Email This In his forthcoming book, The Assault on Reason, former Vice President Al Gore says the country's headlong rush into war demonstrates the extent to which "logical debate" is under assault in the way America governs itself, according to an excerpt published by Time magazine. "Faith in the power of reason -- the belief that free citizens can govern themselves wisely and fairly by resorting to logical debate on the basis of the best evidence available, instead of raw power -- remains the central premise of American democracy," Gore writes. "This premise is now under assault." Gore's re-emergence has fueled calls for him to enter the 2008 presidential race. Although the vice president has said he doesn't intend to run, his not-quite-certain denials have sustained hope among Gore faithfuls that he could enter the race at the last minute. In a New York Times Magazine interview to be published Sunday, Gore left open the possibility he might change his mind. "Having spent 30 years as part of the political dialogue, I don't know why a 600-day campaign is taken as a given," Gore told James Traub of the Times, "and why people who aren't in it 600 days out for the convenience of whatever brokers want to close the door and narrow the field and say, 'This is it, now let's place your bets' -- If they want to do that, fine. I don't have to play that game." In his book, Gore blames the decline in newspaper readership and the rise of television -- especially news coverage of frivolous stories like Britney Spears's breakup with her husband -- for leading to a populace that is not only less informed but less able to adequately participate in a national conversation. The former vice president, who lost the White House to George W. Bush in 2000, has traveled the world as a high-profile spokesman for environmental causes, and his film An Inconvenient Truth won this year's Oscar for best documentary. The Assault on Reason, which will be released Tuesday, is Gore's third book. In it, he lays out the extent to which public opinion can be manipulated through television advertisements and the damaging potential as Americans elect their leaders based more on style than substance. He says political targeting efforts that play on individualized appeals aimed at highly specific demographics have "magnified the power of propagandistic electronic messaging" that threatens open and fact-based discourse. "As a result, our democracy is in danger of being hollowed out," Gore writes. "In order to reclaim our birthright, we Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum." Gore says the Internet has the potential to create this new public forum, but he warns that voters must resist efforts by corporations to control information on and access to the Web.



