Gore supporters “quietly” met in Boston yesterday to try to get Al into the race. It was so “quiet” it made the AP:
Elaine Kamarck, a veteran of the Clinton White House and Gore’s policy guru in 2000, said the meeting was informal and shouldn’t be taken as a sign there will be a Gore 2008 campaign.
Chris Mackin, a Boston consultant and Gore supporter, called it “an early stage conversation.” But he added: “We’re very serious about exploring this.”
And again, Gore says no plans … but doesn’t say absolutely no, never, if nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve. So yeeeeehaw! He’s still in it.
As I’ve strongly implied, right now Gore’s my guy. I think he’s far and away the most competent and qualified, even in a strong field; he’s been right on the major issues of our time, long before many of the others woke up; and the 2008 Gore mystique will be night and day vs. 2000.
For now, pour me a draft of Gore.
Of course, there is always the ActBlue Draft Fund for Gore if you’re wanting a draft of Gore. If he enters, the money goes to his campaign. If not, then it gets directed to the DNC. đŸ™‚ You might want to share that with readers.
If Gore runs, he’s got my support – financially and otherwise. We NEED Al Gore to run.
at the Climate Project Training as he introduced Andy Goodman. Andy is a trainer and goes around the country teaching people how to present their causes (his book “Why Bad Presentations happen to good causes” is excellent.). He did the presentation training for the 1000 of us who went to Nashville.
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He said, I’d like to introduce Andy Goodman, I have learned much from him. If I had known him when I ran, I’d be president right now…
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Yes if Al runs, we will see a very different Gore.
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Mark
My Climate Change Presentation Schedule
Much as I like Obama’s rhetoric and Edwards’s focus on the working class and grassroots approach, I’d drop them in a heartbeat if Gore came in and adopted the same grassroots organizing strategy as Edwards seems to be using. That combination of Gore and the grassroots would be unbeatable.
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But, are we all confident we wouldn’t see the old Gore reappear?
What makes you think Al Gore can finally learn to talk about himself and why he should be president in a way that’s as compelling as the way he talks about global warming? The reason he looks so good now is that he’s relaxed. The reason he’s relaxed is that he’s not running for president.
about Eric Alterman’s concerns about Gore? He loves him as a candidate and as a potential POTUS, but is concerned that the current trend in the media of treating him more fairly than they did during the 2000 run will probably short lived and they will revert to their old ways should he campaign again.
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On a side topic,… I was watching the NOW program on PBS last night about credit card debt. During the program it occured to me that it’d be a great campaign issue for almost anyone who ran. Talked about correctly, it would be hard to find anyone who couldn’t identify with the issues in questions, even in a room full of Republicans and red states.
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I amused myself when it occured to me that it would be alot like (without the implausibility or the laughability) the the anti ATM fees winning campaign issue that Al Franken’s team rode into victory in his fictional run for the White House in his book “Why Not Me?”.
Last night me and a friend were discussing it and we both decided we’d support Gore over everyone else including my current favorite Obama and his current favorite Richardson. My only fear is that Gore will divide the anti Hillary vote even further and essentially hand her the nod. Hillarys nomination would be a disaster for the party and the country and I cannot stress that enough.
Gore hasn’t had to “deal” with anyone politically in the last 7 years. He went off — found his pet project and has been moderately successful at drawing attention. What we need in this country is someone who can govern a nation in crisis. I don’t think GOre is the man for the job — at all. All this Gore-love is nostalgia for a man who would have been better than what we have — a no-brainer. But Gore hasn’t had to take a position on anything that matters (besides Global Warming) in ages. The last time he did, he backed himself into so many different corners. He ran as a “conservative democrat” back in Tennessee and only lost his home state (which would have given him the presidency despite the Florida debacle) because he shifted so often depending on the political winds. You forget that he picked up and dropped his southern accent whenever he crossed the Mason-Dixon line. He came across as a total phony.
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I think the comment above about Andy Goodman illustrates this perfectly. Gore believes he lost because he had the wrong consultants. He’s your typical beltway legacy. We need fewer of these (Gores, Bushes, Romneys) and newer ideas.
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Give me Obama.
For a guy that is busy working on global warming, I find it interesting that, while not running for President, he appears to be doing so well in the polls. America is looking for leadership.
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If people are seriously interested in Al Gore, then here is the issue. There is only one person that needs to be convinced and that person is Al Gore. Right now he’s focused on other avenues instead of pursuing the presidency.
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The DRAFT Gore movement is the best place to focus your energy if you are interested in seeing what Al Gore stands for become a force in the political world. The challenge is that this is a real draft movement, which means there are no guarantees Al Gore would accept a draft.
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It is now February. Here is the question:
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What type of grassroots organization and how many state organizations and how much money $$$ in the bank would need to be in hand, say by Labor Day, for Al Gore to give the presidency serious consideration? Keep in mind, this mission if successful would in essence go out of existance upon either Gore’s decision “to run” or “not to run”. If he doesn’t run the energy will need be directed into new pursuits. Is that enough to draw people in to work for this effort? IF he did, after all of the effort, decide to accept the DRAFT, that means he’s entered the race and a new organization takes over, the Committee to Elect Al Gore (or whatever the name might be). The first task at that point is to begin filing for the caucuses and primaries.
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There might be other strategies, finding favorite sons or daughters to tie up delegates until the national convention, but there would be a loss of control in that senario.
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So here is my suggestion: If you are as serious as I am about this, let’s start the discussion. The problems are not insurmountable, but are real. Example: The DRAFT Gore movement opens an office in New Hampshire, now what? It’s not like say a Obama or Hillary volunteer that can start doing what a normal campaign worker does and start organizing events to meet the candidate. There’s seven to nine months before you even know you have a candidate.
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I’d be really interested in anyone’s idea’s or thoughts on what would entail a successful DRAFT Gore movement…
…but the reason for my comment is not that. The reason for my comment is the best Einstein Redewendung I have ever seen:
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Common sense is the set of prejudices that one learns before the age of 18.