Good reasons why Al Gore should not run for president in 2008.

[TheWraith]

Seeing some of the cheerleading for Gore in 2008 around here, along with a news report suggesting that he's thinking about getting in it, has prompted my to speak my piece on why he absolutely shouldn't do it and would not get my support in the primary.

Don't get me wrong, I think good thoughts about the man. But the 2000 campaign was a disaster, turning what should have been an easy and massive victory into a photo-finish. I keep hearing that he's great and warm and personable up close, but for whatever reason, he seems incapable of playing to the crowd. Maybe that's a sign of integrity, and unwillingness to pander to the idea that personality matters, but in this world the truth is that it does. Combine that with the tactical and strategic blunders of the campaign, and I'd rather not take what's an almost sure Democratic win and throw it up in the air.

Moreover, the last campaign--and particularly the legal fight that ensued--made him damaged goods. He's got ten times too much baggage to ever be viable in a national political arena again. All the jokes, all the smears, would be recycled and piled on top of the new ones.

Last but not least, Gore as the nominee would be tantamount to saying that Dems have no new ideas, nothing better to offer than a candidate who lost an easy election eight years ago.

In my opinion, we need somebody fresh and positive, and little time in the political arena could be a very good thing. Clark, Obama, or Edwards all fit this.

[Larkspur]

1. Hillary as Dem nominee means Dems have no new ideas

She's a DINO

At least Gore has reconnected with his populist roots and has been CORRECT on the major issues of today. Hillary has been more wrong than correct.

[Zodiak]

24. While I agree that she does represent old ideas in the party

I do not agree that she is a "DINO". Her voting record is dead-center in the Democratic party, which ashamedly is about a 50% progressive voting record on big issues (by my calculations). She is the median of the party, so to speak.

There are about 20 more Senators that are worse than she. One can look at it as a good thing that Hilary isn't that bad, but one can look at it as a bad thing that so many of our Senators vote more with BushCo-sponsored legislation and nominations than with us.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Zodiak%20Ironfist

[ThomCat]

2. He seemed cold only because the media lynched him

and portrayed him repeatedly as cold and wooden.

If we only run candidates that the media approves of and portrays well then we're going to have McCain as our candidate. We need to run candidates we think are good and then find ways to hit the media when they run their hatchet pieces.

[ronnykmarshall]

3. Plus he doesn't want to run.

He's said it over and over.

[xultar]

10. If he doesn't want to run I truly respect his wishes. He's been on lots of

campaigns and I'm sure he is tired of the bullshit.

[crud76]

4. I Think Someone Should

Tell Gore, "Hey Al, you won the 2000 election, now get over to the White House and serve your term!"

BTW, you obviously haven't seen Al Gore lately.

[Extend a Hand]

5. I think Al Gore should run

at this point in time global warming and peak oil are threatening the very existence of our planet. There is no other candidate as well prepared as AL Gore to address these issues and lead us through this crisis.

[kimmerspixelated]

19. Yes, That is exactly why he should run..plus

he really is such a changed man, he is no longer Gore the bore, blah,blah,blah...he has so much more passion,passion,passion! THE PLANET NEEDS HIM!!!!

[YDogg]

6. one word. lieberman

in retrospect, I question Gore's judgment. Other than that, I generally liked him.

[quinnox]

7. Some good reasons

but for me I would love to see Gore in the race. Although I am for Hillary Clinton right now, Gore is one candidate that would cause me to seriously re-evaluate my support.

Gore's movie about global warming affected me deeply. It was awesome and showed Gore in a different light than what I had known before.

[JacksonWest]

8. Who cares if the ideas are new? Clearly our ideas were and are better then theirs.

Gore lost in 2000...only he didn't. He's not goingot run on the same platform-but he should still run. Look at history-it's happened before. Nixon was defeated in 1960 and came back to win in 1968 and 1972.

Gore is a good dude. I hope he gives it the old college try.

[fooj]

9. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000...

After all the votes were counted in Florida it was also reported that he WON Florida.

How does this make him a candidate that "lost an easy election"?

The SCOTUS APPOINTED Little Lord Pissypants. That's the long and the short of it.

[mod mom]

11. WTF-"damaged goods"? He won in 2000 and is way more popular now. I think

you are confusing Gore with some of the other candidates in suggesting Dems have no new ideas.

[bajamary]

12. not "old ideas" but right answers for our democracy

I beg to differ. AL Gore does not represent "old ideas" (remember the Declaration of Independence is "old") but right answers for our beleaguered democracy.

As to "playing to the crowd", gee have you seen An Inconvenient Truth? Seems these crowds really connect to Gore and visa versa.

Remember the idea of "wooden " Al Gore came from the MSM.

Let's take back our democracy and our White House with Gore/Obama .

Gore has the experience, the humor, the intelligence and the vision to lead us through a world melting down from hate and global warming.

Remember we did elect him in 2000.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Two important words: Richard Nixon.

For all your reasons given, Richard Nixon had them doubly so, and rebounded remarkably well. Gore is so much further on his way to rehabilitating his image. I highly doubt the reasons you've listed will be very relevant.

But I'll toss one more term out there for you: 2000. Running Al Gore again will give so many Americans that have now turned to hating Bush a good reason to look back and right a wrong. So many Americans will start to envision where we'd be today if we had Al instead of Chimpy in charge, and they will, if they have any reasoning ability whatsoever, determine that we'd be far better off, especially when looking at how many things Al was right about back then.

[catgirl]

14. Gee These Threads Keep Popping Up

the "why Al Gore shouldn't run" threads. They certainly aren't put on by
Dems, Greens, Independents, or anyone else who doesn't want another
idiotic Republican in office.

We'll see these on a daily basis now. The I like him, but.....threads.

[Le Taz Hot]

27. Oh,no, they couldn't POSSIBLY

be from those who support other Democratic candidates who can only build up their person by blasting others. Democrats would NEVER do that. :eyes:

[Crunchy Frog]

29. To be fair, they're popping up for all potential candidates. n/t

[catgirl]

35. Yes, but not in this fashion

These all say....Don't run because....and the poster pretends to
love Gore. Other dems wouldn't do this. In fact, most of the posts
by people who stongly support a candidate that has already announced,
say they'll support Gore if he runs.

[Zodiak]

15. Al Gore 3.0 is a serious upgrade from Al Gore 2.0

Even I didn't like Al Gore 2.0. And if you can guess from my sig, I REALLY didn't like Al Gore 1.0 (the PMRC-promoting one).

I do not think that America thinks of Al Gore in the same way as they did in 2000. A lot has happened, including the vile creature known as Bush.

Some assertions you make that are up for debate:
1. Gore lost the election fair and square, or America believes Gore lost fair and square.
2. Gore is incapable of playing to a crowd.
3. America thinks Gore has no new ideas.

I am not sure any of these are true at all. That must be Al Gore 2.0...the one with all of the DC beltway handlers.

The new Al Gore is entirely different. He has cut loose the beltway handlers, he speaks with fire and brimstone when needed, and he is calm, assuring and positive when in default mode. America also knows what Al Gore stands for more than any other Democrat who has thrown the hat in the arena, and they vastly agree with his message. All that needs to be done is for him to announce that he will run.

And I would argue that the media has a much smaller effect on the U.S. populace now than they did in 2000. Heck, back in 2000, most DUers had no idea how corrupt the media actually was. Nowadays, the suspicion of the media in promoting who and what they wish has promulgated into mainstream awareness.

This is debatable, but I do not think any other candidate has as much potential to unite DUers and the Democratic party, either. He has appeal across the DLC-divide.

[texastoast]

16. Yeppers.

He is a different man. And well he better be. It was hard to tell the two candidates apart in 2000--the result of listening to the beltway handlers. I fell in deep admiration after his Moveon.Org antiwar speech.

[crispini]

32. Bwahahahha!

:thumbsup:

[dsc]

17. You are rewriting history plain and simple

Gore entered the race 20 points down to Bush. In the 16 months of the race Gore went from 20 points down to about .5 points up in the popular vote. That comeback is second only to Truman in percentage of the vote. Historians in retrospect feel that Truman's support was vastly underestimated due to the fact that polls were over the phone and phones weren't commonly owned back then. If not for the Supreme Court Gore would have been the comeback prince of the modern era.

Gore's percent of the vote was the third best of any Democrat since WW2. He did better than all of our losers and better than Truman, Kennedy, and both of Clinton's wins. Only Johnson who ran as the heir of a martyr and against an extremist and Carter who ran against the man who pardoned Nixon, did better. Carter only did about 1% better, BTW.

Gore's margin was 4th best of any Democrat. Truman did better as well as Carter and LBJ. Now that isn't a bad campaign.

[Pierre.Suave]

18. Bill Richardson

NO to Obama, he is not electable, nor is Hillary, Edwards, maybe.

Bill Richardson is the one.

http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/

[Son Of Spy]

20. Good reasons why Al Gore should not run for president in 2008. None

That's none son.

[The_Counsel]

21. Are We DONE With The Assertion...

...that Al Gore somehow pulled defeat from the jaws of victory in 2000?

Yes, that election should have been a slam dunk, but that's if all things were considered equal--which they weren't.

1. Clinton fatigue was very real in 2000. Perhaps not across the nation, but at least in the states that mattered--namely the south. States like Tennessee and Arkansas should have belonged to Gore, but for this little thing known as the Lewinsky scandal. No, it wasn't fair; but it was what it was.

2. The perception that Gore was "wooden" was very real. So was the fact that the real Al Gore was the exact opposite. He has since closed that gap between the loose Al seen mostly in private and the wooden Al seen in public. Ask yourself: when was the last time you saw Wooden Al? The last time *I* remeber seeing him was in 2000.

3. Let's not forget the corporate media that did everything they could to push the "GOP good, Dem bad" meme. They got the memo early that a Republican president was good for business due to tax cuts, etc. Of COURSE they pushed for Bush, despite his obvious shortcomings. They were also lazy enough to simply be the GOP's echo chamber, rather than come up with their own reasons to pine for Bush.

Despite all this (and a few others points I'm too rushed to outline at the moment), Gore still got more votes than anyone to that point in history and was only one state in the Electoral College away from being elected. With all things equal, Gore at least wins Tennessee, and the BushBots would have to try a little harder to steal Florida. Trust me on this: Al Gore isn't as responsible for the loss as some of us think...

[Coyote_Bandit]

22. Primary elections

should be about one thing and one thing only - choosing the candidate that is most likely to prevail in the general election. The best way to assure that the candidate who is nominated is eventually defeated is to vote for whoever is fashionable or whoever has the best ideology or whoever is best able to package their ideas as fresh and new.

IMHO, Gore is the most likely to prevail in the general election. Why? Because of the 2000 fiasco. Because there are a whole lot of Amerikans that have buyers remorse and don't like what they got in 2000. Because a lot of folks really think Gore won in 2000. Because Gore has reinvented himself since 2000. And in doing so he is advancing an issue that many recognize as being important. Because he has learned to lighten up and he plays to a crowd better. Because he will not energize negative votes in the same way that Hillary will. Because he is known and not new and untested. Perhaps, most importantly, he has nothing to lose by running. He has already experienced the absolute worst that a presidential campaign has to offer. That will make him a better candidate. The very things you see as negatives have the potential to be the things that make him the most attractive candidate.

I also beg to differ that 2000 should have been an easy election for him to win. The country seemed to be doing well and the economy was strong. I think there were a lot of apathetic voters who otherwise would have voted Dem who simply did not show up at the polls. Generally, I think it is more difficult for an incumbent to muster turnout than it is for a challenger simply because the incumbent is generally perceived to be the favorite.

[AtomicKitten]

23. Gore has evolved into what would be a great candidate.

And he fought the vote count all the way to the Supreme Court; can't say that about what happened in 2004. Moreover, he would be a "fusion candidate" as someone very aptly said here before. He spoke out against the war BEFORE it went down, and he came out strong for Dean from the get-go. I think he would do well in 2008. But that's me.

[Apollo11]

25. Gore is the best person for the job

But it's true -- that on its own is maybe not enough.

A Presidential Candidate has to be hungry for the job. He or she should be full of energy, ready to connect with people and fire-up crowds.

If this is the main criteria, then maybe we should go with Edwards or Obama.

But neither of them has the same level of experience as Al Gore.

Gore has been proved right on so many issues: the climate, Iraq, PATRIOT Act.

And don't forget that Gore is younger than Hillary, Clark, Kerry, McCain and Giuliani.

I like and respect both Obama and (especially) Edwards. But the fact is they are both relatively inexperienced and unqualified if you compare them to Al Gore. Obama has been 2 years in the Senate and Edwards was 6 years (but the last 2 of those he was concentrating on the 2004 campaign).

I respect the fact that Edwards has come clean about the situation in Iraq, and has admitted he was wrong to vote for the IWR. But I respect much MORE the fact that Gore spoke out agains the Bu$h-Cheney-Rumsfeld policy on Iraq from the beginning - in speeches going back to 2002 - insisting on giving the UN inspectors more time to carry out their mission and maintaining a broad international consensus.

There is no hurry for Gore to enter the race for 2008. He is doing a great job raising public awareness about the climate crisis (he spoke to 10 000 people in Boise on Monday!). He is also busy working on his next book "The Assault on Reason" - to be published in May.

Depending on how things pan out, and the reaction to his forthcoming book, Gore can consider his situation over the summer and announce his decision sometime in the fall. Don't forget that Bill Clinton did not start his campaign until October 1991 - 12 weeks before the start of the '92 primaries. But Al Gore already has nationwide respect and name recognition that other wannabees can only wish for!

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.

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

In Gore We Trust :)
www.algore.com
www.algore.org
www.draftgore.com - Sign the petition!
www.draftgore2008.org
www.patriotsforgore.com

[sofa king]

26. My Al Gore story.

The year was 1993, and I was drunk and stoned at a James Brown concert at Wolf Trap. My pals and I were standing in a circle in the middle of the footpath at the top of the hill, playing hacky sack.

Suddenly a classic Matrix bad-guy in sunglasses and earpiece came up to us and said, "you folks have to move out of the way."

"F you," most of us muttered under our breath, and we continued playing.

About a minute later a line of secret service agents filed past us, all walking through the grass and studiously avoiding our hacky sack circle. Then, Vice President Al Gore stepped up behind one of the players across from me, and with an impish grin on his face said to us, "I'm sorry we interrupted your game."

Jaws dropped to the ground faster than the ball, and the Vice President meandered off to his box seat, chuckling.

That's one of the less important reasons why I want Al Gore to be President. He's got a sense of humor.

[crispini]

34. Awwwwwwwwww.

Thanks for sharing. That's so fracking cool!

[Crunchy Frog]

28. I think that he should run.

We are currently in a state of international crisis, with two wars going on that we are losing. The vast majority of anounced candidates lack the experience and expertise to deal with the situation, and/or were complicit in getting our country into the situation.

I agree that Gore did not run a stellar campaign last time around. I would hope that he's learned some hard lessons, and that he would run his campaign differently this time around.

I don't see him representing "old ideas" at all. The environmental issues that he's been focusing on are going to be the biggest areas of concern for the future. He was also one of very few people who vigorously opposed the Iraq invasion from the start. That will give him a unique moral authority in challenging most of his other possible opponents.

I do not think that now is the time for someone who is very inexperienced in governing, or in national security/foreign policy matters.

[Apollo11]

31. I strongly agree with you, Crunchy Frog!

"I do not think that now is the time for someone who is very inexperienced in governing, or in national security/foreign policy matters."

When you put it like that, who wouldn't want Gore ??? :)

[crispini]

30. "incapable of playing to the crowd?"

Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth? I mean, seriously. The man is GREAT with a crowd. He got that bad rep from the freaking media.

And you know how Americans love a comeback story? Americans love an underdog? Big Al here is the man who has BEEN to the outer darkess and come back stronger and more vitalized. This is the man who now truly deserves to run and win. It's the story of the decade, man, he's the Comeback Kid, he's the New Al Gore^TM. The American people will LOVE IT. His campaign, which will and indeed MUST, be rooted in his deep concern for the environment and his newfound ability to speak truth to power without caring about what his detractors say, will KICK MAJOR ASS.

Sheeeit, it's like a fracking Hollywood Musical, you know? Man is denied the rightful presidency, fights hard, is kicked into outer darkness. His hated rival proceeds to demonstrate exactly how much of an ignoramus he is by getting us into an undeserved war. Our Hero returns to fight for the environment and his long-held passion & the true quality of his nature becomes slowly apparent to the American people as he travels the nation with slideshow, book, and film. American people fall back into the arms of the one they were wrongfully torn away from so long ago and they elect him and live happily ever after in their hybrids and wind-farm-powered homes. I mean, damn, it practically writes itself, it's so good.

And never underestimate the power of a wonderfully told story to change the entire world. ;)

Hey, if the man DOESN'T want to run, he shouldn't run; it is, after all, his life. But he has been so carefully coy in leaving the door open that 5%, one can't help but hope.

Edited to add: P.S. and if you agree, CLICK ON THE LINKS IN MY SIG!

[Apollo11]

33. I strongly agree with you, crispini !!

If Rocky can come back, then so can Al Gore !! :)

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

In Gore We Trust :)
www.algore.com
www.algore.org
www.draftgore.com - Sign the petition!
www.draftgore2008.org
www.patriotsforgore.com