Californians told to stop draft Gore efforts

[proud2BlibKansan]

A member of Al Gore's staff has asked them to cease the effort to put Al Gore's name on the primary ballot. A friend in California just forwarded me the email she received:

Today I had a communication from a member of Al Gore’s staff discouraging any efforts to put Al Gore’s name on any primary ballot. Accordingly, effective immediately, we should all cease our signature collection and related fund raising activities. I will communicate tomorrow with the California Secretary of State that they should stop tallying any Nomination Papers. Further, I have communicated this information to the coordinators of the campaigns in Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire, as well as with representatives of draftgore.com and algore.org.

:cry:

[rosesaylavee]

1. I guess I need a link before I believe it.

I need more information about who this staff person is and what the email actually says.

[SharonRB]

2. It's really over

The steering committee of America for Gore and all of the organizers got an e-mail from one of the head people at algore.org. Everyone has been asked to stop all efforts to get him on any ballots and to stop raising money.

I started crying when I read the e-mail on my phone just as I was getting ready to put my make-up on this morning. I didn't realize how hard it would hit me, since I was fairly resigned to the fact that it wasn't going to happen.

[rosesaylavee]

5. Is it possible to get the gist of the email

posted here?

I must be in denial as it hasn't hit me yet. I do not believe it. I do not believe that he would let a staffer make the announcement.

[catgirl]

15. I'm trying to find out who the staffer is

The staffer only contacted Roy Gayhart (CA). He then passed on the info. to
all the other groups. Roy's email only mentions ballot states, not write in states.
We were told the staffer is very close to Gore.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Here is the email I was forwarded:

Hello everyone,

Today I had a communication from a member of Al Gore’s staff discouraging any efforts to put Al Gore’s name on any primary ballot. Accordingly, effective immediately, we should all cease our signature collection and related fund raising activities. I will communicate tomorrow with the California Secretary of State that they should stop tallying any Nomination Papers. Further, I have communicated this information to the coordinators of the campaigns in Massachusetts, New York and New Hampshire, as well as with representatives of draftgore.com and algore.org.

I want you all to know how much I appreciate the experience that I have had working with and getting to know all of you. I am confident that we were on the cusp of doing something that had never been done before. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have succeeded. I believe that our efforts have not been in vain. I also believe that this does not represent a “Sherman statement” by the Gore camp. We know that Al Gore knows how to say “No.” For reasons he explained in the Rolling Stone interview, he continues to leave the door open on a future decision.

For those of us who are passionate about Al Gore, we can shift our time and money to the Alliance for Climate Protection. In his recent interviews, one of Gore’s consistent messages is that he is committed to changing the consciousness regarding climate protection before he can entertain political aspirations. Those of us who are in this for the long-run can choose to work with him to remove the obstacles and shift the consciousness. Al Gore was quoted as saying in his recent Rolling Stone interview: “It is a mistake to think of the climate crisis as one in a list of issues that will define our future. It is the issue.”

He also was quoted in that interview as directing the following to those of us who have placed our hopes in him: “Well thank you for felling that way about me. Please trust me to make good decisions about where I can do the most good, and don’t automatically assume that running for president again is the right thing for me to do. If you feel that way, and I decide for sure not to be a candidate again – well, sorry. But if I do get back involved in the political system at some point in the future – well, keep that energy stored up and let’s have a go at it then.”

Thanks a million!

Roy Gayhart

[evlbstrd]

3. Got that mail last night.

Damn.

[rosesaylavee]

6. Can you post the email here?

Thanks

[evlbstrd]

7. Here it is:

Dear Organizers:

We have received a communication from a member of Al Gore’s staff discouraging our efforts to put Al Gore’s name on any primary ballots. This includes California, New York, Massachusetts, and the write-in effort in New Hampshire, as well as any other states that are working to get him on the ballot. Accordingly, effective immediately, we are recommending that all groups cease their signature collection and related fund-raising activities.
Some of you may wonder about the discrepancy between this message and the one sent out last week. We have attempted to bring you information as we receive it, and only information that is credible, and last week’s information came from credible sources, but not sources from within Gore’s office. Unfortunately, today’s communication comes from Gore’s staff and trumps the information we received last week.

We’re all reeling and in a bit of a state of shock, and our main objective right now is to get people to stop working for something we’ve been discouraged from pursuing. Beyond that, we recognize that for many this will feel like getting hit by a Mack truck. It’s impossible to convey the deep disappointment we all feel, but we’ve been to hell and back again with this, and just as we hung together in the past, we’ll grieve together and get support from the community we built. Regardless of how we attempt to deal with this blow, we should at least now be able to turn our attention back to family, friends, and jobs that have been neglected over these long months of hard work. We built a community of support and supporters, and I believe our lives were enriched for having known each other and worked together for this cause we believe in so strongly. Many of us have formed permanent bonds with people in this movement that transcend the political ideology that brought
us together in the first place. These are ties that will last a lifetime.

We’ll be putting out more communications in the days ahead, but for now we felt it was urgent to get this information out to people so they wouldn’t put any more time or money into the effort. I hope we can turn our grief and disappointment into something more positive and productive in the future.

There are no words to express our sorrow at having to deliver this news, but I’m afraid it is real, and the request needs to be heeded.

With deepest regrets,

--Karen

Karen Wunderman
Chief of Staff, Volunteer Division
AlGore.org

[SharonRB]

10. You beat me to it

I was going to ask Karen if it was okay to spread this around, but then I heard Cenk saying the news was out on Kos already this morning on my way to work, so I knew the cat was out of the bag.

The party's over.....

[evlbstrd]

11. Sadly, yes.

Time to think a while.

[SharonRB]

9. Hey, you

:hi:

It probably came in while I was sleeping -- I checked my e-mail on my phone while I was getting ready for work and it started my day out pretty badly. I didn't realize how hard it would hit me even though I figured it would come eventually.

[evlbstrd]

14. Hi, Sharon.

It looks like we're going to have a pretty subdued holiday down in our parts. If only the barleywine were ready.

[mopinko]

4. damn

damn damn damn damn damn
beer oc'lock is going to come awful early today.

well, at least we were right about one thing- we did get our sherman statement. i would be nice of al to put out a statement himself, tho.

[marlakay]

8. I wonder why he waited so long to do it

now of all times is weird...he was up in the polls, Hillary is fucking up royally and Al could have easily stepped in but now its obvious he didn't want to so why keep us waiting?

Sorry if I sound angry but I guess I am. When i heard online last night I thought i had given up a few days ago but didn't realize i was still holding out a slim bit of hope that got totally squashed last night.

I was so upset for the country and the lack of any real leadership from any side, shit I would take a frog at this point if it would fix us...

I feel so hopeless...i know Al wasn't a god but i thought he was the leader to shake up the congress and get things back on track.

I don't see anyone in our country able to do that...i feel hopeless today...

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. I am angry

I feel like he dangled us along for months. I kept thinking he would declare soon or we would hear that Sherman statement. And we never did.

Between this and his failure to fight back in 2000, I don't know if I can support him as a candidate in the future. I can support his environmental work but not a candidacy.

I am going to have to sleep on it for awhile but today I am pissed.

[Uncle Joe]

16. He did fight back in 2000, longer than any other candidate in U.S. history.

I don't believe his intentions were ever to dangle anyone, I believe Al Gore to be a person of conscious balancing titanic size considerations. I trust Al Gore's judgment and will support him for whatever he decides to do.

Peace to you, proud2Blib.

[NastyDiaper]

22. these ballot afforts were not just 'run al run'

they were the real draft.

he stopped it.

[rosesaylavee]

17. Ok - maybe I am drinking some koolaid here

but this seems very unlike Gore. I don't think he would leave it to a staffer to inform the troops.

[Pastiche423]

19. That is what has me not accepting

the emails just yet.

And wouldn't http://www.draftgore.com/ have a notice on their front page by now?

Actually, none of the Al Gore sites have the "news".

[rosesaylavee]

20. I am still waiting.

It doesn't make sense that there would not be a press release issued from Gore's office.

For all we know this is a disgruntled employee with an ego problem.

[mopinko]

21. does seem strange to me, also.

not necessarily not true, but really.

[catgirl]

28. The "staffer" is his righthand man

There was no email. It was a phone call. The only way we'll get Gore
in to the White House is at the national convention (which is a long shot).
Sorry, I don't have all the details and I'm not at privledge to give his name.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[NastyDiaper]

18. We did exatly what we set out to do.

High teens, Media swooning, All the way to November.

But the decision was not ours.

Love to all.

[lildreamer316]

23. This doesn't make any sense.

No, really.
I understand the concept of no-go here, and am ready to try and deal with the disappointment of a statement of not running; however:
it seems to me to be EXTREMELY out of character for Mr. Gore to not make this announcement himself, in some wide-broadcasted way. He repeatedly said he was not ready to make a Shermanesque statement, so logically, the way to say that he was not running would be to come out publicly (or on his official site) and MAKE that Shermanesque statement. Also, since he had not entered into the race up to this point, what exactly was the great purpose of the three belief/'position' statements on Current.com? No one had really asked him in a pressuring, we-really-want-to-know way about these things, so why did he feel the need to make a statement about how he feels about VERY RELEVANT issues, issues that are VERY hot-button on the campaign trail as we speak?
This seems, for lack of a better word, a very frivolous and off-hand way to treat something so many people take so seriously. It seems very out-of-character for a man who is always of his word and personally responsible - self-effacing, even.
The 'position' pieces do not make sense in a view that he is primarily campaigning for the environment. If so,then why bother talking about ANYTHING else? If he's going to concentrate on just the global warming issue; then that was essentially wasted time that he could have used to encourage viewers to a greener lifestyle.
I don't know. I am not trying to formulate any hypotheses as to the whys and wherefores of this whole thing. I'm just going to wait and see what he ACTUALLY says on his public appearances, on Current, and on his website.
Sorry, maybe I'm in la-la land, but this just does not make any sense. Either he is not the man I thought he was, or something else is going on.

[JTFrog]

24. This was the worst birthday present ever.

And it wasn't even on a Friday this year.

[Pastiche423]

25. I have again checked every Al Gore site that I know of

and none of them has any updates about the email to stop gathering signatures or any effort to put his name on a primary ballot.

Have sent an email to Draft Gore.com and as of now, have not received a reply. The only article that came up in a Google news search was:


November 13, 2007 - 8:57AM
SACRAMENTO — Organizers of a grassroots statewide campaign to put former Vice President Al Gore’s name on the California presidential primary ballot announced today that it is halting its activities.

“We have recently received a communication from a member of Al Gore’s staff discouraging any efforts to put Al Gore’s name on the primary ballot,” said Roy Gayhart, organizer for California Draft Gore.

More than 1,000 Californians had volunteered to collect signatures ballot across the state to qualify Gore’s name to be placed on the Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary.

Gore announced Monday that he was joining the Menlo Park venture-capital firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a partner focusing on cleantech investments.

That's it. No mention of any other Al Gore groups.

If true, why isn't it headlines on any MSM?

[lildreamer316]

26. That's what has me puzzled. You would think there would be mass celebration,

from the way they've been manuvering around in the press lately. I guess I can understand some of the draft sites not wanting to put it up yet, maybe from sheer dissapointment, but I again go back to the point that I just don't think this makes any sense.

How was it handled in 2004? Didn't AL himself come out and issue a statment?

And there are other draft movements that have not heard a thing. Is that because they don't really have enough impact, or what?

Confusion reigns.

[Pastiche423]

27. How he handled it before...

Expert Comment: Al Gore's Decision Not to Run In 2004

Posted on December 16, 2002 at 3:11 p.m.

WHAT:

Former Vice-President Al Gore has announced he will not seek the presidency in 2004.


http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=55069

He made a definitive statement in 2002.

[mopinko]

29. curiouser and curioser

when i wrote that post in gd asking for peace i didn't even think i needed to explain. i figured it would be all over everywhere. but i agree, it is just not out there. things that make you go hmmmmmm.....

[Gidney N Cloyd]

30. There HAS to be another shoe that's going to drop.

I don't know if it's going to be a positive development for Gore supporters or the final nail in the coffin but if all Gore's people really wanted to do was end the movement, this is the oddest and least effective way of doing it I could ever dream of.