Gore insider: Gore is running a 'brilliant campaign'..

[cal04]

PLS
(snip)
A Gore insider goes further, saying Gore is running a "brillant campaign", full qoute after the break.


While it's not a traditional campaign, "it's the most brillant campaign anyone is running right now", said Martin Peretz, a long time Gore friend and the editor-in-chief of the New Republic..."It may be the most brillant campaign launch in our time".

This does not mean that Gore is just another cynical pol though, as another Democrat points out in the article:

"If he is running, he's doing all the right things," said Brian Melendez, the chairman of the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota. "He tried it the traditional way last time and look what that got him. This time, he's a passionate man indulging his passion. If that happens to take off for him in the next year, he would be very well positioned."

more
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/7/2/95447/31608

[Rose Siding]

1. He's walking the walk of a leader

Good campaign for living one's life -and more important than politics. I happen to think that we need someone who isn't consumed in politics to lead us out of bush's swamp.

[mike_c]

2. it will absolutely require someone with some detachment...

...and perspective-- most current pols are too deeply immeshed in the gamesmanship to find solutions independent of the process, and will therefore risk perpetuating the more fundamental problems.

[Ishoutandscream2]

4. He almost has that confident strut

And he deserves it! Many are lamenting voting for the Chimp over Gore in 2000. They are now seeing what they could have had - an intelligent, compassionate man who could lead.

[Horse with no Name]

21. Not only a man that can lead....a man that can read!

:)

[undeterred]

45. Remember those SNL skits where Gore was reading world economics

and Bozo was reading comic books as they shared the presidency.

It kills me that there are so many voters who are afraid to let intelligent men into the presidency.

Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Edwards, Feingold, Clark, Dean... Hell I would take any one of them in a heartbeat. Shit, I'd even take Biden or Gephart or Gary Hart!

So many good men, and the press attacks them for being too "wooden"... as if the most important criteria is finding someone whose intelligence is almost as low as the general publics.

In the case of Bush, he makes people feel smart because hes such a TOTAL FUCKING MORAN!

[WA98296]

23. Agree. Saw the movie. We have a new and BETTER Al Gore. RUN AL RUN!!!

And, I say that after being openly critical of Gore in the past on these boards.

I now believe Gore would make a GREAT president.
Given his teachings (through the movie) I would say that he has a MORAL obligation to run.

[Mabus]

3. "He's not chasing it, and he's being pursued."

From the article the kos entry is based on:

"He's got the best of both worlds," said Terry Lierman, the Democratic State party chairman in Maryland. "He's not chasing it, and he's being pursued."

Gore's crusade also underscores his devotion to reinventing political communication. Speaking through Moveon.org, for example, allows Gore to deliver his anti-war message unedited to millions of liberals.

***

"He's got no filter between his message and the viewer," said Joe Trippi, who managed Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign and was among the first political operatives to tap into the Internet's power to bypass the traditional media and reach people.

"The movie is a bold step to get a message out without somebody in between the messenger and the consumer."

from Al Gore keeps his options open for a 2008 presidential run

[MissWaverly]

5. I think that it is brilliant too

[TalkingDog]

6. WRITE IN VOTE!! Cuz' I ain't voting for Hil no matter how much I like her

And it would take a hell of a lot for me to vote for any of the rest of them. I'm in step with the rest of the country...the whole lot disgusts me.




My favorite Future Famous Dead Artist: KarenParker

[rep the dems]

22. Not even Russ?

[bowens43]

7. Three words that should never appear in the same sentance:

Gore brilliant campaign

[Mabus]

8. Why? He did run a good campaign in 2000

For example, thes polls in August, 2000 (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/13/cnn.poll/index.html) show Gore decidedly behind Bush in the polls. Less than 3 months later Gore came from behind, and imho, won the 2000 election. You don't do that running a lousy campaign.

CNN/USA TODAY/GALLUP POLL

August 11-12

Suppose that the presidential election was being held today, and it included Al Gore and Joe Lieberman as the Democratic candidates, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as the Republican candidates, Pat Buchanan and Ezola Foster as the Reform Party candidates, and Ralph Nader and Winona LaDuke, the Green Party candidates. Who would you vote for?

Now August 4-5


Bush 55% 54%

Gore 39 37

Nader 2 4

Buchanan * 1


Sampling error: +/-4% pts

[Admiral Loinpresser]

11. Back it up.

Are you aware of the War on Gore in campaign 2000, waged relentlessly by the MSM? You need to answer this basic question. If you are not aware of that, then you are simply uninformed.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

27. I didn't think so. n/t

[vssmith]

35. One thing Gore did not look good in the debates.

I am not talking about the content of his message but his demeanor.

I like Gore as much as anyone too.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

37. I agree.

Although he clearly won each debate in the polls (if memory serves), he certainly could have done a better job with demeanor, especially in debates 2 & 3.

I wasn't trying to take an absolutist position, just trying to "out" one of those hit-and-run types who clings to the MSM themes.

I have yet to see a near-perfect campaign and doubt that I ever will. But as to 2000, I believe it was a good, maybe excellent campaign. George W. Bush looked invincible in the polls in March 1999. He was up around 20 points over Gore and so when I hear somebody say (e.g. Bryant Gumbel) Gore ran a horrible campaign, I used to get crazy. Now that Gore has been vindicated I tend to laugh it off more.

But when somebody makes a ridiculous statement like Bowens43 (upthread) on a progressive site I challenge it, so the uninformed nature of the comment can be exposed.

My favorite is that Gore should have won by a country mile because the economy was so good and because Bush is an idiot. Any serious student of politics knows that a good economy is a great help to an incumbent president, but little or no help to incumbent VP. As to the "idiot" argument, just ask Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale & John Kerry whether running against an idiot makes winning trivially easy.

[rman]

17. Repubs sure would hate to see that.

[w4rma]

30. Ignorant. (nt)

[sweetheart]

9. poverty

His "uplift" program to end world poverty is the more interesting of the lot, and i've not
heard much about it yet, but i hear he's got edwards cornered by coming out against
prohibition as a solution to substance abuse in our culture; what about a peace dividend of
medical care for all persons at the very least. The civil contract is eroded that we can't
look another citizen in the face and feel that anything between us is honourable, that our
social contract is to murder and support thieves; and while a million nonviolent cannabis smokders
are in prison-crime networking academies sucking down state funding for punative waste.

I love Gore's new thinking, his action centeredness. If he's gonna run, then he should come
out now and help the dems with this election midterm as a future presidential contender,
and this rainmaker role will give him the fancy of the nation. Gore's new thinking, yes! refreshing!
:=)

[bobbolink]

15. My one hesitance about Gore--no mention of poverty.

I'm interested in what you mentioned, as I hadn't heard of it before. If you find more info on it, I'd appreciate you posting it!

I'm done with supporting candidates who won't speak out on poverty. I hope Gore sees the light on this.

A movie about poverty as effective and moving as Inconvenient Truth is definitely needed!

Thanks again for posting this. :hi:

[sweetheart]

19. poverty can't buy votes

I'm afraid my post was a bit of cheek, and i've not heard a whiff about poverty from Mr. Gore.
It is perhaps a sign he's not running? Or its just a sign that if he does run, he'll be expected
to return a green DLC to leadership, and then without the poor, jesus ends up on the other side,
and i'm uncomfortable.

So sorry for being cheekey, but i don't know if Mr. Gore's made a film on ending global poverty,
an absolute choice.

[bobbolink]

20. Well, so much for my gullibility.

I'm beyond support *ANY* candidate who can't speak up for poverty, and that includes Gore.

Your subject line really got me. Unfortunately, that is the official "progressive" stance.

Even though it's not true..... they actually NEED our votes, but they won't go after them by supporting poor folk issues.

Too bad for them, cuz many of us just won't vote that way anymore.

[lonestarnot]

10. Kick ass AL!

[AtomicKitten]

12. Gore in 2000 ...

The criticism of Gore in 2000 was so harsh, according to the Weekly Standard, "If Gore walked
on water, people would deride him for not being able to swim."

I have no doubt Gore would kick the every lovin' shit out of any Republican opponent in 2008.

We should be so lucky.

[tomreedtoon]

28. I have few doubts that Gore would LOSE if he ran today.

You guys just forgot what happened in 2000, didn't you? And possibly 2004? Did you forget how the Republican attack machine was ready? How it's ready now?

I grant that if Gore does try to run a "non-campaign campaign" he'll have fewer critical hits from the thugs. But if he becomes a candidate, he automatically gets all the consultants and schmucks who blew the last two elections, because nobody in the Democratic Party has the foresight or courage to drag them out of their offices and drown them in a toilet.

Does Gore have a plan to tackle his two greatest opponents: the Republican thugs and the Democratic consultants?

[AtomicKitten]

29. "you guys?"

Gore has already declared he'd let it rip this time around. He oozes confidence now. He's made a wad on the board of Apple and won't be looking for $$$ like the other corporate whores.

And if you think for one minute that ANY Democratic candidate would escape the GOP wrecking machine, you aren't paying attention or maybe YOU forgot. However, America is starting to catch on to the schoolyard bully-boy tactics of the Republicans.

You might want to youtube some of Gore's speeches the last few years and observe him at his many appearances all over the tee-vee. He's got a fire in his belly and a sassy 'tude to match.

Your hand-wringing is for naught, unless trying to cast doubts is your game in which case it's also for naught.

[tomreedtoon]

44. "You guys," i.e. DU posters, are WAY too optimistic.

Yes, there's a lot of "me-too-ism" on DU, explaining the "you guys" reference. But little of it is actually looking at the scene.

Inasmuch as I work for a network affiliate on the "tee-vee," I know where Gore has appeared. In the Sunday news-show intellectual ghetto. He isn't a name to the public. If you walk through the average supermarket or hardware store and ask people, "What do you think of Gore?" they'll say "There's too much of it in movies. They ought to make nice movies again."

As far as the schoolyard bully tactics, there is nothing the public loves more than a loud ass-whupping. Like it or not, public attention goes to the biggest bully, and not to the kid who lays there and takes those blows and razor blade cuts. Republicans know it; Democrats deny it.

My contention is that Gore and Kerry allowed Bush, and his gang of thugs, to beat up on them and didn't fight back effectively. (And no, "fighting back" is not telling George Stuffitupyuras on Sunday morning that you politely disagree with the person lacerating you. "Fighting back" is calling Bush a draft-dodger and a major cause for global warming in a national speech, and hammering that point home every hour, every day, until the election.)

The moment you see Jay Leno or David Letterman pick up on a news report of a Gore attack on Bush, and make jokes about it, then you may have some reason for celebrating. That's the true measure of media consciousness, not Internet videos watched only by the faithful.

[kentuck]

13. Al Gore is waiting on one thing to happen before he officially decides...

In my opinion, he will not run if he does not have a majority in the House and at least a "working" minority in the Senate. He has no appetite to spend any more time with the Republicans attacking him from their positions of power. The Democrats will need to win in November and Al Gore will make his decision at that time, imo... :)

[bobbolink]

16. Which means going after election fraud.

Go, Bobby! Stir up those sleeping Dems, and get their heads out of the sands of denial about election fraud.

[AnOhioan]

34. With your post in mind...I have a point to make...

We all sit here wondering what Al will do. How about we help his decision along by getting a Democratic majority in November. That means working for the Democratic campaign of your choice. Volunteering, donating, put a damn bumpersticker on your car. Do something, ANYTHING, that will help to elect a member of the Democratic Party.

If we can manage to get a majority in one or both houses of Congress, THEN we can start the debate about who best represents our interests in 2008. Until the the 2006 elections are a done deal, the debate is pointless and takes away from the more urgent need right now. I might add that if we fail to win back at least the House in November, we will have walled off a very important avenue of escape from the fascist thugs that currently are in control.

[earth mom]

14. GORE/RFK JR. 2008-The HOTTEST ticket EVER!

:bounce:

They would win in a landslide! :woohoo:

[rman]

18. that would be the day

!

[iconoclastNYC]

24. I like him; I just wonder if he's too into the corporate cookie jar

I really like that he endorsed Dean, and has been the most early and outspoken critic of the Bush administration; I like that he seems to be moving back to the left away from DLC centrism.

But I still have my doubts that he'd be able to take the bully pulpit and run with it. I'm not sure.

[rosesaylavee]

31. Two things: Have you seen the movie? And which potential

candidate for 2008 is not in the corporate cookie jar?

IMO, Gore has momentum building from this movie - and is showing what kind of leadership we could expect from him by his actions portrayed in this movie.

And speaking to the poverty issues above, I think that if he is allowed his lead on the environmental issue, jobs would be created by applying the answers. I saw the movie and besides being awed by how incredibly fubar it all seems, I also thought there is great economic opportunity here as the rest of the global economies are beginning to cash in on the technology addressing these issues. My hope is that the boom will rival the dot com industry of the 90s that lifted us out of the last repug-built deficit.

edit - grammar

[iconoclastNYC]

39. Haven't seen his movie yet.

But In the age where insurance companies and other large corporate concerns are demanding action on global climate change I'm not sure we can draw conclusions on Gore's willingness to challenge corporate power based on this movie.

Most of the suspected candidates for 2008 are DLC and of course Gore is a better pick than those corporate toadies: (Clinton, Bayh, Warner.)

I'm sure by the time we have to vote in the primary we'll have enough information on the candidates to make the righ choice.

My pick right now is Feingold. They'll label him as an abject "liberal", but I think he'd be a good sell to moderate Republicans who are outraged by Bush and can look past the GOP smears and aren't bothered by his support for gay marriage.

From Wikipedia:

-On March 13, 2006, Senator Feingold introduced a resolution in the US Senate to censure President George W. Bush. This was a result of allegations of illegal wiretapping, as reported in the New York Times, that the President did not follow the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), which mandates use of a surveillance court for approval of wiretaps on Americans. In its history, the court has understood the request for intelligence and in only rare instances has turned down a request.

-On April 4, 2006, Feingold told constituents at a listening session in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that he supported the legalization of same-sex marriage.

-On environmental issues, he was given scores of 100% from the League of Conservation Voters <41>, and 73% from CUSP <42>. The American Civil Liberties Union gave him a score of 89%.

- Feingold was one of 23 US senators to vote against H.J. Res. 114, which authorized President George W. Bush to use force against Iraq

- Feingold was the only senator to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act when first voted on in 2001.

- Feingold is also a well-known advocate for reductions in pork barrel spending and corporate welfare. Citizens Against Government Waste, the Concord Coalition, and Taxpayers for Common Sense, three nonpartisan organizations dedicated to those causes, have repeatedly commended him for his actions.

- Feingold, who was elected to Congress on a promise not to accept pay raises while in office, has so far returned over $50,000 in such raises to the U.S. Treasury. In addition, he is notoriously frugal in his office's spending and sends back the money that he does not use. In one six-month period in 1999, for example, his office received $1.787 million in appropriations and returned $145,000, a higher percentage than any other senator

- Feingold has also been an opponent of NAFTA and other free trade agreements

- On August 17, 2005, Feingold became the first U.S. senator of either party to suggest a firm date for American withdrawal from the Iraq war, saying that he favored a complete withdrawal by no later than December 31, 2006

[rosesaylavee]

43. I would be interested on your take on Gore after you see the movie.

I like Feingold and he's definitely in my top three right now. I campaigned for him in 2004, by default as he was on the dem ticket, when I went up to southern Wisconsin to campaign for Kerry/Edwards. He is good man and has no fear of standing up for what he feels passionate about.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

38. Here are some quotes for your consideration.

I went back and looked up his acceptance speech in 2000. The one that contributed to his huge jump in the polls:

In my first term, a family in Hardeman County, Tennessee, wrote a letter and told how worried they were that toxic waste, a lot of it, had been dumped near their home. I held some of the first hearings on the issue, and ever since I've been there in the fight against the big polluters.

Our children should not have to draw the breath of life in cities awash in pollution.

(APPLAUSE)

When they come in from playing on a hot summer afternoon, every child in America, anywhere in America ought to be able to turn on the faucet and get a glass of safe, clean drinking water.

And I say it again tonight: We must reverse the silent rising tide of global warming, and we can...

And I will never forget a little boy named Ian Malone , who suffered from a medical mistake during childbirth and needs full-time nursing care for several years. I met him and his parents in Seattle near Everett, Washington, their home, and their HMO had told the Malones that it would no longer pay for the nurse they needed and then actually told them they should consider giving Ian up for adoption.

That's when his mom and dad got really mad. They told their story in public, and the HMO was embarrassed. Because they fought for their baby, today Ian has the care he needs to stay alive. But no family in America should have to go on national television to save their child's life...


It's just wrong to have life-and-death medical decisions made by bean-counters at HMOs, who don't have a license to practice medicine, and don't have a right to play God. It's time to take the medical decisions away from the HMOs and insurance companies and give them back to the doctors and the nurses and the health care professionals...

You ought to be able to know and then judge for yourself. If you entrust me with the presidency, I will put our democracy back in your hands and get all the special interest money, all of it, out of our democracy by enacting campaign finance reform...

But let me say it plainly: I will not go along with a huge tax cut for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else and wreck our good economy in the process.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me tell you, under the tax plan the other side has proposed, for every $10 that goes to the wealthiest 1 percent, middle-class families would get one dime, and lower-income families would get one penny...

A new prescription drug benefit under Medicare for all our seniors, that's a family value. And let me tell you, I'll fight for it and the other side will not. They give in to the big drug companies. Their plan tells seniors to beg the HMOs and insurance companies for prescription drug coverage.

And that's the difference in this election. They're for the powerful. We're for the people...

I know one thing about the job of the president: It is the only job in the Constitution that is charged with the responsibility of fighting for all the people, not just the people of one state or one district, not just the wealthy or the powerful, all the people; especially those who need a voice, those who need a champion, those who need to be lifted up, so they are never left behind...

GORE: There's one other word that we've heard a lot of in this campaign, and that word is "honor." To me, honor is not just a word, but an obligation. And you have my word: We will honor hard work by raising the minimum wage so that work always pays more than welfare.

I say to you tonight, if you entrust me with the presidency, I will fight for you...

I've shaken hands in diners and coffee shops all across this country. And sometimes when I see a waitress working hard and thanking someone for a tip, I see the face of my mother. And I know, for that waitress carrying trays or a construction worker in the winter cold, I will never agree to raise the retirement age to 70 or threaten the promise of Social Security.

http://algore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=84&Itemid=84

[iconoclastNYC]

41. Yes, great speech.

Thanks for posting that. Like I said. I'm not sure. Even corporatist DLCers can appear to be for the little guy. And I'm sure they'll all be sure to wear a slick venner of progressivism. I'll need to look into Gore's record as Senator to really know, I guess.

And I'd like to see what he has to say about various things Bush has accomplished. It is not enough to just undo the damage Bush has done. I want a candidate who is going to actively challenge the way corporate power is abusing democracy.

In 2008 I want the most ambitious reformer. The right direction, wrong direction stats show conclusively that the American people want real change.

I will not vote for a DLC Corporatist democrat. In the primary or in the general. I can't in my heart turn the ticket over to someone who does not share my vision of where our party should be going...corporate power must be challenged and DLCers are by definition corporate sycophants.

I could I vote for Gore in the general but I don't know yet about the primary. I want more information.

[StellaBlue]

40. He wasn't corporate when I saw him taking the petrochemical industry

to task in Houston three weeks ago. He went all Ralph Nader on us.

[iconoclastNYC]

42. Well that's good news.

He very well may earn my vote if he continues to be a fighter.

But it just can't be a case of singling out one bad industry. Every large corporate concern supports an ideology that is smothering democracy. We need to target that corporate ideology, not just the maladies arising from its' successful implementation.

[rucky]

25. Whatever he decides to do, he's a hero! n/t

[Crazy Guggenheim]

26. He might be better this time since he's had "his time in the wilderness".

In other words, to reflect on what he's done.

[WI_DEM]

32. I doubt he is running or will run

and that is a shame, but he is trying to do what he can on a vital issue which most politicians ignore.

[LittleClarkie]

33. I prefer to think of him as a passionate man

Much as I bristle at the suggestion that everything Kerry does is to get elected, I would bristle at the suggestion that he's doing what he's doing to run for president.

Then again, since I believe that Kerry can do both, perhaps Gore can do both. "Both" meaning fighting for things your passionate about and running for president.

At the least, Gore is reminding folks of what they could have had if they hadn't been so dopey. It does seem that he's getting people's attention and the right wing doesn't like it one bit.

He does say he has no plans to run. But I agree with those who say that he leaves things open to be "drafted."

I'd vote for him. Again. In the general election, of course. I already know who I'm voting for in the primary if he runs. His name is already on my bumpersticker.

[byronius]

36. I'm a full convert. Gore/RFK Jr. 2008.

Gore's the last elected President, as far as I'm concerned.