Gore: I haven't ruled it out

[The Count]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2007280113,00.html
DURING his interview with Victoria Newton, Al Gore gave the clearest hint yet that he may run for US President.

"But when I asked Mr Gore if he would consider going for the job, he replied: “I have not ruled it out entirely because I’m only 59, and 59 is the new 58, you know. But I don’t expect to be a candidate again.”

[Double T]

1. Sounds like Gore should be removed from the Short List............

permanently. I think Al Gore has other important work to do.

[The Count]

8. UMMM -I read just the opposite!

But I guess we all project what we want, right?

[Double T]

10. "But I don't expect to be a candidate again."

Sounds like Al has made up his mind; can't say I blame him.

[The Count]

11. "I haven't ruled it out" - sounds like he didn't, can't say I don't agree & hope

[William769]

2. I love Al Gore.

But am growing tiresome of the double talk.

He would have instantly been my candidate of choice, but that is decreasing by the day.

[BobRossi]

5. Double talk?

He has made it quite clear that he has no interest in running. And he won't.

[The Count]

9. Just because "you want it now" and he's not indulging you?

This race was launched way too early as it is.

[frogcycle]

3. Assuming for the moment that he DOES think he MIGHT

but feels that the later he says so the better, what else would you have him say?

He can't give a flat no, and he can't say "I'm in."

As long as they keep asking over, and over, and over, you're going to hear the same answer over, and over, and over.

If you're tired of it, don't listen.

[The Count]

12. I'm hardly tired of it. "59 is the new 58" was hillarious, BTW.

I merely quoted the article - which is from a UK tabloid, BTW. I was kinda happy of his choice of words.

[frogcycle]

18. i was responding to William769

misplaced it

[JTFrog]

4. There is no way he can announce a presidency before

Live Earth. There is no way that he would make that a political affair. It's far too important that he get that message out without it being seen as part of a presidential campaign.

This is a ridiculously long campaign season. Good for him for staying out of it as long as possible and letting the Obama and Hillary people tear each other to shreds. He doesn't need the money so why on earth would he jump into the shark tank with them?

While the others burn out and he continues to shine, he could literally be like the tortoise just waiting at the finish line. He knows without a doubt that he'll need someone in the WH to actually follow up on all the changes needed to save the planet. And I don't think he'll hesitate to be that someone when the timing is right.

Every time someone asks him and he doesn't say flat out NO, I'm hopeful. I'm in no hurry, as I believe in the end he will make the right decision.

*edit - Live Earth, not Earth Day :blush: 7/7/7

[elocs]

6. So many here want to only see and hear the "I haven't ruled it out"

and ignore the "But I don't expect to be a candidate again". I think people will feel more free to be excited about other candidates when Gore can finally bring himself to say that he definitely is not running. Unless he runs, but he hasn't ruled out not running either because he hasn't ruled out running.

[JTFrog]

7. I hear every word he says.

I believe in the end he'll make the right decision. That decision may be not to run. Whatever his decision, I'll always respect and love the man for what he's doing for the world.

I just don't think that he's going to watch the country elect a president that he feels won't carry out the actions needed to avert the crisis.

[The Count]

13. "feel more free to be excited?" Gore is restraining our excitement freedom?

What a strange statement to make! The only candidate I could be more excited about than Gore is Clark - and if he runs, whatever Gore does, I'll still vote Clark.
Each candidate produces excitement on his/her own merits. It's not Gore's fault we have such an uninspiring field.

[elocs]

20. Pretty simple actually.

Let's say you are a man and are surrounded by eligible women, but one of them is super hot and has all of your attention. When the super hottie is gone, no longer eligible, you begin to look at and notice the others and maybe find one that you can get excited about. In this world there are many men who are excited about a woman that others would not look twice at and consider to be ordinary.

[jakem]

14. yawn

[Apollo11]

15. This is also what Al Gore said on CNN

Al Gore on Larry King Live - CNN - May 22, 2007

GORE: I am not thinking about being a candidate. I have no plans to be a candidate. But, yes, it's true, I have not made a so- called Sherman statement and ruled it out for all time. I see no reason or necessity to do that.

But that's not an effort to be coy or to prop the door open or to invite such speculation. Look, I don't know why it's ordained that one -- that as soon as one presidential campaign is over with, the next one begins right away. I'm one of those who doesn't like to see the Christmas goods put into storage right after Halloween.

And I think the American people are not well-served by having an endless campaign. We are 500 days away from the next election. So why just sort of close up the field and say, OK, this is it. Place your bets. I don't have to play that game.

KING: No, you don't. But -- and I don't mean to be coy, but why not take the Sherman approach? Why not say, I don't want to run, and if nominated, I won't serve?

GORE: Or whatever. Well, I see no reason to do that. Why would I do that?

KING: Because when you don't, you leave things open.

GORE: Well, look, I'm 59 years old, 59 is the new 58.

KING: And you're 40.

GORE: Well, I have not closed the door at some point in the future to consider being a candidate. But even saying that makes me want to immediately follow up with another disclaimer. Because I don't expect it to happen. And I'm not jockeying to create an opportunity for it.
Look, I'm enjoying my life. And I'm enjoying serving in other ways. I have been focused on a different kind of campaign to persuade people in this country and around the world that we have to respond to the climate crisis. It is by far the most dangerous crisis our civilization has ever faced. And in order to solve, it, we have to address these fundamental problems in the way our democracy is operating today.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/22/lkl.01.html

[Apollo11]

16. Al Gore is keeping his options open

Al Gore is the best person for the job, in terms of his experience, knowledge, intelligence and judgement.

I am dreaming of a Gore-Obama ticket in 2008. But there is no need for Gore to jump in right now.

I think Al Gore is keeping his options open right now, watching how the "pre-season" goes. I don't think he yet knows what he will do. My guess is that the chance of him entering the race is somewhere around 35%.

Gore's current line - "I have no plans to be a candidate" - tells us that right now (today) he has no plans to run. But it doesn't prevent him from changing his plans and making new plans during the coming months.

Depending on how things pan out, and the reaction to his book (The Assault on Reason), Gore can consider his situation over the summer and announce his decision (or if you prefer - "change his mind") sometime in the fall.

It all depends on the circumstances. In September, if the race for the Dem nomination is still wide open and Hillary's campaign is in trouble, it might create the conditions for Gore to enter the race.

Don't forget that Bill Clinton did not kick-off his campaign until October 1991. But Al Gore already has nationwide respect and name recognition that other wannabees can only wish for!

I say that Gore can wait until Sunday November 4th. Exactly one year out from the election, and 10 weeks before Iowa caucuses. Maybe on one of the Sunday TV talk-shows?

Gore would have no problem raising enough money to compete. I'm not worried about the staffing issue. I'm sure there are good people who would quit other campaigns to go and work for Al Gore.

Unless and until Gore endorses another candidate, we have to assume that he is keeping his options open. So it is too soon for those of us who prefer Gore to switch our allegiance.

THE LAST TEMPTATION OF AL GORE
By Eric Pooley
TIME Magazine -- May 17, 2007
Let's say you were dreaming up the perfect stealth candidate for 2008, a Democrat who could step into the presidential race when the party confronts its inevitable doubts about the front runners. You would want a candidate with the grass-roots appeal of Barack Obama -- someone with a message that transcends politics, someone who spoke out loud and clear and early against the war in Iraq. But you would also want a candidate with the operational toughness of Hillary Clinton -- someone with experience and credibility on the world stage.
In other words, you would want someone like Al Gore -- the improbably charismatic, Academy Award-winning, Nobel Prize-nominated environmental prophet with an army of followers and huge reserves of political and cultural capital at his command.
...
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1622597,00.html

Let's all find ways to show our support for Al Gore! :patriot:

Visit Al's site www.algore.com and read his blog http://blog.algore.com

Get ready for Live Earth on 7/7/07: www.liveearth.org

Sign the petitions at www.algore.org and www.draftgore.com

:kick:

[draft_mario_cuomo]

17. Let's hope President Gore runs nt

[ncabot22]

19. I'd love to see Gore run!

Gore/Obama '08....I envy you guys. American politics are so much more interesting than Canadian! hehe.


edited for grammar

[hollowdweller]

21. As long as Gore leaves it open that drains GOP smear money dedicated to the other candidates

As long as there's as many people as possible running on the dem ticket that spreads the GOP smear money out. As soon as there is a front runner with a lock on it then all the swiftboat smear money goes at them.

Gore with his teasing on running and his global warming crusade is running interferance for the actual candidates.

[IndianaGreen]

22. This is not the time to be playing Hamlet

I think we think Gore is going to run because we hope he does. This is like saying that our troops would be welcomed by Iraqis singing and dancing in the streets. We know how that turned out.

[RestoreGore]

23. Al Gore feels there is life after politics

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_206_18/06/2007_84651

Al Gore speaks to Kathimerini about his global environmental campaign, the invasion of Iraq and George W. Bush’s mistakes

By Alexis Papachelas - Kathimerini

It isn’t easy to put oneself in Al Gore’s shoes. In 2000, he won a majority of votes in the US presidential election, only to be defeated just a few days later.

He has changed a lot since I last saw him in 1998: He has put on weight, and his manner is heavier too. He almost seems irritated by questions that take him back to that painful electoral showdown with George W. Bush.

I met with him during his brief visit to Athens, and wondered how different it would have been had he been elected president. The US Embassy kept a discreet but polite distance from the event, and his security detail was strictly Greek, without the involvement of the US Secret Service. A single, young assistant followed Gore everywhere, rather than the scores of officials who accompany a president.

Straightforward, a little stiff, Gore seems impassioned, not only when he talks about the environment, but also when he criticizes Bush’s mistakes, mainly in Iraq. Asked if he’s interested in the presidency, he says he’s not: “I have not ruled out the possibility of running again at some point in the future, but I doubt that that will happen.”

Gore has come to love Greece. His friends say he “found himself again” after the shock of 2000 when he vacationed on Crete as a guest of banker Minos Zombanakis. He seems to have found his role outside the narrow confines of politics. He enjoys his rock-star status in relation to the environment and feels that there is life after politics.
~~~~~~~
So when are people going to stop harping on his words, and start working WITH HIM?

[Colobo]

24. Gore needs to cut the BS.

[FarOut]

25. Is Gore being very clever?

I wonder if Gore is taking a page from Fred Thompson's book, and letting the rest of them wear out their welcome. Might be a very smart strategy, in my humble opinion!