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TechnoratiGore Wins the Norwegian Primary
Having now won the Norwegian Primary, it is reasonable to ask why Al Gore would want to slog his way through the snows of New Hampshire.
But the inconvenient truth is that never has the man who might yet be president needed to more seriously consider his personal legacy -- not to mention the small matter of his potential to make the world anew -- than now.
There is, after all, the matter of the open space at the end of what is now the most remarkable resume of anyone seeking -- or considering seeking -- the presidency.
Let's review.
This is how Al Gore's resumé reads as of this morning:
Son of a great senator.
Harvard graduate, with honors.
Vietnam veteran.
Award-winning investigative journalist.
Congressman.
Senator.
Vice President.
Winner of the popular vote for President of the United States.
Best-selling author.
Environmental activist.
Academy Award winner.
And, now, Nobel Peace Prize winner -- he shares the prize with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- for "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about manmade climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
As resumés go, that is one for the top of the pile.
But it begs the question: Shouldn't a man who has gotten this far be thinking about how to finish the journey?
And isn't the last stop the Oval Office?
To think that Gore is not pondering these questions today would be absurd.
Of course, the former vice president says, "The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."
No doubt about that.
But Gore cannot feign ignorance of his own "political issue." When he appeared in San Francisco on the eve of Friday morning's announcement, at a fundraising event for California Senator Barbara Boxer, the man of the hour tried to deliver an earnest address about climate change. But when he concluded his remarks, the crowd burst into chants of "Run Al Run!"
That message echoed the full-page ad that was placed by the burgeoning "Draft Gore for President" movement in the front section of Wednesday's New York Times. The advertisement bluntly suggested that the announced contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination lack Gore's "vision, standing in the world, and political courage" -- not just with regard to climate change, but in his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq, his defenses of civil liberties and his advocacy for a renewed commitment to science and reason.
"There are times for politicians and times for heroes. America and the Earth need a hero right now," read the Draft Gore movement's open letter to the soon-to-be Nobel man. "Please rise to this challenge, or you and millions of us will live forever wondering what might have been."
Now, that's pressure. But it is a velvet grip in which the peace prize winner finds himself.
Al Gore has arrived at the point that most politicians can only imagine in their wildest dreams. The entire world is asking him to be not merely a candidate but an ecological -- not to mention, ideological -- savior. And there is simply no question that he is viable. In fact, he is more viable than he has ever been.
Can Gore resist? Probably.
Should he resist? Probably not.
Sure, it will be said that Gore can do more to address climate change as a private citizen. But no one who as been so close to the presidency as he will miss the point that the most powerful official on the planet has some sway in matters involving the planet.
The last serious presidential prospect to win a Nobel Peace Prize was Teddy Roosevelt, who got the award when he was serving as president in 1906. (The Norwegians were impressed that he had convinced Japanese and Russian representatives to come to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and that he had then gotten them to negotiate an end to a nasty little war they had been waging.)
Roosevelt exited the presidency in 1908 and almost immediately began to regret the decision. The peace prize was not enough to get Republicans to ditch his successor, the hapless William Howard Taft, and put Roosevelt at the head of their 1912 ticket. But TR did run the most successful third-party presidential campaign of the 20th century that year - as a "Bull Moose" Progressive.
Roosevelt never got over his belief that, had he just won the Republican nomination in 1912, he would again have been president. And, eight years later, at a point after the horrors of World War I when people were taking peace prizes rather more seriously, he was widely encouraged to make a run for the Republican nomination that probably would have secured him not just the party line but the presidency.
Roosevelt did not need much encouragement. Barely 60 -- the age Gore will turn next March -- the Rough Rider was ready for one more charge; indeed, family members and friends reported that he was raring to go.
Only the coronary embolism that did him in on January 6, 1919, was powerful enough to cure TR's case of presidency lust. And there is no reason to believe that Al Gore, a man who bid first for the presidency in 1988, considered running in 1992, spent eight years as an understudy, then bid again in 2000 - winning the Democratic nomination and the popular vote, but losing the job on a 5-4 technical call by the Supreme Court -- is any less inclined that Roosevelt was to give it another try.
There will be a lot of "fire-in-the-belly" talk over the next few days.
But Al Gore should not be worrying about checking his gut.
He should be thinking about the resume he has spent a lifetime preparing.
It is more impressive than ever.
Unfortunately, the suddenly more impressive character of Gore's resume only serves to emphasize that it remains incomplete.
A Nobel Prize for Peace is a fine honor. But take it from a man who won the presidency and the prize but could not leave the political arena.
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better," Teddy Roosevelt said as he prepared another run for the White House. "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
Copyright © 2007 The Nation
137 Comments so far
Show AllI know CONSERVATIVES who would vote for Gore.
To me, this makes all the difference. Opens a new window.
The 'old Gore' would just be slightly better than Hillary or Obama. But if he takes some lessons from Dennis Kucinich, he could go in and make some reforms so that it's not so much 'good people stuck in a bad system' and then he can actually improve the country's policies.
The best way out of our ditch is a Gore/Kucinich ticket.
Gore could get elected if Kucinich can't, but DK can keep the guts in politics and keep Gore focused on the PEOPLE and out of corporate hands.
If Al Gore is elected POTUS America will have another 'mysterious' presidential assassination on its hands before he finished his first term. I'm sure he's aware of that. The man has the stature of JFK and enjoys that kind of popularity worldwide. You think the corporatocracy is going to let him ruin their game? I don't think so. I bet they can't stand him. But let him run their private government? No way. They rigged an election last time to beat him.
id-shiitake,
I have been on this planet for a few decades. I started to realize we wer going to render the earth uninhabitable about 25 years ago, but I have been unable to do anything about much about it. I also know that in your life time the CO-2 levels have increased and you haven't been able to do anything about it. Do you think it is simple? Do you really blame Al for not being able to turn it all around?
I also saw Hurricane Katrina as some kind of turning point for public awareness, but Al Gore contributed to the process tremendously.
If an individual such as yourself uses less fuel than average, that is swell. If an individual is able to get a law passed that states, oh we'll say that no new coal plants can be built in America---that makes a difference.
I didn't say that China is building one fewer coal plant because Al visited. I am saying that as he travels around the world he exerts a positive influence on powerful people who are capable of making BIG changes.
Believe me, I know that the most likely scenario for our lovely planet is that it becomes uninhabitable and much quicker than is being predicted. All of the surprises are negative; there is not much real hope for the future or for the quality of life of my young children.
I believe that Al Gore could make a difference if he were President. By that I mean he could slow things down a little and perhaps buy some time. Instead we have George who is accelerating the process tremendously. Blowing our faint chance.
jstevens:
since Al Gore's movie has the total amount of carbon emissions from the US population declined or increased? i believe it has increased. have you noticed less cars on the road as a result of Al Gore's (Ok maybe a few more hybrids) movie? I think no.
the Katrina disaster was the impetus for people to wake up to the danger of global warming. al gore was not the only person to make a film about global warming. the discovery channel put together a great episode about it featuring actual climate scientists. al gore's movie stole the limelight because everybody loves a hero.
the presidential candidates are being forced to put climate change on their agenda because greenland has moulins the size of Niagara Falls, the Arctic lost 20% of its perennial ice this past summer, the weather is making growing food much more challenging.
why do you think the Chinese are building less coal plants as a result of Al Gore? The chinese want what Al Gore has..big house, lots of money etc.. Why not send the president of Iceland to China to make some recommendations?
Al Gore has gotten more credit than he deserves.
Dang, you got me on the computer use...but i can confidently say that my footprint is in the lower 5% of the US population, maybe even 1%.
There was only one topic right? So many of you have bastardized the original subject by commenting about others comments.
Although, jaystevens I like your message, you make a good point.
Bottom line. Gore may be better positioned as a private citizen to accomplish the agenda regarding global warming. While in theory it would seem logical that the leader of the world's largest free nation would have influence in acheiving this objective, he would no doubt be bogged down with all of the other duties of the presidency. What would be better is to have a candidate that is aligned with Mr. Gore's agenda that could help to foster a political environment within congress, the senate, and the Democratic and Republican parties, that could also effectively hande the other duties of the president while allowing Mr. Gore and the growing number of supporters worldwide a stage on which to deliver the message and manage the development of the prescribed changes. This initiative, as can be imagined, has far reaching effects on almost every facet of human existance today and will take the participation of individuals and industry world wide.
1 last comment. Marry Lou- if your children were doing something potentially harmfull, would you give them until March of 08 to stop or would you demand change immediately.
Break the mold, think outside the box, do it now!
indeepshitake:
In general, I would say that the wealthier the individual, the more carbon he/she throws into the atmosphere. The 99% who, you say, emit less carbon than Gore, would for the most part emit more if they had more money. Here in America, again in general, the wealthiest people travel the most, have the biggest cars, houses, etc. I believe that if you looked at a very wealthy individual who lives in a poor country, you would see that the individual goes through a lot of fuel, although his country may not.
I know many environmental individuals who try to emit as little carbon as possible. Despite the fine example they have been setting, the world still spirals toward climate crisis.
The amount of carbon that the individual Al Gore emits is irrelevant. If Al Gore travels to China and as a result, one less coal plant is built, this makes a huge difference. As a result of Al Gore's work, including traveling, many of the Presidential candidates are forced to put climate change on their platform. Many individuals changed their lifestyle and were converted because of Al Gore's movie.
What you have implied is that as long as you don't make any environmental claims, it's okay for you to destroy the world. Anyone who makes an environmental claim, will be held to an impossible standard.
By the way, I am sure that you and I are burning up some fuel on our computers.
jstevens:
there are several forms of media which are relatively low in their carbon expenditure which would allow al gore to get out his message...he has used most of them..DVD, book, web site to name a few. jetting around the world in order to inform people about the danger of CO2 emissions is well..not very bright. it is not like Al Gore is the only person on the earth who understands the danger posed by rising greenhouse gases. why is it important that we hear it directly from his mouth in person. why can't he do more videoconferencing with leaders in other countries.
part me has to think that Al Gore really likes the spotlight. he is the prescient superstar as you point out, and no doubt he has worked hard to earn this reputation.
franky, i believe that we need solutions that are far more radical than Al Gore would ever propose. tackling climate change most be a grassroots effort, working from the bottom up, defying the institutions which led us into this mess in the first place.
you refer to the masses as being "ignorant". i want to point out that 99.99% of the "ignorant" masses are contributing less to the Global Warming Crisis than Al Gore through their carbon footprint. So let me ask...who is "ignorant"?
my experience in life is that the power of example overpowers that power of word. the most effective way to help people see the truth of something is to live the truth yourself and let your example speak for itself.
let's be clear: Al Gore is setting a very dangerous example and i could argue even worse than George Bush. See... George Bush doesn't claim to be someone who is capable of dealing with the global warming crisis. What George Bush says is that it up to you to make the changes you want to see...voluntary reductions, right? Al Gore says...i have the answers... but then we see the reality of what he means...large house, high energy bills, playing the "green" stock market, travel, meat, etc... So it is disappointing...sort of like Al Gore has hijacked the whole issue through his popularity and is now controlling the dialogue regarding solutions. In my view, the people with the answers are the permaculturists, the primativists, the communitarians, the herbivores, and the third worlders, but how much to do you hear from that crowd on the evening news. how much do you hear about the wonderful example of the Cuban people as far as their quality of life in the absence of abundant fossil fuels.
Bottom line: Al Gore is popular because he proposes palatable solutions which the existing predatory capatalistic paradigm can accomodate.
However, the reality of the crisis demands unpopular solutions and it demands individual self-will not directed by a power from above.
I don't believe George Bush is standing in the way of radical change. That is our grand illusion. Nobody is forcing you to drive to Stop and Shop and buy olives from Greece when you could just as easily bike to your local farm or farmer's market and buy something different like tomatillos.
George Bush gives you an excuse for everything bad that happens when in fact you are the one driving it, as you drive your hybrid SUV to Whole Foods and buy your bananas from Ecuador. You protest the war, but you are ones fueling it.
putting what gore says he cares about in the forefront, i offer what congress is doing about global warming:
Fighting Global Warming
As part of continuing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60-80 percent by 2050 and limit the damaging effects of global warming, I have developed a legislative proposal that would place a fee on carbon. A summary of the draft legislation has been posted on my Congressional website along with a form that allows reviewers to offer opinions and suggestions on the carbon fee proposal – and thousands of you have responded. Thank you for your suggestions.
Also recently added to the website is the first in a series of climate change white papers. The purpose of this effort is to focus the discussion in Congress as we move towards the development and eventual passage of comprehensive climate change legislation. This first white paper includes a look at the overall scope of a cap-and-trade system.
These two proposals are just part of my efforts to limit the effects of global climate change. Earlier this year, I spearheaded the development of an energy-efficiency bill that was approved by the full House of Representatives in July. This legislation includes efficiency provisions that will reduce energy costs to consumers and remove 10.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2030, an amount equal to five times the annual emissions of all of the cars on the road in America today. I am also a co-sponsor of H.R. 2927, the Hill-Terry fuel economy bill, which would mandate an increase in automobile fuel economy standards by nearly 40 percent by 2022, while also protecting American jobs and creating incentives for new breakthrough fuel efficient technology.
To look for yourself and share your thoughts on the carbon fee, go to: www.house.gov/dingell/carbonTaxSummary.shtml. The cap-and-trade white paper can be found at http://energycommerce.house.gov/Climate_Change/
JDDBoucher.100307.Memo.WhitePapers.pdf.
In all of these negative posts about Al Gore, they are really missing the big picture. John Nichols has done an excellent job of spelling out the many accomplishments of Mr. Al Gore.
The most important issue for America and for the world is climate crisis. Al Gore is the prescient superstar in this category. The second biggest issue for America is the Iraq war and the George Bush path to fascism. Again, Al Gore is a superstar in this category.
Whitewatersally's comments are just one of many that are based on nothing factual or logical.
"Earning megabillions jetting around"?? How would you like him to educate the ignorant masses about global warming? By standing on a street corner that is within walking distance of his home (which would have to be a straw hut with no electricity, because anything else makes him a hypocrite?)
Is your carbon footprint equal to zero, Sally?
So you don't like the way he handled Ellian Gonzalez? Give me a break. This is not a priority. (Gross, but apparently necessary understatement).
You blame him because he couldn't win the election? Then you must applaud the man who did win--George Bush.
Gore can win only after the right wing voting manipulation machine is dismantled; and the apathetic voters who are influenced by unprecedented their character assassinations (which Gore would surely be a target) wise up.
It appears unlikely that their entrenched voting fraud machine could be dismantled in time, nor is it probable that those unlearned and brain washed voters could be educated.
Al Gore would run for president if he is a glouton for punishment! He should remain free to speak his opinion and to awaken people's realization that this Earth belongs to all, not just to the 'elites' who are destroying it.
Does anyone remember that in 2000 Al Gore gave very public support to those that were refusing to return a child, Ellian Gonzalez, to his father, a decent Cuban man? And the only reason for this was that this man lived in Cuba. How's that for international peace work and human values? Al Gore, as opposed to many other people, does not have a background in peace work. What kind of man is really Al Gore? Find out about his public career and think hard before making him worthy of a peace prize, or worse yet, worthy of being this country's leader. It's not enough to hate Bush and republicans, unfortunately.
Hahaha! It's fun to watch all the Repug and DLC shills crawl out of the woodwork to rant and rave at our real President, Al Gore. Gore/Nader Green Party 2008!
#1. I wish someone would tell me exactly HOW, they think Al Gore should have "fought harder" in 2000? He fought all the way to the Supreme Court! What else did you want him to do?
#2. Holding Al Gore responsible for Bill Clintons politics (& Not Hillary) is WRONG! Al Gore wouldn't even allow Clinton to campaign for him!!
We need Federal Election Reform. From Regional Primaries, to Instant Run Off Elections, to a 'None of the Above' box (over 50%, we start over)! Public Campaign financing, and Free equal air time, to REAL Debates, on real issues! Written campaign pledges, to include willingness to allow 'no confidence vote' to bring about a new election!
This idea that the only time politicians will do the correct things for 'We the People' is when their 'up for election', is absurd! Obviously they know how we want them to vote, but only do when they have to.
No Corporate sponsered Lobbists! No religous Lobbists, or loss of tax-exempt status. No Federal tax dollars, to Insurance Companies, Corporations, Churches, or any third party (privitization) to perform a government function!
Al Gore & Bobby Kennedy on the Green Party Ticket!!
ALL candidates should have to put their VP, and three top cabinet picks, on their ticket, Up Front! (No more Cheney/Ashcroft/Gonzo surprises)
whitewatersally, right on! Al Gore still needs to afflict the comfortable with the facts that global capitalism is not sustainable. As capital moves its factories to corners of the planet with the cheapest labor and a complete lack of environmental regulations, we are using more fossil fuels to move more things around the world. Yes, global warming is a real threat to our future, and there's a little thing called capitalism that won't allow radical change for ecology. The multinational corporate royalty must be removed from its palace. Greed and consumerism kill! Are you ready to take the next step, Al?
Now its time for our courageous Supreme Court to act again -- and sieze Nobel Prize from Gore, & hand it to Bush.
indeepshit,overpopulation is not a problem that cant be fixed,by a modicum of selfgoverning and the wise use and distibution of resources and natural acts of god (or nature,if you prefer)the true enemy is greed and the richest 10 percent of the world,who would covet it for themselves..the ruling elite are sure they are the deciders and by killing off a large portion of humanity=they are doing the world,a favor !!dont buy into their games..it is the nefarious ruling elite who need to get the f*ck off the planet and the rest of us will be just fine.population control should begin and end with the demise of the greedy hoarding nabobs !!
How pathetic. Gore is NOT our hero, he has proven himself a hollow loser, a limited hangout for the Council of Foreign Relations in case there's a major melt down and they need to call on someone who's 'in the club.'
At some point, people in the US need to 'wake up' and shake off the corporate media as a corrupt source of information. We need to understand that we live in a country run by corporate elites. Until that day, we will have war and oppression as 'the main course' night and day. Al Gore? Please! He didn't FIGHT the first electoral fraud of 2000.
Go back and study recent history. He was involved in the consolidation of the corporate media with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. And he was involved with the NATO bombing and take-over of Yugoslavia; for those who have forgotten, there were many war crimes committed, such as the bombing of the Chinese embassy, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the intentional killing of civilians (bombing of a TV station, etc.).
Al Gore on global warming? Ha. Check out the guy's house. He's the biggest hypocrite in the world. I'll grant he is promoting the issue, but sets a terrible example. Again, a classic politician.
Find a candidate who isn't a corporate shill and a war criminal — take up something more productive than cheerleading for fascism. The dog and pony show that is US electoral politics is so rigged, so dominated by corporations and big money that it is an utterly depressing zone that sidelines all of us. It creates the illusion that WE are powerless and have but one role: "hold your nose and vote for some corporate-vetted war criminal or scoundrel." Bah. And yet we are drawn to these discussions about the 'horse race' between disturbing and disgraceful candidates that we are told are the only viable choices. How sickening it all is! Kucinich is the only candidate whose values reflect the Common Dreams readership and yet he has been excluded from MSM coverage and is manufactured into a 'non-candidate.' Think about it. The whole exercise is one of monstrous manipulation and creates beggars of us all.
Resist. Get off your knees. Stand up my sisters and brothers!
Perhaps the REAL reason people want to elect Al as the next president is that he makes people feel good about doing nothing for the environment. Just buy a few compact fluorescents, put solar panels on your 10,000 square foot home, buy a hybrid car, buy carbon offsets to pay for your vacations, invest your money in green companies, have kids..etc..etc..
Never any talk about population control, the effect of diet, or voluntary simplicity. Just look at Al Gore..doesn't look like he eats very low of on the food chain. Sorry, carnivores, but we don't live in world where everybody can eat wild venison and boar.
Humans are ugly ugly predators on this planet. How can you possibly believe that a predatory system (capitalism) can help humans solve the same problems that it helped create. Al Gore has proposed market solutions for tackling climate change. That is nuts. There is no PROFIT to be made on protecting the environment.
Capitalism is dead and so is our entire political system...it has failed us miserably, in fact we have failed ourselves.
Now it is time to face our maker...22 degrees Celsius in the Arctic Circle, moulins the size of Niagara falls on Greenland, permafrost releasing megatons of methane, Amazon burning down thanks to cattle ranchers, thermohaline current slowly dramatically, grains stocks declining...etc.etc..
Take a walk and think about it.
Congratulations Mr.Gore ! We NEED Leaders like You - Lots of them...
SunWarm, it won best documentary I believe. I watched Al Gore in an interview last night and he refused to endorse any candidates as of yet. It appeared to me that he might just run himself...
Anyone remember which Oscar the movie won? I believe it was best original song.
illuminatti,is the ONLY candidate you have.... why vote at all?
Run Al Run! America needs a change (not a climate change, but a ethical-political-spiritual one)!
I think most people in the world will recognize the Nobel given partly to Al Gore as the overtly political thing it was meant to be.
In 1986 I viewed what must have been one of the first NOVA's on global warming (it might have been a rebroadcast of a program originally aired in 1983), titled "Climate Crisis: Global Warming." This documentary featured a fresh-faced Al Gore warning about manmade global warming as a danger to humanity. But it also mentioned several distinguished climatologists who down the last 20 years have worked tirelessly to inform and warn us all about global warming. That NOVA even mentioned in passing the first article in "Nature" by climate scientists in the late 1970s to describe this phenomenon as the danger it is to humanity.
So far as a second Al Gore presidential candidacy is concerned, Mr. Gore has stated more than once that he's lost his taste for politics.
And, Mr. Nichols in this article betrays an important, possibly fatal defect in our political culture: he is a bourgeois elitist in progressive attire who views the president as an elected monarch: only members of our insulated sociopolitical patriciate need apply.
But a mere change of personnel at the uppermost reaches of what C. Wright Mills called "the higher circles" of our federal executive will not reverse the political - and economic -- decline our nation has sunk into since just before the beginning of the Reagan Era.
America's polity is in transition between one which has always been basically - with the exception of the eras of Jackson, Lincoln and FDR - one of "elite consensus" wherein the only changes deemed needed in presidential style are changes of style, not direction.
Consider the complete reversal of field which occurred in Spanish politics when the left regained power in the middle of our Iraq debacle and directed the removal of Spanish troops from Iraq and then went on to denounce the entire Iraq disaster for the illegal and criminal war it is.
This is what I mean as an adversarial polity and we in America will have to come up with this ability to achieve sharply divergent changes of course so that we are able to move our nation off the disastrous paths our power elites continally put us onto.
That older fashioned, increasingly irrelevant kind of leadership is all Al Gore has to offer America.
In the coming years, after much political and economic turmoil, probably occasioned by the inauguration of an informal dictatorship and a militarized police state, we in the U.S. will move on to an economically-based, sharply adversarial (as distinguished from elite consensus) polity in which the 80% of American households who have no direct representation at all in our government finally get the equivalent of a European Social Democratic (or Swedish "Middle Way") polity in which any consensus reached will represent the economic well-being of those excluded Americans.
Will American civiization survive these coming crises intact? It doesn't look good for us now. Truth to tell, global warming is a peripheral concern to tens of millions of Americans who find themselves in a economic and social order which has reverted to the Social Darwinism of the late 19th century.
And what has Al Gore to say about all this? Nothing. He will be viewed by future generations of Americans (if "America" survives) just as we today view William Howard Taft: A man who couldn't stomach the presidency but who went on to a status of honorific irrelevancy (Taft as an undistinguished Supreme Court Justice; Gore as a co-winner of a poorly thought out Nobel Prize).
i think i can figure this out..here goes....BUSH WAS ELECTED ON THE RIGHT AS THE HERO OF "MORALS"...' 'GORE WILL BE ELECTED ON THE LEFT AS THE HERO OF" ENVIRONMENT" ..(2000) goodbye morals and compassion..(2008)goodbye earth and creatures..
i hope i am wrong about gore but i see the perfect storm brewing...when bush got nominated every baptist church in town held huge celebrations and hung out signs saying ""thank you for voting your conscience!""..i talked to many rightwingers,christians,military etc..they were all outraged about the lack of morals and decency in this country and they sounded EXACTLY like you guys..oh yes,run bush RUN,,our hero,please lead us..save us from the wickedness !!it was the absolute perfect storm for the right and the christians,they were just as elated and silly as you guys"my hero"(SIGH)....well,here we are again the absolute PERFECT STORM..for the left,DEJA VU,anyone? anybody can deliver a great speech-maybe karl rove wrote gore/moveon speech i remember when we all thought nancy would save the day,too.the lesson is the president is not your benevolent daddy.we need to try electing a real human.....
how long has algore been jetting around making megabillions off global warming ??there is another article in this cd issue(only 5 posts)and it states that'out of the 21 richest countries..america ranks dead last, number 21 on ENVIRONMENT !!
Thank you, annabelle.
indeepshit..that is the lesson that the american people refuse to learn..for the people by the people..we must save ourselves..if batman or spiderman were running for president it would be a landslide..because we the people are lazy !!we must chain our own rabid dogs of war..we wont stop bush..we want big daddy algore to come in and clean up our mess after us and wipe our butts ...that is pathetic...
Perhaps the Nobel still counts if only as an afterthought.
"St. Thomas University just reversed itself. After disinviting Archbishop Desmond Tutu earlier this year over suggestions that the Nobel Peace Prize-winner's appearance might be hurtful to the Jewish community, Father Dennis Dease, head of St. Thomas, has changed his mind."
is it my imagination?or has algore's physical appearance been morphing?and i dont mean just normal aging..he looks like he has been on a cannibal diet... looking like an ogre(which is an anagram of gore).okay if i have to choose one monster over another,i go with the hilliary monster cause at least she still looks human,..al gore does not..
Gore won the Norwegian Primary, like the shrub won his first "presdential" election, on shaky pretenses . What has Al Gore done to promote Peace and the other specific things one has to do for the Peace Prize? Not much, and certainly nothing that would get him a mention let alone a Nobel Prize. It stinks of politics and it diminishes the prize and also the recipients good name for accepting it. He worked hard to reestablish his good name but not for Peace.
Sorry but he wouldn't get my vote.
Lord thunderin where are the virtues we admire and hope to see in public figures? Am reminded of big daddy in "Cat on a hot tin roof" when he utters the word "Mendacity", it abounds.
Al Gore is not going to save you or this country or the world...I guarantee it. His carbon footprint is larger than 99.99% of the people on this planet.
Al Gore has made the case that greenhouse gas emissions have the potential to cause cataclysmic earth changes that will decimate the world's animal (that includes us) and plant populations.
So why is emitting carbon into the atmosphere not regarded as a crime, punishable by extreme measures? One can spend up to 6 months or more in jail for possessing a little WEED which isn't hurting anybody, but when somebody jets around the world spewing hypocritical polluting BS about tackling climate change, that person is regarded as a HERO and bestowed great honors.
As indicated by previous Commondreams new articles, it is quite likely that the tipping points for climate change are already here (rapid loss of Arctic ice, tundra thaw, amazon burning etc...).
I say put Al Gore behind bars for crimes against humanity. He knows full well the consequences of his CO2 emissions. When Al Gore is behind bars, he will learn once and for all what is means to live a low carbon footprint lifestyle. We'll put him on a chain gang where he'll be forced to grow his own food using hand tools. No A/C or heating will be available. Toilets will be pit or composters so no energy is used in processing. Unprocessed mostly vegan local diet. No TV, no internet, no radio no nothing.
runaway climate change means ...no nothing...no joke...
kane,that is true and i was a supporter of gore.. now i have come to my senses..he does not represent change..it will be more of the same..yes,america has always been better off when the democrats are in office,that is because the republicans only know how to spend money,they are incapable of saving money or balancing a budget..that is what democrats are for..... things have changed since the authors of the NWO..can now see the finish line,after generations of planning..and will push ahead..because,they can.gore is not a humanitarian,he is a man who has made alot friends,gained alot of influence and made a tremendous amount of money off of global warming.
What's Gore had to say about the illegal attack and illegal occupation of Iraq and the upcoming illegal attack on Iran?? I haven't heard him say anything, so I guess he'd go along with it also, just like the rest of the war-loving politicians.
r06ue1:
"While I believe Gore would be a huge upgrade to Hillary I'm still wary of what he will do when in office."
Right now I am WAY more concerned about what Giuliani would do in office, rather than an Al Gore, or for that matter, even a Hillary.
I was very impressed with Al's speech to MoveOn in today's CD. Everyone should read it. He seems to have moved to a far more progressive stance as a non-candidate, and really is now someone I feel I could happily support, should he choose to run. But I'm not betting the ranch on it.
What has really been bothering me lately, as I visit this site daily, is the intense hatred of liberal candidates and other public figures who don't meet the standards of far-left-progressives, but yet are head-and-shoulders above ANYONE in the GOP. The near-complete evisceration of anyone not ascribing to every single demand of some of these posters is downright frightening. Is there no human yet alive in this country who could possibly meet their litmus test of "leftness?"
Take the comments about Jimmy Carter...a most decent human soul, a man who has done far more for people of the world than any other ex-president in either camp, especially the GOP. Yet, he is an object of scorn for some on this site because of stances he sometimes took back in the 70's that today seem too right-leaning, despite the fact that the times were different. And Al Gore...do I need to list his achievements and his passion for the environment and the restoration of the Constitution? I challenge you to tell me what right-wing neocon has ever been more forthright than Gore was in his speech to MoveOn? How many neocons can you personally name who have told the truth about global warning and the shredding of our Constitution? Why, he even sounded eerily like many posters on this very site!
For some people here, no one (with the exception of perhaps Dennis Kucinich) will ever be acceptable. Anyone who has ever made a mistake, tried to seek compromise, or showed even the slightest deviation from progressive thought is being demonized. We are doing to ourselves what we complain about all the time with the right-wing whackos like Coulter and Limbaugh. We who consider ourselves liberals are demonizing the very people who offer us hope. It's time to stop it and wake up. We must elect someone NOT in the GOP,even if they are not "perfect" according to our impossible standards, or else we are most decidedly cooked.
And for those here who think I have been sipping the DLC KoolAid, I assure you I have not. I am a progressive, but also a realist. This county will NEVER make any progress with another Republican in the White House. You can take that one to the bank. Obviously, it is difficult to trust anyone these days, either GOP or DEM. But short of a people's revolution, somebody is going to occupy that White House in '09, and you all better be praying it ain't Rudy. But maybe it won't come to that, after all. Perhaps some of you who are predicting a Bush-inspired miliary takeover in the USA will then have your perverted wish. Then you can come back on this site and say, "I told you so." Won't that be fun? That, of course, is if this site even exists by then.
I say we liberals need to stop this hatefulness towards one another and knock off the name-calling and negative vibes. We will never have our voice heard unless we agree that the enemy we face in the neocon right is a much greater threat than a few mistakes made by decent people whose hearts have been and are essentially in the right place.
algore-has always wanted war with the middleast-and has said so;;;;algore is aware that the destruction of the artic is intentional,covert experiment radiation,electromagnetic manipulations..the christian right will gloat..when you fall hook line and sinker..for the green showfortheleft..if algore wins..there will be more'false-flag'attacks on america..more genocide in other countries.algore wanted to take our freedom of speech away,,20 years,ago..silly starstruck liberals..you are about to find out that you are no better,smarter or compassionate than the embattled christian right.algore is not even the lesser of evil,he is the same..he and george elite members of the"brotherhood"..
We need Gore as president to steer the space ship away from the disaster it is heading towards.
There are two main threats global warming and global nuclear war. And the nuclear threat from a US first strike policy and ideological miscalculation in the form of a nuclear first strike against Iran is looming. The US must return to the NPT. Nucelar winter is not an answer to global warming.
The present captain is heating up the ship and fighting the passengers.
Our spaceship is hurtling towards disaster because of weapons we must join hands and cooperate to survive, instead we are fighting in the isles.
The first class passengers may feel safer but they will crash with the rest of the passengers even if their cabin is sealed off.
http://peacesource.net/
What a timely and useful article, John Nichols. Can't wait for The Nation to arrive in the mail. And the comments on this article are a cut above the usual irrelevancies. There are a lot of thinking readers in this thread of thought. I hope Al Gore will take heart at the positives and consider the ways in which he could likely be a person who could make a difference and put a cork in the tub before democracy goes down the drain. I am concerned that he is often slow to anger, and contemplative. He may lack the progressive idealism and fire that matches all his other great qualities. Let's hope he can reinvent those essentials.
Gore will NOT run, I'm sure of it. He's keeping the speculation alive so his global warming cause keeps getting the attention. He knows his cause will be destroyed if he runs, by Repugs and by their Democratic clones running for president. They'll eat him alive.
And why would he run as a Democrat? Isn't he supposed to a 'changed' man now, and Democrats are still obviously anti-labor, pro-war, pro-corporation and anti-environment just like they were when he was VP?
I finally read the article on CounterPunch that everyone seems to be recommending. Funny, it didn't change my opinion of Al Gore at all. The article was at most boring, the only thing it left out was whether he was potty trained too early or too late. Take the career of any lifetime politician and rake each and every decision over the coals and you would have another equally boring article. Sorry , you need more ammunition than that.
Remember, that Al Gore is related to the great writer, Gore Vidal. There's a family link somewhere. I'm also aware of Gore Vidal's passion for progressive politics. I doubt very much that Gore Vidal would cast a vote for his own kin.
After listening to the right wing blow long and hard about Gore not deserving of the Nobel Prize and then reading all of the equally disturbing assessments here on this website about Gore it makes me wonder exactly what Al Gore did to arouse such animosity. In other countries when the election process is corrupted people take to the streets to make it right. That didn't happen here. Just where were all of you people when the election was stolen out from under him? Would you have supported him if he had attempted to fight that pack of wolves? No one made a peep, but now it sounds as if he deliberately threw the election to the GOP, as if he himself stopped the recount. Hmmmmm. Bad Al. Compared to what we have lived with for the last seven years all of the accusations being thrown at Al are pretty petty. Huckleberry Hound could have given us a better run for our money than this bunch.
"I congratulate Al Gore on his Nobel Prize. He earned it! However, I beg Al Gore NOT to run for President unless he is willing NOT to allow the Republicans to steal the election and extend the Bush-Chaney-Giuliani-Romney Dictatorship. What Gore did in 2000 (by letting Bush steal Al Gore's rightful position of President which he won BTW) was cowardly and I will NEVER forgive him for that!!!And don't you people dare blame Ralph Nader for Gore's cowardice!!"
Here we go again... Gore 'let' the Republicans steal the election... Jesus you people are just can't get a grip on reality.... He didn't 'let' them steal the election... the Supreme Court did. And as I've stated numerous times on this site.... once they ruled THAT WAS THAT!!! Stop blaming Gore. He had nobody but God to appeal to after that, and as we saw with 9/11, God doesn't intervene in earthly matters...
There was no other authority for him to appeal to. No congressional challenge would have trumped a Supreme Court ruling.
For God's sake, stop whining about him 'letting' the Republicans win every damned time the man's name is in print.. WE ARE SICK OF IT..
Mr Nicholls;
Your statement that Gore won the popular vote in 2000 is disingenuous.
He was the real victor in Fla and thus the victor in the electoral vote. He would be the legitimate president had the supreme court not succumbed to politics and planted the current zealot in office.
"What has Gore done for peace? What has he done to stop the occupation of Irak?"
He's given blistering criticism in rousing speeches.. which is pretty much all he can do. He does not hold office, so he is a private citizen the same as us. But unlike us he has press coverage, and he's used it in the most sensible and responsible ways.
What has Gore done for peace? What has he done to stop the occupation of Irak?
I too have serious doubts about Al Gore. He is a politician after all.
But I no longer have no doubts about Hillary. You wont get a shred of honesty out of her. She peddles war, despite rhetoric. She peddles all the media lies about Iraq/Iran being a threat to the US. Her loyalty is to the big money and AIPAC. She is a political whore.
So given the choice between these two, I would GLADLY support Al Gore.
Gore can win only if the right wing's election manipulation machine in halted, which may not be possible before the next election. The successes in shaping the voter behavior using unprecedented character assassination tactics such as those waged against Max Cleland, and manipulated science, have resulted in environmental and social setbacks that can not even be measured.
iven the apathy and ignorance of large voting blocks, one cannot be optimistic.
I'm glad that Al got the Noble (which he does deserve). I don't want him to run for president. NOT because I think wish him to (because I do). But because the RW machine will attack/tear him down full-tilt-boogie. Like they are doing to that 13 year old kid now. All which bears ill for our country. But hey we get what we deserve.
STEP ASIDE HILLARY. YOUR HUSBAND'S INFIDELITY COST AL GORE THE ELECTION. IF NOTHING ELSE, BESIDES HIS QUALIFICATIONS THAT PUT YOUR SELFICH ASPIRATIONS TO SHAME, YOU CLINTON'S OWE HIM ONE. DROP OUT OF THE RACE AND HAVE BILL ALSO ENDORSE AL. BUT WHATEVER YOU DO OR DON'T DO, WE ARE SO TIRED OF YOUR POSTURING, THAT ALL GORE HAS TO DO IS TELL THE DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN OF EACH STATE "YES" AND IT'S ALL OVER. IF YOU KEEP FIGHTING, IT MAY NOT EVEN BE A GORE/CLINTON TICKET. YOU'LL BE BACK TO BEING A SENATOR FROM WHAT REALLY ISN'T YOUR STATE. JUST ANOTHER CASE OF UNBRIDLED AMBITION TO HE PRESIDENT, NO REAL CONCERN FOR THE NEW YORK CITIZENS. WHAT I CAN'T IMAGINE IS WHY THE POLLSTERS DON'T SEE THROUGH ALL YOUR FALSE FRONT. NO PUN INTENDED.
COMarc, I share your distaste for the DLC, and clearly Bill Clinton has had much to do with the Democratic parties demise.
I believe Gore, however, had manifested his sincere interest in environmental issues way before he ran for political office.
If one believes the worlds present reliance on fossil fuels is suicidal, and I believe Gore does, then regardless of one's previous political leaning regarding war and corporate license, one's views would change, at least to the degree necessary to keep the world a safe place to raise one's children.
Of course if one held the view that,apparently, Bush,Cheney, et al. hold, that everything is under control, as they have already purchased their one-way ticket to Mars, that would be another story.
I just hope you are not suggesting that the likely, HRC vs any-Republican race, (if Gore is excluded) would be no worse than Gore vs any-Republican race.
Things are bad, but they are not, in my estimation, that bad.
Although I must say I think we've finally reached the point referred to in the statement: 'Things have to get worse before they get better.'
I say: Mr. Gore, you lead- I will follow!
I think Gore would be a pefect Democratic candidate for 2008. He is respected throughout the world. His opposition in the United States is none other than the opposition to the other current candidates (remnants of the "Angry white Males'" Tribe and the other usual retroforstars andbars suspects)that were out of shape over not being able to become an interest group until TV gave them a title and attention. OK They've had theirs. And Hillary doesn't appeal to a lot of people. Let's draft Gore.
NO NO NO NO to chuck hagel!!!! here's a hint: type hagel and diebold or hagel and electronic systems and software into google and see what comes up.
his rhetoric is a con. he's a wolf in sheep's clothing playin the focus group game. katherine harris and ken blackwell have nothing on him...
While reading Al's book, "The Assault on Reason", I've been close to tears thinking we could have had him as President instead of the dangerous fool we have now.
Congratulate.......rose colored glass
gbyatx - I share your fantasy of Gore partnered with Hagel or Paul...what a great team either pairing would make! Even Gore and Kucinich would be OK with me. Gore and anyone would be a better hand than the current candidate lineup!
I can see a no more appropriate or timely method of restoring credibility to this nation, in the eyes of the world, than the election of Al Gore to the Presidency of the US.
I would be over-joyed if he would run and pick Representative Kucinich as his running mate.
Such a ticket would greatly increase the life expectancy of Gore, and America certainly owes him that much, after allowing Gore to be defrauded, by the both the state of Florida and the not-so-supreme court, with neither a bang or a whimper.
Bush and Cheney should be so lucky, neither of whom will spend one day in pugatory, having already purchased one-way tickets straight to hell.
If Al Gore did not run for and win the Presidency, but everyone followed him anyway, and ignored the oiligarchy, would it not be as good?...or better?
TO BE PRESIDENT YOU DO NOT NEED QUALIFICATIONS, ALIS WAY OVER QUALIFIED.TRY TO NAME ONE QUALIFICATION THAT bush HOLDS.
While Gore would still probably be a lesser of two evils, I would vote only for him as a Dem because he supports national health insurance. (He did not in 2000). The insurance companies will do everything to keep him out.
This is what I would consider the tipping point for any of my votes to go democratic ... this is an issue all candidates should pick up. Until then, Green it is.
I'm surprised at how unforgiving this crowd is. So he's not perfect - he's no doubt a lot closer to perfection than any of us are. He tried to be a gracious loser and yes, we suffered mightily for it, but grace is in short supply these days. And who cares if Ms. Clinton thinks she's got it sewn up - it's too early to give in to her yet, and she's far more likely to reinforce her husband's mistakes than Gore is.
Oh, and Dear Mr. Nichols, I'm sorry to be a nag, but it really bugs me when people misuse the phrase "begs the question" when they mean "raises the question." It's extremely common now, but that doesn't make it right and professional writers should know better. "Begging the question" means something completely different (which can be found in philosophical dictionaries.)
Why would the oval office be the last stop? That's arrogant, and I'm from the US. Why not UN Secretary-General?
Forget Nobel (all awards are a sham pretty much.) You should check out Dobel in the Woody Allen flick!
The nobels are a sham. They give awards to people who torture animals!
And it was started by a guy who blew people up--he didnt start the prize because he had a change of heart--he started it because someone ran a false obituary on him that portrayed him as a mass murderer. He wanted a different legacy--because of his munitions money--he got it.
hopalongcassidy wrote, "his immediate copulation with no fight upon the 2000 fraudulant election by Republicans"
Did I miss something? I don't remember Gore copulating with anyone immediately following the election. If you're going to use big words, use them correctly. And, Gore did not capitulate with no fight. He fought and lost to our illustrious Supreme Court. The Republican smear machine was doing a good job of making him look like a sore loser (I know, the actual winner of the popular vote is really a loser...that's a round of logic I still can't wrap my brain around!) What exactly did you want him to do? Stage a coup? Lock himself inside the oval office?
Naysayers be damned, the return and renaissance of a fallen hero is pretty accurate. In light of what we've suffered the past 7 years, it's that much more poignant. If anyone knows anyone in a Draft Gore or Gore-hyping movement, please share my website with them if you think it could help. Fundraising, etc... all the stuff us idealists don't like to focus on. (And hey, I'm trying to make some semblance of a living with my art and ideas!)
http://www.supergore.com
Talk of a "Global Marshall Plan" being organized/enacted by 2009/2010 at the latest? Who else is going to catalyze such an effort with the world community?
Hey, folks, we give righties every oportunity to change and embrace them when they do, eg. Arianna Huffington, John Dean, Paul Craig Roberts. The list is quite long. Why should we not give the lefties an oportunity to shake off the DLC and reform too?
The idea of an independant or third party candidate is an idea whose time has come. We are all angry enough to pull it off. At least it could really throw a monkey wrench into the electoral college and hopefully damage it beyond repair.
Al Gore: The Once and Future President.
A glimmer of light in the foul corrupt darkness that pervades this nation.
First there was the stolen election; hopefully corporate oil won't pay corporate mercenaries (or the CIA) to arrange a convenient airplane crash.
World overpopulation and depletion of resources will destroy "civilization," the help of bush amerika the pope and assorted satan worshipers
Please, let's keep Al out of small airplanes from now on.....
I've been grinning all day I'm so proud of the Nobel selectors.
Who's winning now, Dubya?
A Question:
Does anyone know the real reason why Liebermann was added to the 2000 ticket? I don't recall him being a rabid, hysterical hawk Zionist back then....
Yes rtdrury!
A healthy, wealthy and wise democracy!
"Flash" Goredon, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, said he was getting straight back to work on the "planetary emergency" of climate change.
We love you Al Gore!
Gore: back to work on "planetary emergency" By Jim Christie .. Editted (wink)
PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1245952120071012?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews
If Al Gore will do something to protect and preserve this beautiful planet so that future generations can continue to live, (learn, eat, drink, breath) than I will vote for him over all other interests. I am a single mother raising a 3-year-old daughter. I am descended from Africans kidnapped and brought here as slaves over ten generation ago. I am passionate about Gender Equality, Workers rights, LGBTQ rights, health care and education. But, none of that matters if we destroy the earth! Run, Gore Run!
Congratulations to our elected President. There are plenty of arguments against your running here. That means some of your opposition is worried because they realize that you have the best chance of winning (again)! The shills here know that Hillary can't even beat Giuliani in the polls and they are deathly afraid of your candidacy. They pretend outrage and rail against Repugs to get us to vote for good progressive candidates who have no chance of winning. Others may be sincere and feel let down because you bowed out and conceded the election too soon. But you are our best chance. You've taught that fighting global warming also means ending war. If war is our main issue you are the best person to address it scientifically and politically. Run Al, Run!
rtdrury:
Thanks for that little gem: "they only know and care about the public interests and how well they are being addressed".
I think that's where our society's car jumped the tracks, somewhere near the time of the civil war. When Alexis de Toqueville toured the U.S. in the 19th century, he was astounded at the common-cause lets-build-our-society feeling that was pervasive here at that point in our nation's development. We have only briefly recaptured that sentiment, maybe during the emergencies of the second world war, and possibly fleetingly after 911.
I think that's really what's missing: the commonly-held notion of where our common interests are, and the notion that the common good transcends the individual's.
It would be really hard to scare, divide or stampede a society that knew where it was, where it was going, and how to get there.
This is a good argument, John Nichols. But if Gore didn't win, it would be a disaster. And, as the comments on this website strongly suggest, there are still too many Americans who can't/won't think globally, so it's pretty risky.
I'm glad A Gore lost the 2000 election. What if he had won, and out of bad luck, he had been bumped off like JFK?
Terrible. We then would have had that ugly, untrustworthy guy as our president:LIEberman !!!!!
But this time I'll vote for Al.
In a healthy democracy nobody knows or cares who is elected to public service. They only know and care about the pubic interests and how well they are being addressed.
I would vote for Al Gore. I would not vote for Edwards, Obama or Clinton. I did not vote for Kerry. Gore in 08 is not comparable to Clinton/Gore 92. In 92 they were chosen by Big Business to run, to receive the nomination and to carry the banner. Gore was a Senator at the time- an insider- bought and paid for. If he ran in 08 he would be running as himself. Without most of the Big Business money he received in 00. That may still not be good enough for a lot of people but it would be different. He does not need 80 million dollars, no person in American history had ever received as many votes as Al Gore did in 2000. He has all the name recgonition you could ever buy. And to those saying that he has it good now or that he is taken more seriously now than when he was a candidate, I ask-- do you know any Bush Republicans? They still mock and despise and obsess over Al Gore. To those making comments about Gore reinventing himself, like it's a bad thing, you don't get what makes Gore attractive to people like me. He is willing to change. He is willing to think and reason and come up with new conclusions based on new information. He is a thinker, and that is a good thing. So we can wait for the next tried and tested Frank Lutz approved corporate candidate that will promote the worst of the status quo while destroying so much more that is good. Or we can give Al Gore another shot. I will vote for Gore or if he is not the candidate, I will vote Green. It is not ideal but nothing in the world is today. I am committed to change and will continue to work for it but until us Greens get someone elected to the US House or Senate or a Governorship, then it is not realistic to expect to win the electoral college. I have posted many times on this site saying that if voting Green means the GOP candidate wins, good. I am fine with that because you can not expect change when you keep voting for the same corrupt parties. But, to me, this is different. I believe in Al Gore, the man, the human. He may very well dissappoint- in fact he will dissappoint me because we don't share the same views, but we need an intellectual, reasoned President now as much as ever. Al Gore should run, and I will support him.
safiyyah, I agree that Gore is unworthy of any Peace price, but the Nobel, for all its vaunted status, is pretty much a sham. Past Nobel Peace laureates include Henry Kissinger, Gorbachev and Jimmy Carter. Giving a "Peace" Prize to political leaders (or former leaders) of nuclear superpowers is beyond a joke.
I'm with AD...we need Kucinich. Gore is fine talking about climate change but he still lives in a huge home. His lifestyle choices tell Americans that they don't actually have to sacrifice anything to save the planet. Gore is great for spreading the word about climate change but if we want to actually fix the problem, Kucinich is the only candidate who leads by example with his own lifestyle.
The people of the USA have reached a sort of tipping point in their vision of US politica and economics, but there is no candidate (who could win) who clearly spells out the necessary rearticulation of the country's policy in line with what the people clearly want (see the polls). Gore's work on climate change has surely lead him to connect the dots between the big issues and the necessity for a deep systemic change. Even if he loses he would still establish the institutional space in US politics for a clearly defined alternative to the dismal coincidence in all the MSM-supported neoliberal and imperial candidates on all of the issues affecting the planet, the country and the people.
"Hillary is basically running as Ghouliani with a bra. And that's not playing well with the public, despite the polls saying she's leading. Hillary is in the bizarre position of being hated by almost everyone left to right who pays any attention to politics."
Which is why I have to wonder why it is that she's leading in all of the polls, except against Giuliani, who she only sports a 3 point lead over in the polls. Against her nearest Democratic rivals, she's got double digit leads over them, even though they may be better candidates. The "Clintonistas", the Clinton Money Machine, are still solidly behind her. She's the DLC choice to lead the Dems to the march to the White House, and the DLC is basically a centrist, Republican-lite organisation. Anybody who smacks of being "too left" like Kucinich is basically frozen out of the picture, sadly, giving them virtually no chance of winning or even racking up big poll numbers.
I still regard Hillary as being too cold, too calculating. Gore's out of this race, so forget him. Giuliani turns off social conservatives, Thompson has become their standard bearer, more or less, and Obama is too green with not enough name recognition to make a real go of things this time, but he's sure charismatic enough and appealing enough to the young, college aged vote to be able to make a bit of inroads with the younger voters, who could well turn out in record numbers if they get their act together and do so.
But for now, no Gore. They say that the Nobel means that you're past your prime. It's kind of a "Lifetime Achievement Award" a la the honourary Oscars given to those they never gave to actors and actresses while they were still gracing the silver screen. Call it a golden watch, but it means that we won't see another Gore run, at least not this campaign season.
For now, let Gore rest on his laurels and get behind the candidacy of Dennis Kucinich. If enough of us get out there and do so and make our voices LOUDLY heard, he'll be next to impossible to ignore.
Al Gore-- yeah remember how he and Bill Klanton made things much worse in the Balkans with their version of the US war on democracy on the democratic state of Yugoslavia. Give me a damn break. How about a Nobel War Prize for this dawg? Better yet, let's go with a nobody but Kucinich movement.
Heard an NPR "expert" say that Gore is too far behind Hillary's/Obama's $80 million warchests each to jump in now.
Yeah, what political coverage! Forget ideas, forget furthering a constructive ideology human lives and desitny*, it's all just a big football game with dollar signs on the scoreboard.
Those dulcet tones of those aging neoliberal capitalisyt yuppies on NPR makes me physically sick.
*not that I think gGre would be helpful her eeither...
So many want to keep pushing off these Democrats as being good for us. I think these pushers are more dangerous than dealers in crack.
Al Gore in no way is a worthy recipient of any Peace Prize and even though the other Democratic Party front runners are absolutely horrible, it's a poor excuse for getting behind a Gore candidacy. He's got a proven track record and they just want us to ignore all this! They want us to believe in the tooth fairy, and the fantasma of the reinvented Gore!
::Thus, the perfect Democratic candidate in the eyes of the leaders of this modern pro-war, pro-corporate party. His positions and history are to the right. He's always favored bigger military budgets and aggressive military actions. He's always been a corporations best friend in DC. But bizarrely he's now regarded as a progressive.::
Not only that, but the same kind of hoopla surrounded Clinton/Gore in 1992, all evidence to the contrary - including if memory serves, their campaign platform.
::So we see Al Gore trotted out as the savior who's going to right all that's wrong. But here's a prediction. If Al Gore is elected President, most of us will be meeting about two years later to try to talk about how to organize protests against yet another Democrat who is 'disappointing' all the progressives who got fooled into supporting him.::
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is what I was talking about when I said folks waking up to realize they've been had. The only comfort here is that we'll have more company this time around - hopefully people will continue to wake up in time to not have to go through this all over again.