"It’s time to draft Al Gore: If Democrats want to win, it’s clear neither Hillary nor Sanders...."

[John Poet]

((Just passing this along, from Salon, as thought-provoking. I DO particularly like point "9", copied at the bottom, but I'm not taking a position on the whole idea.))

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/17/its_time_to_draft_al_gore_if_democrats_want_to_win_its_clear_neither_hillary_nor_sanders_is_the_way/

"It’s time to draft Al Gore: If Democrats want to win, it’s clear neither Hillary nor Sanders is the way "

Hillary's flailing. Biden's grieving. Bernie's a longshot. Gore bridges the party's establishment, progressives
by Sean Illing

The presidential election is still sixteen months away, but this much is clear: Hillary Clinton is a vulnerable candidate.

Since announcing her candidacy in April, Clinton’s stature has steadily slipped. Things got even worse this week. We learned, first, that Bernie Sanders eclipsed Clinton in small, individual donations, which is an indicator of popular support among likely voters.

Second, and more problematic, the newest AP poll revealed significant weaknesses among Democrats on a host of issues, including trust, character, and compassion for average Americans.

These numbers are alarming heading into the general election, especially for Democrats. Bernie Sanders is running an important campaign, but it’s very difficult to see the entire party rallying around him.

The only other credible candidate being mentioned is Joe Biden, but there’s no evidence that he wants to run. Besides, he’s failed twice already and is still grieving after the loss of his son, Beau Biden.

Sure, the GOP field is studded with unserious candidates, but they still have a relatively deep bench of big-state governors and prominent senators. To win, therefore, the Democrats need a nationally viable candidate.

Enter Al Gore: the one person on the left, apart from Clinton and Biden, with the cachet to bridge the establishment and progressive wings of the party. Here are 10 reasons why a Gore candidacy makes sense, both for the Democratic Party and the country.

1. Stature. Gore is a superstar with impeccable qualifications. The GOP will have a hard time marginalizing someone of his caliber and experience. His background speaks for itself: a former Congressman, U.S. Senator, and two-time Vice President. He’s even succeed wildly in the private sector as a businessman — something Republicans can’t help but praise. In short, Gore passes the credibility test by any measure, and that matters in a national election. Hillary Clinton is the only other Democratic candidate who can match Gore on this front.

9. Vengeance. If we’re stuck with a rerun election (Clinton vs. Bush), most would prefer to see Gore get his vengeance against another Bush. Gore, you may recall, was elected president in 2000 over George W. Bush. For reasons we won’t get into now, that victory was stolen from Gore in Florida, thanks in no small part to Jeb Bush, who was then governor of that state. With Jeb the likely Republican candidate next year, it would be a delightful bit of Karmic justice for him to lose to the man he robbed 16 years prior.


Read more:
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/17/its_time_to_draft_al_gore_if_democrats_want_to_win_its_clear_neither_hillary_nor_sanders_is_the_way/

[irisblue]

1. he didn't fight for himself in 2000,

would he now? and Lieberman? f that

[karynnj]

21. He only quit after the election went to the Supreme Court

Other than revolution, which in that placid time was out of the question, what exactly would you have had him do?

[JI7]

2. we should dig up FDRs corpse and run him

[John Poet]

5. If we're going to dig up corpses to run,

I'd prefer Bobby Kennedy.

I was too young to know about him the first time.

[NanceGreggs]

3. After seeing a few recent "Salon" pieces ...

... I wonder if they're trying to compete with The Onion.

[John Poet]

6. Salon is only trying to compete with 'The Onion',

on the days when they run the pro-Hillary articles...


(not that there have necessarily been any. heh.)

[Renew Deal]

11. I'm glad that some else has noticed their bias.

They manufacture pro-Bernie, anti-Hillary articles day after day.

[Renew Deal]

12. I agree an I'm glad you noticed.

[oasis]

7. Is he back with Tipper?

[SunSeeker]

8. What bullshit. Hillary is beating all of the GOP candidates in all the polls.

Salon should be embarrassed.

[newfie11]

9. I'll take the long shot

Look at the numbers Bernies pulling in at rally's.

[brett_jv]

10. I, for one, would freaking LOVE IT ...

That is all I have to say about it really.

Oh, and I think Gore could win, too.

[ladjf]

13. Bad idea imo. nt

[MANative]

14. "Gore is a superstar with impeccable qualifications."

Seriously? A superstar? Ask anyone under 50 who he is and you'll get a blank stare. That doesn't equate to "superstar." I like Al, but he's faded into obscurity.

[brett_jv]

22. Is this a joke?

Anyone under 50? Gimme a break MAN.

You'd probably right with most people under ... say ... 25 ... but Al Gore was Vice President (and President, in a sense) just 15 years ago. And most people who aren't very young know of the movie Inconvenient Truth and who narrated/made it, that was only 10 years ago.

I daresay you'd have a hard time finding a person under 30 who couldn't AT LEAST say they've heard the name Al Gore.

The 'nobody under age 50' line would be more appropriate for people like, say, Spiro Agnew, Henry Kissinger, or George McGovern.

[99Forever]

15. No thanks. He surrendered without a fight.

We've had far too much of that shit for the last 7 years already.

[Nay]

17. Yep. He lost credibility when he didn't demand the recount he was legally

owed.

[Samantha]

23. He went to the Florida Supreme Court to demand it

and they gave it to him in an opinion which clearly declared the right to vote is paramount. According to the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Supreme Court should have had the last word on that call. The United States Supreme Court had zero standing to interfere, and the reasons that Court cited were hogwash.

If you are talking about prior to the lawsuits, there was no provision in the Florida Constitution allowing for a full recount of an election. The only way Gore could not gotten one was through a court order (which he did get) or by permission of the Governor (and we all remember who that was).

Gore did fight as far as he could have without, I might mention, many Democrats speaking out to support him. They played dead on the issue for the most part. They thought Gore had run a terrible campaign because he ran on a Populist platform, which was not popular with the DLC crowd.

Someone above mentioned no one under 50 knowing who Gore is, so I would like to volunteer the fact I mentioned about three weeks ago to an 18 year-old who was extremely concerned about climate change that I had a copy of An Inconvenient Truth she could read if she liked. When she opened it up, she exclaimed she could not believe I had an autographed copy. She certainly is a huge Gore fan.

There is no one running I admire more than Gore, but I do not think he would consider a run. I did read that he had quietly been approached months ago but I simply assumed he declined. He was a wonderful life now, and why would he give that up to enter the political debacle that is today our Federal Government....

Sam

[Le Taz Hot]

16. This article claims Sanders is a longshot yet they're

proposing drafting Al Gore, who has shown NO interest in getting back into politics along with this idea which has exactly ZERO support. Anyone else seeing the irony in this?

[ram2008]

18. If someone were drafted as a unity candidate it would be Warren

Or Dean.

[PoliticAverse]

19. Or Joe Biden. n/t

[mmonk]

20. Doubt if he hasn't mentioned it as a possibility, he'll run because of a draft campaign.

Besides, our declared candidates aren't swiss cheese (except maybe Webb, no offense).

[Proud Liberal Dem]

24. I like Al

But his last best of hope in winning was 2004, which he declined to participate in. I'm not sure how much momentum there would be for him now. I also find it amusing that he's now heralded as a savior yet when he ran in 2000, he was often derided as being little better than Bush.