A week ago, I mentioned a report in The Hill speculating that Al Gore was considering entering the race for the Dem presidential nomination after having ruled it out last December.
The widely-circulated article elicited a fresh round of denials from Gore and his confidants. A Gore spokeswoman said last week, “Truly, honestly, he’s not planning on getting back into the race.”
Hmm. Not planning on it? Is this the beginning of someone trying to leave the door open a crack?
There’s also another development that has fueled speculation that the article from The Hill may not have been completely off-base.
After months of near-invisibility, all of a sudden Gore has arranged a high-profile public speech. Tomorrow, MoveOn is hosting an event in New York to discuss recent events in Iraq and presumably organize additional opposition to the Bush administration’s policies. Guess who will be the special guest? Gore.
One MoveOn source told the conservative Washington Times, “[Gore] wanted to give the address and asked MoveOn to sponsor it. He’s going to be speaking out about a number of different issues, not just about the war.”
If true, that’s an interesting development. This suggests Gore decided to give a major speech in New York and proactively contacted one of the left’s most successful political activist groups to help him bring it together. Sounds like something a prospective candidate might do.
I still really doubt that Gore will jump into the race, but it now seems as if Gore may be in the “trial balloon” stage. He may see a Dem field that some find uninspiring, see Dean as someone who can excite activists but not beat Bush, and think that now may be a good time to remind voters that he’s still out there and could be convinced to make a comeback. Maybe Gore is thinking that he’ll give this speech to MoveOn in the hopes activists will hear it and think he’s a better candidate than their existing choices.
Or maybe he just wants to give a speech about Iraq and has no plans or ulterior motives. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.