Posted on 06/08/2007 3:42:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Former Vice President Al Gore is acting in a very "Nixonian" way, a top political expert says.
Appearing Thursday night on CNN's "Glenn Beck" show, savvy Republican political pro Roger Stone told guest host Michael Smerconish that Gore carefully parses his words when he ducks the question about running for the presidency.
"He's preserving his political options: 'I'm not planning to run; I have no plans to run; it is highly unlikely that I would run,'" Stone said. "Nowhere does he say, 'if nominated I won't run; if elected I won't serve.' And I don't think he's going to say that."
Gore, Stone said, "is a giant compared to the Democrats who are running for president. His popularity is at an all-time high; he has turned out to be right as far as his party is concerned about the two major issues of the day — the war, where he's been the most articulate critic, and global warming, which is his signature issue that he was in the wilderness on and now everyone thinks it's true."
Stone doubted that there is "enough room in this race for both Vice President Gore and Barack Obama." He said, "Gore is the real anti-war candidate — right on the war from the beginning and with the stature to end the war. Barack Obama would kind of suction-off anti-war votes, and I'm not sure Gore can afford that. But he can afford to watch and see how Obama develops his opinions. If it looks like he can't take Hillary, there's only one person alive who can beat her for the nomination and that's Al Gore."
Stone also zeroed-in on the astonishing similarities between Gore and former President Richard Nixon, noting that both men served two terms in the House before moving to the Senate. As sitting vice presidents, both Nixon and Gore lost presidential elections by razor-thin margins after charges of fraud and vote stealing, and Stone noted, both were criticized for not utilizing the campaign services of their presidents, Eisenhower and Clinton respectively.
Stone noted Nixon's ability to come back after suffering defeat in the 1960 election, which he called the "greatest political comeback in American political history, perhaps surpassed by Al Gore in 2008."
Gore, he said, "has handled himself extremely well in these years out of office. He's pacing himself."
Funny... weren’t the leftists taunting all the time that Bush is following Nixon’s path?
Does this mean Gore will be forced to resign the Presidency in 2014?
Beat me to it!
Yep if history repeated itself, then Gore gets elected in ‘08, 8 years after the razor thin loss, just as Nixon was elected 8 years later. Then Gore will get re-elected and be subjected to impeachment proceedings in ‘14.
But will Gore bring our boys home from South-East Asia!?/s
What a joke. Al Gore is making millions off of the global warming scam. He wouldn’t want to settle for a measly 400k for 4-8 years.
Why would he give up show business to go into politics?
“He’s pacing himself”
He’d better hurry up, or Global Warming will kill us all!!
I believe Al Gore may actually be overexposed at this point, people are getting a bit tired of hearing about him. The idea of him in the White House is actually scarier to me than the idea of the present Democratic frontrunners winning. Maybe because Al Gore pursues his goals with the unyielding, unflenching dedication of a true fanatic.
Fuzzy thinking. At Algore's level, money has little subjective marginal utility. IOW, he can always get all the money he wants so his salary is irrelevant. If anything Gore wants vindication--"I won, I did I did I did, I knew it all along and now it's been proven!~
The parallels with Nixon are inviting but serve Algore only as motivational material--"it happened before...it can happen again."
No doubt he's running, and should be considered one of the favorites for the 'rat nomination. His ultimate prospects will depend on the status of the global warming schtick in late 2008, much as the GOP chances will depend on the status of the Iraq war in late 2008.
I dunno. Ask Ronald Reagan.
Sorry, his wasteful lifestyle would come under way too much scrutiny. He’ll keep flirting with running as long as it is profitable to him, but he will withdraw his name around October-November.
Having hung his hat on the enviromental rack, I don’t think Gore stands much of chance of becoming President as things stand.
beam me up scottie...
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if Algore does run, he’d be the “best, most qualified” demhole candidate vis-a-vis Clinton-Edwards-Obama. With any of these 3 losers and a top-notch R candidate (we can only wish) it’d be Reagan-Mondale all over again.
Nixon is Dead! Go Al Go!
Not quite.
Nixon didn't challenge the election that was "stolen" from him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.