There's Something About Al : Gore Emerging as Top 2008 Candidate

[Larkspur]

from About.com
http://usliberals.about.com/b/a/204795.htm

There's Something About Al : Gore Emerging as Top 2008 Candidate
There's something about Al Gore, the 45th US Vice President, that we can't seem to let go of. Maybe it's because he was right on just about everything in the 2000 Presidential campaign. Maybe it's because he was the first Democratic leader to publicly speak out against the Iraq War. Maybe it's because of his persistent wisdom on global warming and the environment. Maybe it's because we love a risk-taker and a visionary.....

Or maybe it's because we can relate to his imperfections...his sometimes-goofy, self-deprecating humor, his Saturday Night Live-spoofed staidness, his endearing affection for Tipper. We definitely admire his tenacity in taking a tough punch and yet moving on.

And maybe we're righteously angry that he got cheated in the 2000 election. And even more, that the United States got horribly cheated.

Reported the New York Post yesterday. "As Sen. Hillary Clinton ratchets up her attacks on President Bush, some Democrats think they smell an explanation: the threat of a 2008 Al Gore presidential bid that could come at her from the left on Iraq. The former vice president is suddenly re-emerging as a vocal and visible Bush-basher — he's slated to star at a Democratic National Committee fund-raiser for big donors in Washington next Tuesday."
<SNIP>

I like the author's ending...
...there's something about Al Gore that we can't get out of our minds and hearts....his wisdom and humanity, his visionary leadership and especially, his personal grace.

Al Gore in 2008? It has a nice ring to it.

[KaryninMiami]

1. Be Still my heart! Gore in 2008 would be wonderful.

Except for the fact that whomever takes over in 08, will have a huge mess to clean up thanks the the damage done by the nightmare of an administration currently running us into the ground.

But President Gore is my first choice. I'm ready to go to work on it right now! Sign me up!!

[w13rd0]

16. If there's anyone who I'd trust...

...to take a sober, comprehensive look at the mess Bush has put us in, and come up with a viable, acceptable, pragmatic plan to put us back on the right track...it's Gore. 8 years of peace and prosperity gave and years of public service gave him the experience, and a stolen election and watching BushCo destroy this country has given him the humility and confidence he may have lacked in 2000.

[deminks]

2. I think President Gore should serve his first term in office...

now. :applause:

[win_in_06]

3. Imagine how favorably history will regard Gore

if the story goes like this:

Election stolen in 2000. Took the high road. Dedicated his life to the environment, communications, education, family.

Worked for the party in 2004 to push progressive agenda. Supported eventual candidate.

Used personal resources to save hundreds of lives during failed fed response (Katrina).

Responded to a nation yearning for his leadership and became President in 2008 and served for two successful terms, righting the wrongs of the previous administration and taking us to new heights.

[blue neen]

7. History will regard him favorably no matter what happens now, BUT

I particularly like the ending to your story!!

[GetTheRightVote]

4. HIs grace in helping the Katrina victims is enough for me,

He would have our back when all others failed, I would vote for him over all others easily. He stands as one of my heros now. He can have his minor flaws when he shines at a time of great need like Katrina. I love absolutely love his passion to serve others. Thank you for raising a great son Senator Gore Sr.

:kick:

[Sannum]

5. that is so good it brings a tear to the eye

[Ken Burch]

6. Gore in 2008? He needs to answer THESE questions now:

1)Will Gore once again obsessively stay in the bland, timid center?
2)Will a convention that nominates Gore be another soulless, bland "politics-free zone" convention with no passion and luxury boxes for corporate fat cats?
3)If, God forbid, we're still in this war come 2008, will Al repeat Kerry's fatal mistake of taking no real stand?

If the answers to all three of these are "yes, we have to be bland, timid, safe and just say nothing" then why bother? such an approach means another certain defeat.

FEINGOLD in '08! nominate a REAL Democrat for a change.

[NYCGirl]

12. If you think "yes" is an answer to any of those questions, you haven't

seen Al Gore in the past few years. Open your eyes.

[Ken Burch]

18. I hope you are right.

You can appreciate my skepticism.

[AtomicKitten]

26. You have Gore confused with someone else

either that or you actually believe the BS propaganda put out by the media. Or you're blind. Gore has the passion and integrity to kick the shit out of any opponent they put up. People fear McCain, but he isn't liked by the Religious Wrong. I think Gore would be brilliant. People WANT him to win.

[AlGore-08.com]

30. In response to #3, Gore first opposed the invasion of Iraq in Sept. 2002

Before the Congress voted to approve it. He has continued to oppose it, any time he has been asked, he has always said - - publicly, in print - - he never would have invaded Iraq. When he first took this stand, he was the front runner for the 2004 nomination, and an invasion of Iraq was a very, very popular idea. Why would you think that he would suddenly "take no real stand" in a 2008 run?

As far as #1 is concerned, I'm not sure I can answer unless I know what you consider the "bland, timid center"? He supported equal rights for GLBT, he had a plan for complete public financing of campaigns, he had a "Marshal plan" to combat global warming, he had a plan implement national health care, he supported the right to organize, he supported the right to chose, he was going to have web cams in the Oval Office so we could keep tabs on who was doing what in the nation's name, he was going to continue to hold public town hall meetings across the country, so regular folks like you and me could talk to the President and hold him accountable.

His proposed foreign policy was called "forward engagement": trying to solve problems before they turned into situations which required military intervention - - and those problems include the effects of global warming, pandemics like aids and corruption.

If you want to read his recent speeches and get an idea of where he's at, you can find them all here:

http://www.algore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=category§ionid=6&id=71&Itemid=84

[Ken Burch]

31. by "the bland, timid center" I mean the whole vibe of the 2000 campaign

which seems to have been designed to drive out of the party whatever progressives Clinton hadn't driven out already.

If he's changed, I'm glad.

We need a grass-roots, people's party, and a grass roots-based rather than big donor-based campaign, a campaign that tells the truth about race and class and fights back when smeared.

If Gore can give us that campaign, I'm willing to listen.

[robre]

32. His new campaign needs to be and probably will be engaging.

He needs to be straightforward and say "America was cheated and I'm here to bail us out." Al Gore isn't dumb. It was a different time in 2000 and people had forgotten what republicans were really about. George Bush even claimed that he opposed nation building! Basically they lied their asses off to get him into office.

[AlGore-08.com]

33. I suspect a Gore 2008 run highlight Global Warming

He's been putting most of his time into fighting global warming, getting state and local governments to implement changes, and getting corporations to invest in green technologies. And his documentary is currently scheduled to come out in December.

That's my feeling, FWIW...

[welshTerrier2]

8. whole lotta Gore chatter ...

the Gore meter's been off the charts this last week or so ... sometimes the net is "self-propelled" but this seems like more ...

the Democratic Party needs to have its status quo disrupted ... Gore would be a welcome addition to the dialog ...

[Gloria]

9. I would like to see a Dean-Gore-Clark axis to go out and nip the

DLC right in its little bud....

[KeepItReal]

10. That would be a f*cking Dream Team!!

Deep six that PC Voting crap, and any one of them would wax the floor with the GOP runner in '08 (methinks Chuck Hagel).

[rockymountaindem]

11. I'm definately a fan of your Joe Cool Snoopy avatar.

Just thought you should know ;)

[KeepItReal]

13. Thanks!

My dad put me on to Joe Cool along time ago, so I guess it is in his honor. :-)

[johnaries]

14. Thanks for posting! Did you try some of the links? Check this out!

The full story of how the Mercy Flight came about, how Gore made the difference, and how the Government tried to stop it.

Amazing blog! A MUST READ!
www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/7/164747/4155

My President!

[win_in_06]

15. Maybe Gore's early endorsement of Dean will pay off

and the DNC chair will give him a great deal of support.

[Ken Burch]

20. Doesn't quite work that way.

The DNC chair is customarily expected to remain neutral until a candidate is nominated.

The one exception to this is if a sitting Democratic president is seeking renomination(as in 1996, 1980 and 1968.) Then the DNC chair is considered "the President's man(or, when it finally comes to that, woman).

[win_in_06]

24. I'm sure you'd agree that Howard Dean is nothing if not unconventional

[fujiyama]

27. It still wouln't look good on his part

Dean wouldn't do it. He's smarter than that.

That said, I would definetely prefer Gore over Hillary...

[Jai4WKC08]

40. Not "unconventional" but unethical

The DNC and its chairman are supposed to provide the greatest opportunity for the VOTERS to decide who they want to nominate.

[Taylor Mason Powell]

17. I LOVE AL GORE!

Al's my man. He'd have my wholehearted support if he decided to run.

[Booster]

19. We all owe it to Al Gore to vote for him in 2008. After all, he did

win against Bush, and I don't think any one of us would put up with the bullshit the Supreme Court dished out; this time we would revolt. Al's certainly got my vote if he chooses to run and I hope he does. The man was robbed.

[BlueIris]

21. "And even more, that the United States got horribly cheated."

Anyone who cares to knows who I want, and regrettably, Al isn't my first choice. But if it is him--bring it, President Gore. The knowledge of how bad America was screwed over after he was denied the White House hurts me almost as much as our "loss" this past time. We'll have a lot of wrongs to try to right in '08, and if we start with Al Gore's "defeat," well, that's as good a place as any to begin.

[robre]

28. whooops

sorry replied to wrong post

[Vektor]

22. Is there really a chance he might run?

We'd better get Wally O'Dell's tabulating machines out of the mix by then.

[Blue Topaz]

23. Not only was the US horribly cheated,

so was the entire world. Bush et al have fucked things up far beyond what I could have predicted back in 2000.

Every now and again I allow myself to slip into a little daydream world in which Gore was rightfully sworn in, 9/11 didn't happen, no Iraq war, no packing the courts with right-wingers, no gutting environmental regs, no ballooning deficit, the possibility of a progressive domestic agenda .... I don't do this too often because the contrast with what has actually happened is too damn depressing.

Anyway, bring on Al for 2008!

[Carolab]

25. Woo F'ing HOO! I LOVE it. n/t

[robre]

29. If elected Al Gore may preside over the worst economic crisis in history.

The longer this nation goes without correcting the negative and declining current account balance the worse the correction in our dollar and our economy will be. Al Gore is perhaps the only politician I believe is intelligent enough to actually get us through the coming correction because he is capable of relying on experts and seems to have an intrinsic ability to determine what the best course of action is in most areas.

If recent history has taught us anything it is to heed Alan Greenspan's warnings and when Alan Greenspan is worried about two specific issues, the first being the housing cost and debt bubble, which I am still not fully convinced actually exists especially after the two recent hurricanes which will push the price of building a new house up even further, and the second being the current account balance, we know we have reason to be worried.

The only way the government can reduce the account balance is to reduce spending, something the Bush adminstration has proven itself incapable of doing again and again and again.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8CLCJ580.htm?campaign_id=ap_news_up&chan=db

If you will notice that the balance of investment earnings has turned negative, and if you read the report itself you will see that the majority of foreign purchases are in domestic bonds rather than stocks. Maybe this thing will happen before Bush even leaves office. I certainly hope it does as to prove the phrase "you reap what you sow."

[kma3346]

34. I would love to see this too

He won the presidency back in 2000 and it was stolen from him. It would be very fitting for him to be the next president. I also believe that with his experience as VP in the Clinton adminstration AND his dedication to the environment, he is the most capable person to get the U.S. back on track again.

I hope to God he runs again and that he picks a really, really great running mate--not the DINO Lieberman.

:dem:

[warrior1]

35. just don't

pick liberman to run with you dude, even thou you won last time you need a true democrat running with you.

[NYCGirl]

36. I don't think there's much of a chance of that. Gore and Lieberman haven't

actually been friends since Lieberman advocated NOT fighting the 2000 election results, and did it somewhat publically.

[Armstead]

37. If he can make the final break with centrism, he could look really good

If Gore would go back toi his own acceptance speech at the 2000 Democratic Convention, and fuse that with his gutsiness in the wake of the Iraq invasion -- and let the public see more of his human side, I think he could be a formidable candidate by 2008.

I'd take him over Hilary anyday.

[AlGore-08.com]

39. Just trying to understand - - what does "make a final break with centrism"

Mean? What positions are you objecting to?

[Armstead]

41. Challenge the increasing concentration of wealth and power

By "centrist" I mean those Democrats who only want to deal with the symptoms of specific problems.

The big problem in this country is that wealth and power have becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few -- at the expense of everybody else.

Gore showed signs of that awareness in his 2000 nomination speech, when he cast it as the interests of the people against the powerful.

But he trimmed his sails after that, and went back to DLC nibbling around the edges for the rest of his campaign.

We need more of a Wellstone approach, and address this as a core issue. Most otehr issues -- healthcare, media, war, etc. -- flow from that.

[OnionPatch]

38. I was thinking HE deserved it but

after reading this, I agree, it's *our country* that was cheated and deserves Gore for president.

As for Lieberman, I highly doubt Gore would pick someone like him again. The nation was swinging right when he ran last time. This time public opinion is swaying back left (at least it seems to me it is.) I think it would be safer for him to pick a true Democrat. (Not that I wouldn't have in the first place, but I'm assuming that was his reason.)