Russert mentions a possible Gore 2008 (anti-war!) campaign on today's MTP

[AlGore-08.com]

It's in context of a discussion about HRC's vulnerability on Iraq:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9438988/

(snip)

Mr. Russert: Giving the president the authority. Before she came to Washington, Knight Ridder reports this. "En route to Washington for the rally, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan protested outside Clinton's New York office. `She knows that the war is a lie, but she is waiting for the right time to say it,' Sheehan told about 500 cheering supporters. `You say it or you are losing your job.'"

This is Cindy Sheehan to Hillary Rodham Clinton who very well may be the Democratic nominee in 2008, Maureen.

Ms. Dowd: Well, Hillary's plan has been to lay back and not lead and just let everyone else, all the other Democrats, you know, have stronger voices. But the minute she announces, she's going to have to have a plan about how to get rid of Iraq. I mean, she's actually suggested maybe we should send in more troops and she better have a Nixon-esque secret plan or I think she's in trouble. But I think that, you know, for the Democrats, the problem is that Katrina exposed the incompetence of Iraq and Americans were able to see them on a split screen and the same exact problems existed. They were warned by experts before they went in. They blew it off. They failed to send enough troops early enough to stop the law and order and chaos problems. Then they gave all the no-bid contracts to Halliburton and staffed everything with incompetent Bush loyalists and cronies. So the public can see that this administration has always been incompetent, but the Democrats aren't in a position to take advantage of it because they went along with Bush on authorizing a war based on false premises.

Mr. Russert: In fact, Tom Friedman, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Evan Bayh all voted to authorize the president to go to war in Iraq. Those--only senator opposed who's thinking of running for president was Russ Feingold. And there's been some discussion in liberal circles about Al Gore mounting an anti-war campaign for president in 2008. How do you see the divide within the Democratic Party on Iraq and how does that affect the president's ability to execute the war?

(more... )

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. If Al runs..

...I'm the first guy in line with my VISA card.

America doesn't deserve a mulligan after Junta Boy, but I'll say 'Thank You, God' and work my ass off for President Gore.

[caledesi]

13. Same here. I would support President Gore. nt

[BeyondGeography]

2. Count me in as well

We need a bona fide anti-war candidate in 2008. Gore's credentials in this area, as well as his demonstrated competence at running a government, make him an ideal candidate in many respects. At the very least, his presence in the field will upgrade the quality of the discussion and, should someone beat him out, they will be the better for it.

Run Al run!

[peace frog]

3. What sweet revenge, what delicious irony...

if Al Gore took the 2008 presidential election by a landslide. Goddamn, it gives me shivers of joy just contemplating it. Yes indeedy, RUN AL RUN! I'll do everything I can to ensure he takes his rightful place (8 yrs late but revenge is a dish best eaten cold) as POTUS.

[colbushwhacker_2000]

4. Al Gore

.......please run and restore some sanity to this screwed up world.....

Go Al, we need you and your leadership !

[Turn CO Blue]

5. Gore rightfully belongs in the White House, and I will

do everything I can to right that wrong.

[tridim]

6. He's my top choice right now

Not only anti-war, but pro-environment and pro-alternative fuels. He's exactly what the world needs right now.

Gore/Dean in 08! That's a dream ticket IMO.

[caledesi]

14. That would be my dream ticket. nt

[deminks]

7. I think President Gore should serve his first term now.

Not one more death in the phony wars, not one more poor person denied services, not one more child left behind, not one more degree warmer, not one more cent for oil and gas, not one more unaffordable or dangerous drug, not one more ...

[Tennessee Gal]

8. Gore/Clark 2008!

Go for it Al!

[Davis_X_Machina]

10. You gotta move...

..heaven and earth to get Gore on a poll at DKos, MyDD and other places that do straw polls. They've got polls with Vilsack, and Bayh, and Richardson instead.

I wonder how many of the 'other' and 'no f*cking idea' votes over there are really Gore votes?

[snowbird42]

11. They had a dream candidate poll

On Kos and Al won.

[peace frog]

15. Oh HELL yes!

Dream team for sure.

[Guaranteed]

22. That has to be it. That is our strongest ticket.

That ticket makes me feel HOPEFUL.

[sarcasmo]

31. I second the motion. Gore/Clark 2008

Will two terms be enough to get the country back to even on the deficit numbers?

[snowbird42]

9. Im for Al

What is the word?

Should we start writing letters?

[mitchtv]

19. 2 more here in SoCal

It took a long time, especially Partner, who thought" no he is a Loser" now thinks he's the only one. He has no Iraq hanging around his neck like a millstone.

[AntiCoup2K4]

12. President Gore should seriously explore the possibilities......

....but he should do so "undercover" for now. Whoever is named as a candidate now, is in serious risk of overexposure by late 2007 when the general public starts to care about a Presidential race again. On that note, I'm not too concerned about certain other candidates and their psuedo-democratic "think tanks" are doing, overexposing their pathetic candidates at the moment.

I just hope Al doesn't fall into that trap.

[Tatiana]

16. The Dems should seriously consider doing some polling

on the possibility of a Gore/Clark ticket.

Now that Clark is getting the exposure and chance to articulate his positions (outside the realm of war, i.e. disaster management), I think he'd be a great candidate on his own, but who would complement him?

[tedoll78]

18. That's my dream ticket.

Even long 5 years later, I still get weak-kneed at the idea of an Al Gore presidency.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

17. But only if Daryl Hammond reprises the role.

If only Will Ferrell would come back and do one more Al and George skit, this time with George begging Al to come back because he's screwed it all up so badly.

[drummo]

25. But the best Gore imitator is this one

http://current.tv/studio/media/318977

:rofl:

[Clarkie1]

20. None of the potential presidential candidates are Pro-war.

They are ALL anti-war.

These are the kind of media statements that are absolutely meaningless in the stir they cause.

What does anti-war mean in this context? Bring the troops home tomorrow and let the chips fall where they may? Does anti-war mean anti-military, does it mean the Democratic Party will never support the use of military force in a foreign land, or just be too timid and "anti-war" to use force when necessary in a post-9/11 world?

Yeah, let's reinforce all those worn-out stereotypes about Democrats the neo-cons love; it will make the outcome of the next election a whole lot easier to predict.

[AlGore-08.com]

21. In Gore's case it means he had the foresight to oppose it from the start

Gore is the only major Dem who opposed the invasion of Iraq, and he first spoke out against it in September, 2002 - - a couple weeks before Congress voted to authorize it.

As far as the Dem primary goes, the Dems who voted for the the war or supported it early on are extremely vulnerable, compared to Gore. The war was a bad idea. It was based on faulty intelligence or outright lies. For a Dem primary candidate to have supported the war at any time to have to face Gore in the primary means they risk having to use one of the following excuses for their support:

1.) I am so incompetent that I believed the war was a great idea and the intel was right and that Bush was being honest... but now that thousands of people are dead, I realize all the things I should have realized back in September, 2002. You know, back when Al Gore realized them.

2.) I am so cynical that I knew the war was a stupid idea, that the intel was bogus, that Smirk was lying, but I voted for it anyway because it was so d*mn popular, unlike Al Gore, who opposed it on principle. Now that the polls have changed, and Al Gore's position is the popular one, you can bet your *ss I agree with Al Gore.

3.) I continue to support the war, despite the fact that it's a disaster for our foreign and domestic policy and it's getting more unpopular every minute. I can't get enough of American soldiers dying in Iraq just so that we lack funds and the equipment to rescue babies and nursing home residents from natural disasters.

[Clarkie1]

23. O.K., but what does Gore propose we do now?

I'm not really interested in dredging up the past, we need to focus on the situation as it exists today.

[drummo]

26. That past matters.

Because it shows

1. who has judgment in crisis situations and who doesn't
2. who cares more about polls than about our national security.

It's quite possible that by 2008 we will have left Iraq in large numbers. Then you will have to pay attention to that past to see who is qualifed and who is not.

[Clarkie1]

27. Well, yes. But it doesn't matter as much as the present.

Does Gore have a particular plan for what to do re: Iraq at the present time.

I really like Gore, and would like to know his thoughts on the issue.

[rabid_nerd]

28. I see, so the fact that Bush did coke and had a DUI and went AWOL...

...doesn't matter, as long as he won't do it again, right?

http://slate.msn.com/?id=2071500
2002

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0911-26.htm
2005

[NMDemDist2]

24. if Nixon could do, Gore can do it! I'd support him again, a policy wonk

is a badly needed commodity in DC these days IMO

[kma3346]

29. Add me to the chorus!

I would wholeheartedly support him in every way I could!

:kick:

[Adelante]

30. What does Al Gore have to say about Iraq now?

Not in 2002, when, incidentally, he was not the only Democrat speaking against the war, but now? What are his views on troop withdrawal? How does he see the situation evolving or degrading if we do withdraw? How does he feel about timelines? Has he got a plan? If not, is there a plan out there that he is favoring over the other plans out there?

These are real questions and I don't see any answers. I just see what a great president he would be, and I agree he would be a great president, but how would he lead us out of this war in a way that does not leave a worse bloodbath in our wake and does not incite regional war? I want to know these things, because being "anti-war" or "anti-this-war" is not enough.

Is it true he gave a speech at the demonstration on Friday? That's been mentioned. What did he say about Iraq that he wasn't saying three years ago? What is his position NOW?