This article focuses a lot on Gore, but some really good Kerry mentions, too:
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=72830WASHINGTON - In the 24 years Al Gore served on Capitol Hill and in the White House, he seldom, if ever, drew the kind of attention he is getting for his triumphant return appearance Wednesday.
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It also illustrates a curious phenomenon in an election cycle that's producing the most crowded presidential field in years: So many politicians have announced plans to run for the White House that some are concluding their clout will be enhanced if they stay out of the fray - at least, for now.
•Gore, who won the popular vote in 2000 but lost to George W. Bush in the Electoral College, has repeatedly said he has no plans to enter the 2008 presidential race. "He always talks about how he's in a new kind of campaign," said Kalee Kreider, Gore's communications director. Instead of delivering stump speeches and raising money, Gore has been schlepping a laptop with his Inconvenient Truth slideshow to audiences all over. "He's trying to bring this issue to a tipping point," Kreider said.
•Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who lost to Bush in 2004, said he decided earlier this year not to make another presidential race in part because he thought another candidacy would make him less effective in the Senate. In a presidential race, candidates' statements and positions are viewed through a cynical prism, Kerry said.
"They're seen as part of the positioning rather than you fighting for something you really believe in" Kerry told USA TODAY.
•Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., offered a similar rationale when he announced this month that he wasn't ready to make a decision about the presidential contest. Hagel ticked off a laundry list of issues he wants to work on, including Iraq and climate change, and said he did not want to "divert my energy, efforts and judgment with competing political considerations."
American history is replete with examples of politicians whose influence grew after they took themselves off the campaign merry-go-round. Kerry said he talked to one of them, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., before opting out of the 2008 race. "He's a terrific example," he said.
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Gore isn't the only one of the non-candidates who is making global warming a priority. Kerry has a book, This Moment on Earth, on the subject coming out next week. He's hoping he can advance his ideas further now that he is not suspected of ulterior motives.
"It's a sad statement about American politics," Kerry said, "but that's really the way it is."
Check out the whole article -- really good, and shows not only Gore, but Kerry, too, in a good light. I want to see more press like this! :)
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