Photo via Juampe Lopez.

Al Gore up to speak as I type…will liveblog as much as I can.

Thank you. Thank you very much. You are an amazing crowd.

One of the greatest gifts of our democracy is the oportunity it offers us every four years to change course…

The question is: will we seize this opportunity for change? That’s why I am here this evening, because I feel so strongly that we must seize this opportunity and elect Barack Obama the next president of the US.

…Take it from me, if that election had gone differently in 2000, we would not be bogged down in Iraq. We would not be discriminating. We would not be denying the climate crisis.

Today we face the same choice as 2000 — because McCain is not only promising the same policies but pledging to continue them. Hey, I believe in recycling, but that’s ridiculous.

Bush and Cheney have led the nation into one calamity after the other, subordinate the general good for the needs of the few, and subvert the rule of law. If you like that, then vote for McCain.

If you want better for America, vote for Obama…

So, why is this election so close?

Well, I know something about close elections. Mainly, because the forces of the status quo are so afraid fo the change that Barack Obama represents.

Discussion of the climate crisis. Oil company prices have gone through the roof as our energy costs go right along with them. Talking about climate refugees and the science of climate change.

In spite of McCain’s past support of environmental policy, he’s allowed his party to browbeat him into running from the issue….

So, how did this no brainer become a brain twister? Because the energy companies have a fifty year lease on the GOP,a nd they are drilling it for all it is worth. This Administration and their lobbyists who control it lock, stock and barrell after barrell are champions of the status quo….

Must elect Barack Obama….

After they wrecked our economy, it’s time for a change. After they invaded Iraq, a nation that did not attack us and lied about why, it’s time for a change….When as many as 3 SCOTUS justices can be appointed in the first term of the next presidency and choice, equal pay, civil rights and other issues hang in the balance, it is time for a change.

…

This election is actually not close at all among younger voters. You recognize that he represents a clean break from partisanship and bitter division. You recognize that America is better than the politics of fear. And you want a change based ont he principles embodied in the US Constitution.

There are times in our nation’s history, when we must rise alert to embrace change. A century ago when we faced our greatest challenges, our nation’s greatest President stepped up. At the time of his election, Abraham Lincoln had two terms in his state legislature and one term in Congress…

Once again, we find ourselves at the end of an era and in need of a profound change….

His experience has taught him that inconvenient truths must be acknowledged in order to have a wise and representative government….

His life experience represents our national motto: E Pluribus Unum — Out of Many, One. That is what gives us the moral authority to push for better around the world, to push to redemm the promise of all that is good among the bonds of humanity.

Do everything we can to elect Brack Obama president of the United States of America.

(He was speaking really rapidly, so the above is a massive paraphrase with some gaps. Sorry gang — typed as fast as my tired fingers could go…)

UPDATE:  Oh yay — Al Gore popped his remarks up on his website for folks to read.  Thanks, Al!