Newsweek: Al Gore to the Rescue?

[RamboLiberal]

By Eleanor Clift

Al Gore on the second ballot: A scenario that a few weeks ago seemed preposterous is beginning to look plausible to some nervous Democrats looking for a way out of the deadlock between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It goes like this: We love them both, but neither is a sure bet when it comes to electability. It's not about gender and race, each has more mundane vulnerabilities. Hillary's negatives will drive white men to John McCain; Obama's inexperience will require a gut check on the part of voters. What if the super delegates decide not to decide, denying either candidate the requisite number of delegates to secure the party's nomination. Democrats want to win. The new rallying cry: Gore on the second ballot.

The last time a political convention went to a second ballot was 1952, but this is a year with so many twists and turns that nothing is impossible. Gore would be tempted on so many levels. He would only have to endure two months of campaigning, not long enough for voters to remember what they didn't like about him eight years ago. Gore has sat out the primary process, refusing to offer even so much as a hint of where his sentiments lie. Years of playing second-fiddle to Hillary in the White House no doubt precluded his endorsement for her. Surely he would happily take Obama as his running mate, ending the Clinton dynasty and positioning the Democrats for a potential 16-year reign at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. A Gore-Obama ticket would be unstoppable, the thinking goes, matching the presumptive Republican nominee, McCain, on national security and experience, while embodying a powerful message of change.

The Gore second-ballot scenario isn't being seriously considered by Democratic Party leaders (as far as we know). But a number of individual high-profile Democrats are talking about it, along with any number of other ideas to end the seemingly intractable stalemate.

How could this unfold? Superdelegates are not bound to any candidate. They can do what they want, including changing their mind or withholding an endorsement until the balloting begins. Delegates won in the primaries go to the party's convention with a signed pledge of support for a particular candidate, but one of the biggest myths of the delegate selection process, according to a Democratic National Committee document, is that delegates are bound to follow that pledge on the first ballot. A delegate is asked to "in good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them," a provision designed in part to make the convention a deliberative body. If Hillary's attempts to secure the nomination are seen as illegitimate, and they fail, yet Obama is not seen as a clear victor, Gore's name could be introduced. All it would take is a delegate perhaps from Tennessee, his home state, to raise a point of order, and with backing from five other state delegations, Gore's name could be put in play as a prospective nominee.

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/02/15/al-gore-to-the-rescue.aspx

I like it. I have been wishing all along Gore had run.

[book_worm]

1. A Gore/Obama ticket would be virtually unbeatable.

[jackson_dem]

24. Gore/Obama=favoring Obama over Hillary. Gore/Edwards=unifying

That won't resolve the stalemate. If that is going to happen just give Obama the nomination. Gore-somebody else. Gore-Edwards is the most unifying ticket.

[andym]

27. Gore/Edwards would be a very strong ticket

I think Gore/Edwards would be a very strong ticket. However, getting Clinton and Obama to agree might not be so easy.

[Catchawave]

28. Damn right....

Edwards sudden withdrawl/silence + Gore silence = Hope :loveya:

[Andrea]

65. Please, please, please

Hi Catchawave! I sure hope you are right. this would heal our country.

[femrap]

42. Oh....now that is too sweet! nt

[Rockholm]

49. Gore/Edwards would be SWEET!!!!!!

[Lorien]

53. Sure would! n/t

[thunder rising]

37. Get this: GORE BAILED ON US!!! HE'S THE REASON NADER RAN IN 2000! It's too late Al. To much water

[Thrill]

2. I would support a Gore/Obama ticket. It would probably be a 44 state winning ticket

:)

[Renew Deal]

11. Wow

I said the same thing and I didn't read the reponses before I posted. The Obama supporters are willing to bow to Gore on this one. That's amazing.

[Guaranteed]

21. I've always been Gore first, Obama second.

Well, not even that, actually. Gore, then Edwards, then Obama.

[connecticut yankee]

3. I'd love to see it happen

but think of all the millions spent by Hillary and Obama in the primaries!

[Road Scholar]

4. Meeeeeeee toooooooooo! nt

[Renew Deal]

13. If it's Gore-Obama, it would pay off.

We'll see.

[Amy6627]

5. Gore/Obama 2008 that's my dream ticket!!!!! nt

[nomorewhopper]

6. how would this work? interested but curious?

since gore has not participated in the primaries, how could he possibly be considered the nominee? or are they talking about him running as an independent? or as obama's VP?

looks to me like they're talking about a gore pres/obama veep situation.

honestly gore carries some mighty heft in the party, but the public simply would not allow it. becoming the nominee without a single vote cast on your behalf would be impossible, even for al gore (unless i'm reading this wrong)

i am a huge gore fan btw and would love to see him on the ticket

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

It won't happen. That's how.

Just space filler in Newsweak.

[dbackjon]

19. If a nominee isn't selected on the first ballot, all the delegates are now free agents

They can vote for whomever they choose, regardless of declaration of candidacy, etc.

[sloppyjoe25s]

30. Exactly - anyone who thinks this is possible is HIGH ON CRACK

you can't just Watz into the convention and become the nominee with no votes. I like Gore alot, but it has zero chance of ever happening.

Especially with two strong candidates.

But hey... if you just need a fantasy to get you through the day...then DREAM ON! :)

[CreekDog]

54. it's theoretically possible but practically impossible

with many downsides that she is not considering.

first, there are two strong candidates and their supporters have invested in their success. it's one thing to ask them to align with the winner of the primary process and many will go along with that as a consequence of fair play.

however, many supporters on both sides will feel cheated that candidates they invested in lost, not to the voters, but to party insiders.

and don't forget the last time this happened, 1952, the nominee did not win, not in two tries.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. I could live with that.

[bunnies]

8. I think Al Gore has made it pretty clear that he wants no part of politics at this time.

I love Al. But he doesnt want the job. And Im not so sure that would be fair to the Clinton and Obama people.

[jackson_dem]

25. Then enter John Edwards as the compromise choice!

[lildreamer316]

66. Okay. Then someone explain

why he posted these six videos:
http://current.com/people/algore
when he could have posted about climate change. Or anything else.

[AtomicKitten]

9. Gore/Obama has always been my dream ticket.

But, alas, Al Gore has transcended to an ethereal plane now after his Nobel Peace Prize, deservedly, and I don't think he will even endorse this go.

[Renew Deal]

10. I'd support Gore-Obama

That would be a dynamic ticket.

[kstewart33]

12. What a pipe dream.

Gore isn't interested, period.

This kind of nonsense doesn't do anyone any good.

Hillary and Obama are the players, the ones who've worked their buns off for countless primaries and caucuses.

That's it.

[Renew Deal]

14. Gore isn't endorsing just in case.

It was in the news this week.

[Shine]

15. I don't quite get how this would work.

Besides, hasn't Gore basically ruled out ANY possible interest in this, anyway? :shrug:

It sounds good on paper, but in reality, I'm not quite getting it....

[goodhue]

16. that would be kind of fun, but its not going to happen

[Guaranteed]

17. K & R.

Please. Happen.

[Uncle Joe]

18. A nice column not counting some back handed slaps at Al Gore, but I could

support that ticket, although I'm sure it's a long shot chance of such a scenario happening.

Thanks for the thread, RamboLiberal

[Traveling_Home]

20. A White Guy to the rescue!!!!!

Not, never, no-way

[Guaranteed]

22. ....???

What, no more white males in the WH?

Not even those with Gore's credentials?

[msongs]

35. a highly qualified white guy w/NO Iraq war baggage unlike Obama & Clinton nt

[islandmkl]

23. all else aside (it sounds good in the midst of the current battle inside the Party)...

a little Eleanor Clift conjecture revealing...nothing but conjecture.

[jackson_dem]

26. Gore isn't interested. Edwards is the best compromise option

[cascadiance]

40. I think the real question is WHAT was Gore not interested in...

If it was not wanting to deal with the long campaign season through to the convention, then perhaps he might in fact BE interested in this instance, since his major concern that kept him out earlier might be taken care of. If it is in fact being president, and other issues after the convention that he's not interested in, then he might still stay out. I don't think anyone outside of Gore's circle knows the answer to that question.

If they have a deadlocked convention though in this instance, you might have the super delegates and perhaps the pledge delegates as well to talk some long private talks with Al Gore even before they cast their first vote, to see if he might be interested in this instance. Then if they know he would accept, that would make this scenario that much more likely.

They do need to be careful though doing things this way. They need to have a good temperature reading that the delegates operating in this fashion aren't trying to dictate the choice of the party over the people's will. That is the tricky part of this.

I SUSPECT that most voters do feel that we'd like to have Al Gore in this case over one of the existing candidates, and that he would represent a popular choice as well, but it wouldn't hurt to have some good means to measure this too before embarking on this sort of move.

[andym]

64. I agree Edwards might be a great compromise

The chance of either Clinton or Obama winning outright is small. Both Clinton and Obama like and respect Edwards. They have both borrowed heavily from his platform and continue to move in his populist direction. For even a remote chance of this he would have to not endorse either, and he would have to actively act as a peacemaker between these two.

The key for this to happen is to keep the enmity that results from competition between Clinton and Obama to a minimum, so the compromise can be accepted. The enmity between their supporters would also have to be fairly low, for them to support the compromise in the GE. I think that is basically the case (except perhaps among the strongest activists, for example, here on DU, or Dailykos, where various instigators keep things stirred up-- but I don't think they are representative).

[kimmerspixelated]

29. I can't imagine more political excitement than that!

Gore with the last laugh! I would love it!!!

[no name no slogan]

31. These "stories" crop up every four years halfway thru the primary season

always saying that we're in danger of a deadlocked convention, and that some "elder statesman" will have to be drafted to "save the party".

Well, it hasn't happened since the 1950s. And given the massive amounts of cash that both front-runners have invested in the primaries, it ain't gonna happen this year, either.

[TheDoorbellRang]

32. an ideal scenario, but I fear not feasible

I'd do cartwheels for a Gore/Obama ticket, but I do think the nation has become so emotionally invested in the Clinton vs Obama battle that there'd be hell to pay if the DNC handed off to Gore.

[Seeking Serenity]

33. We can dream, can't we?

I know Gore doesn't want to get back into the political ring. He's much too important as a global statesman as opposed to just a politician.

But I would love a Gore/Obama ticket.

Like I said, we can dream, can't we?

[Beam Me Up]

34. Let me put it to you this way, Democratic Leadership:

Anyone BUT Gore and you're putting McCain (or equivalent) in the WH.

Is THAT what you want?

[rosesaylavee]

36. Interesting that Clift is putting this out there...

she's no lightweight fluffy pundit.

I would welcome it - if it were used to unify the two groups. I wonder if we will need it tho with the way Obama is charging forward this month?

Gore has been reportedly in the background conferring with both Clinton and Obama. Can't think of anyone more trusted than him to pull us together if that is needed in August.

He has never closed the door on 2008... he has just said repeatedly that he 'has no plans' to be a candidate. This would indeed fit within those parameters I would say.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

38. Al Gore '08 - The Best of America for The Good of The World

Gore/Edwards works for me :patriot:

[femrap]

43. Like your slogan! nt

[belpejic]

39. I would be thrilled

Gore has been my wish all along. I haven't been able to get excited about any of the candidates. Except for Huckleberry, of course--I would love it if that pinata got the Republic nod. I can't see it happening, though--too much big money already in Hillary and Obama.

[femrap]

41. Holy Mother of God....

Love Eleanor Clift...and this is the best news I've read in a long, long time!

[formernaderite]

44. oh please...this is retarded

Obama will end up being the winner. I swear some people just want to rehash the clinton years in any way possible..and yes I include Gore in those years.

[calmblueocean]

45. Don't harsh my Gore-Obama '08 buzz!

I know it's not going to happen, but I can still imagine. 5 more minutes...

[Alexander]

46. Gore/Obama or Gore/Feingold would be excellent tickets.

[sueragingroz]

47. so someone who hasn't done any of the work involved in running for the nomination

Just sits back and gets it?

Somehow that just doesn't seem very fair or democratic to me.

[Franks Wild Years]

48. Agreed. Unless Gore would personally pay back....

....everyone who has donated to Obama & Clinton's campaigns & offer healthy compensation to the candidates themselves, this would be a ludicrous, unfair scenario.

[LisaL]

50. I would support Gore/Anybody ticket, but I am afraid that's

dream world and has no chance of happening.

[MonkeyFunk]

51. It would be a nightmare

throw out the expressed will of tens of millions of voters to nominate someone with no accrued money, no campaign organization on the ground, nothing.

[terrya]

62. Not to mention that he would refuse it.

I believe Gore would even refuse a draft. I believe Al Gore likes what he's doing right now, he considers his work addressing global warming to be of the utmost importance and that electoral politics is a distraction from that work. Sorry, Eleanor Clift, but Al Gore will not be a candidate for President of the United States. Under any circumstances.

[lildreamer316]

68. Hmmmm.

Then could someone explain these to me?
http://current.com/people/algore
because I would think someone who is only interested in climate change would have posted about that.

And he has said repeatedly that he is not ruling a run out, at some time in the future, and that the office of President is the only one he would be interested in.

[CreekDog]

52. I think this is along the lines of overruling the primary voters

albeit with a better solution than before, but still with the same legitimacy issues.

i think Gore should have run and won the nomination the way the current candidates are trying to before getting the nod.

i'm also not crazy about Clift buying into the negatives about both candidates and thinking of Gore as the solution to those ills. they will throw stuff at Gore too.

[Hoof Hearted]

55. Aw Jeez.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[wisteria]

56. VP Gore has been there and done this already I doubt he is even considering it. n/t

[lildreamer316]

69. Please see post #66

I am confused.

[Eurobabe]

57. Gore is not the white-knight and he doesn't want

to run. Why can't people leave him alone?

[eileen_d]

59. Thank you

I just shake my head when I see people promoting this idea. Dems need to look forward. This is one reason why it's hard for me to support Hillary (although I am still undecided, believe it or not)

[lildreamer316]

70. Please

see post #66
...why do this, then? 2012 is a loooooooooong time away in this fast-moving age. Could have put this kind of video up anytime between now and then. One would think that a person that is the chairman of a site like Current, and is so very involved in the environmental movement, would have put up videos about that crisis. Since that is what many here seem to be convinced he is happy and content doing.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

58. he's not going to run

pity

[Skip Intro]

60. IOW, the delegates would draft Gore, he could accept or delcine.

Despite what he's said about running this year, I don't see how he could turn that down.

But how would he heal the Hillary/Obama rift by choosing one of them as his running mate?

He's have to choose someone else.

[0007]

61. It would be a good way for Gore to fuck himself even and give

everyone the finger.

I don't think Gore is gonna get involved, any shape way or form. He's happy doing his thing.

[ooglymoogly]

63. Lucy in the sky with diamonds. nt

[helderheid]

67. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

[chimpymustgo]

71. Can't rec - but can kick!

[helderheid]

72. indeed!

:kick: