I can sympathize with jmfcst holding a grudge about a politician for a single stupid comment. I feel the same way about Gore for the idiotic sucking up he did in the aftermath of the failure of the Clinton impeachment. It was why in 2000 my choice between who to vote for in the general election was between Nader and Bush. I eventually decided that since Bush was going to win South Carolina regardless of my vote I would vote for Nader to encourage third parties, but if I had been living in a close state such as Florida, I certainly would have voted for Bush to keep Gore out of the White House.
Even knowing what has happened in the eleven years since, I'd still vote the same way for the same reasons.
Fascinating post. Mostly because I can relate. I, too, remember very well Gore's statements about Clinton, and I remember how disappointed I was. Honestly, I didn't much care for Gore before that, and didn't want him to win, but that just infuriated me even more.
As long as we're being honest, I did vote for Nader in 2000. It was the only time I voted for a third-party candidate for president, though I have done so in some gubernatorial and senatorial elections. I also attended Nader rallies--one particularly memorable one was at the National Guard Armory in Boston the night before the 2000 election in which Michael Moore, that fat bastard who represents all that is wrong with America, and who was ostensibly campaigning for Nader, seem to hedge his bets and tell folks to "do what you gotta do" as though the was still hoping that Gore defeats Bush. What a bastard--but I digress, in the Nader rallies it was abundantly clear, despite what the newsies said then and still say now, that the Nader voters were not, and I repeat NOT, of the opinion that a Gore victory was preferable to a Bush victory. You seem to confirm that view with your post. We may not have particularly liked Bush, but we damned sure didn't like Gore.
Anyway, Santorum seems sane, even though his name sounds, vaguely, like a clinical term for a place where people go who are committed by the state for violent crimes but who are beyond reason. I only remember two things about him: the left doesn't like him for his statements for some statements he has made regarding same-sex marriage and the right doesn't like him for some mysterious reasons that I probably learned but can't remember. Now, I have been reminded, and for that reminder I am grateful to jmfcst.