NEW YORK (CNN) -- Former Vice President Al Gore is accusing President Bush of serving "powerful interests" rather than the American people and urging Democrats to use that argument against Republicans in upcoming elections.
In a blistering critique published in Sunday's edition of The New York Times, Gore also said the recent wave of corporate scandals has put at risk "nothing less than the future of democratic capitalism."
"Uncommon power has combined with uncommon greed to create immense deceptions and losses," wrote Gore, who lost to Bush in the 2000 presidential race. "A major correction is needed in the course of our nation. It is needed first and foremost in the composition of the next Congress."
Some of the questionable corporate accounting practices at Enron Corp., WorldCom and other firms -- now at the center of a number of criminal investigations as well as the national political debate -- took place during the Clinton administration, in which Gore served as vice president, as well as during the Bush administration.
Gore hasn't said whether he plans to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. But his broadside echoed the rhetoric of his 2000 presidential campaign, calling on Democrats to put "the struggle between the people and the powerful" at the heart of their message for November's midterm elections.
Gore also criticized fellow Democrats who have suggested that delivering that message during the 2000 campaign hurt the party by giving it an anti-business image.
"The suggestion from some in our party that we should no longer speak that truth, especially at a time like this, strikes me as bad politics and wrong in principle," Gore wrote. "This struggle between the people and the powerful was at the heart of every major domestic issue of the 2000 campaign and is still the central dynamic of politics in 2002."
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In a blistering critique published in Sunday's edition of The New York Times, Gore also said the recent wave of corporate scandals has put at risk "nothing less than the future of democratic capitalism."
"Uncommon power has combined with uncommon greed to create immense deceptions and losses," wrote Gore, who lost to Bush in the 2000 presidential race. "A major correction is needed in the course of our nation. It is needed first and foremost in the composition of the next Congress."
Some of the questionable corporate accounting practices at Enron Corp., WorldCom and other firms -- now at the center of a number of criminal investigations as well as the national political debate -- took place during the Clinton administration, in which Gore served as vice president, as well as during the Bush administration.
Gore hasn't said whether he plans to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. But his broadside echoed the rhetoric of his 2000 presidential campaign, calling on Democrats to put "the struggle between the people and the powerful" at the heart of their message for November's midterm elections.
Gore also criticized fellow Democrats who have suggested that delivering that message during the 2000 campaign hurt the party by giving it an anti-business image.
"The suggestion from some in our party that we should no longer speak that truth, especially at a time like this, strikes me as bad politics and wrong in principle," Gore wrote. "This struggle between the people and the powerful was at the heart of every major domestic issue of the 2000 campaign and is still the central dynamic of politics in 2002."
Read the rest Here