Gore starts to sound Shermanesque about ’08

May 30, 2006

I’ve been enjoying the speculation about [tag]Al Gore[/tag]’s future as much as anyone, but there are clear and unambiguous signs that he really isn’t going to [tag]run[/tag] for [tag]president[/tag] again. Ever.

Time magazine, for example, reports this week that Gore has been “quietly telephoning some of his biggest fund raisers and telling them to feel free to sign on with other potential candidates.” Gore is reportedly asking these donors to get the word out, instructing, “Tell everybody I’m not [tag]running[/tag].”

As if that weren’t quite clear enough, Gore spoke with the NYT’s Adam Nagourney and made it quite plain that he’s no longer considering a [tag]presidential[/tag] [tag]campaign[/tag].

“I wanted it, and it was not to be,” said Al Gore, the former vice president and two-time presidential candidate. “I am not pursuing it. I have been there, and I have done that.”

Mr. Gore was on the telephone from New York, taking a break from promoting his book and documentary about [tag]global warming[/tag], to dismiss — with a combination of weariness and wariness, but with something approaching finality — speculation that his rising profile should be interpreted as the first stirrings of another bid for the White House.

“Why should I run for office?” Mr. Gore asked, the impatience evident in his voice. “I have no interest in running for office. I have run for office. I have run four national campaigns. I have found other ways to serve my country, and I am enjoying them.”

Gore added that he used to want the job, but “that was not to be.”

In one important sense, it’s probably best for Gore to clear up speculation about his ambitions once and for all. The presidential campaign is important, and I think Gore has a lot to offer as a candidate, but if talk about his possible political plans overshadows the point of his current public position — advocating steps to reduce global warming — that would be tragic.

Gore has a powerful and critically important message to share, and he’s facing all manner of right-wing attacks because of it. Candidate or not, Gore and his policy agenda still need support.

I think you’re right on both counts. Gore’s message gets taken more seriously if he’s not a candidate (although the speculation also gets his message more coverage.) And he does need support. The Republicans are on the wrong (stupid) side of this issue. Gore can help his cause and Democrats in the coming elections. I saw a documentary about Gore at home and he comes across as a very intelligent sensitive man with a sense of humour. I don’t think he needs to be president.

  • The press is paying more attention to Gore now than when he was in the middle of an actual campaign. Back then they ignored what he said and focused on his clothes.

    So why should he run? Why should he dance for those dolts?

    The minute he says he will run is the minute they stop paying attention. The smear-and-innuendo machine will kick into full gear and drown out anything substantive he has to say. (And, after all, isn’t that what the media really want? Some juicy taunts and slurs, rather than all this boring global warming stuff?)

    Freed from running, he can say what he really thinks and spend time on the projects that are most important to him. He can produce substance, rather than pissing away time schmoozing and begging for cash. To many, Jimmy Carter was better as an ex-President. Gore is becoming an excellent ex-VP.

    Why screw that up by saying something stupid like, “I’m running”?

  • I agree with the commenters here and would add that Gore, a genuinely moral and sensitive man, might have figured out that he can be more of a force for good at this time if he’s not running. He’s young too–and there will be other opportunities, if he should want them down the line. On the other hand, maybe it would be better if he’s dragged in and drafted at the convention…? 🙂

  • Who the hell would want to take on the mess Bush is leaving behind anyway? They will inherit an economy that (if it isnt in recession already) is heading right into one. They are pretty much doomed to raise taxes because of the current excesses combined with the coming demographic wave that will explode entitlement spending. They basically would have a giant mess on their hands, and have to endure the constant harrassment of the Republican loons blaming the problem on them, and denying that what when on before in the Bush Presidency was the root cause. I wouldnt wish this job on anyone.

  • I think Gore should be elected President, even if he doesn’t want to campaign. There was a time, when Presidential candidates were not expected to campaign at all. William McKinley was the last, I think, to run such a “front porch” campaign, but if Democrats were a slightly more disciplined Party, they might be able to do it.

  • GORE ALERT!

    Terry Gross interviews Al Gore today on NPR’s “Fresh Air.”

    Another opportunity to denied presidential aspirations?

  • Gore is also showing he is thoughtful about the party by doing this, by taking his shadow off of the people who really will be candidates, and freeing up staff resources. Given how good positive publicity has to feel, that takes a pretty big person to give that up for the good of those who the party really will have to choose among.

    While I think he would likely make a good President, it is not a job you are likely to get, or do well at, half-heartedly. If he isn’t 100% certain, he shouldn’t run. And why would anyone who was treated the way he was ever want to go through that again? Instead let him be Exhibit A in how much we lose out on by the way candidates are treated.

  • I agree, too, with all the previous commentators regarding Gore’s unequivocal rejection of running again as a presidential candidate. He comes across as honest and committed to higher ideals such as combatting global warming that riles the Republicans who would rather deal with made-up false issues than solve real issues affecting Americans.

    Gore would be a welcome guiding light for present and future Democratic politicians who want to deal with real issues and serve as a viable alternative to the Republicans’ nonissues-made-into-issues bent.

  • Well, phooey. I can certainly understand his desire not to stick his head back into the political blender again, but it sure would have been interesting if he did. Now what the heck am I going to do with all those “Re-Elect President Gore” bumper stickers in my garage??

  • I wouldn’t blame Gore at all if he told the whole nation to go screw itself.

    He was clearly the most qualified to be president in recent memory. He knew Washington DC, the knew the world, he knew (anticipated actually) the information age and the ecological complex of problems. But the nation has become shallow and yuckity-yuck hillbilly. The press takes delight in bringing down truly capable leaders while they attend to the their hairdos and positions in the corporate news hierarchy. Submorons like Falwell and Robertson get more press than serious candidates for public office. Elected Democrats are an embarrassment and show no signs of rising above themselves.

    I worked for Gore in four national elections and would cheerfully do so again. But he’s read about Sysiphus, too. After a while, batting your head against the American and Democratic walls, you just say “Screw you, ya ignorant bastards!” and go on with your life – which in Gore’s case means telling the world what he’s telling them through his movie. We’re fortunate he still cares enough to care at all.

  • What irony. Bittersweet.

    Millions of Americans are now discovering that Al Gore is a truly fine and noble man, and would have made a good president. Not just a mediocre one, a good one. And hell, let’s face it. Even a bad president would be a vast improvement over the global wrecking ball that this administration has become. But because of his stature, he should not demean himself and mix it up with the groveling, lesser politicians vying for the position.

    I still hold out hope that if Al Gore views the possibility as one of
    national interest, as opposed to personal ambition, that he might reconsider. But unless there is a groundswell of support, and strong indication that the MSM will give him a fair shake this time around, it’s not going to happen.

  • For those who see some historical parallels between the old Roman Republic around the time that Caesar crossed the Rubicon and today, I will note that in its final days, the old Roman Republic was also unable to attract the service of the truly first-rate, as it had done in its earlier years.

    And we all know what happened back then… two or maybe three first-rate emperors (Augustus, Claudius, Marcus Aurelius), scattered amongst pimps, whores, mass murderers, psychopaths, sociopaths and perverts. Whoops – that sounds like our present Senate and House of Representatives. Are we further down the road than even I think we are???

  • Tom, although the Chimp in Chief is undoubtedly our worst President ever, it can’t be denied that our governmental history is replete with morons, miscreants, liars, mediocrities, and murderers. (I know, you’re all thinking I should have found an “m” word for liars, right?).

    Perhaps, after our Founding Fathers, it’s always been that the best and brightest haven’t sought public office. We can pick out only a handful of truly great Presidents and administrations. The jury is out on whether we can survive this one though. And if so, it will be a long road back.

  • Here’s an interesting analysis by Ezra Klein over at Tapped that I think is worth some careful consideration:

    What makes divining his political intentions so frustrating is that Gore has, comparatively speaking, all the time in the world. It used to be that fundraising required a lot of rich buddies, a heap o’ travel, and endless chicken dinners. Now, Gore could enter shortly before Iowa and, if the base was sufficiently dissatisfied, become financially competitive in a matter of hours. And he wouldn’t have to lift a finger for infrastructure building until he sent out that press release. Moreover, Dean’s loss and Kerry’s triumph taught political watchers that the fundraising arms race isn’t necessarily relevant — Dean’s money didn’t slow his collapse, and Kerry’s comparative disadvantage didn’t impede his ascension. Pundits watching to see if Gore tries to compete with Hillary’s monster fundraising operation will be disappointed. He has no reason to. The early primary states are cheap, and that’s not even mentioning the rush of free media he’d get from entering the race. He’d be both Time and Newsweek’s cover boy the following Monday. And if he won some primaries, as Kerry proved, the money would be there for him in the general.

    Meanwhile, Gore is playing the reluctant savior card just right. The more desperate liberals are for him to swoop into the election, the less interest he needs to show in doing so. With no alternate bigfoots on the horizon (save maybe Obama), there’s no other game in town for dissatisfied liberals. And the more he backs off, the more they’ll beg him to step forward. To be clear, I’m not saying he’ll run, but I would caution against anyone saying he won’t. And giving up his nonexistent fundraising apparatus won’t hurt him a bit.

  • Let’s face it—Al Gore has a path that he needs to follow; Global warming is an issue that, as President, he wouldn’t be able to effectively manage. Think of all the places he goes; the things he does; the countless “security limbs” he goes out on. Would the Secret Service allow him to continue to do many of these things? Absolutely not—it would be the nightmare-scenario of presidential security.

    But—“someone” (darn; I love playing that strawman card—especially when it pummels the Reich) doesn’t wan’t Al Gore to follow his path. On the surface, it looks like the Dems who are clamoring for him to “get back on the train.” They want someone who can be a thorn in the GOP’s side. However, under the surface of it all seems to be a movement by the hardcore Republikanners to (1) diminish his credibility in the subject-area of Global warming, and (2) reduce the effectiveness of that subject by bantering his presidential campaign. He cannot do the job he has before him now, if he has to spend countless hours denying reports of his impending candidacy….

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