Gore Fest: It's Time for Dems to Recruit Al Gore

The Boston Phoenix ^ | April 23, 2008 | Steven Stark

[2ndDivisionVet]

In the wake of Barack Obama’s defeat in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the Democrats have a huge problem. On the one hand, they have a front-runner who hasn’t won a single one of the major primary states other than his own, who’s a neophyte on the national scene, and who has enormous difficulties attracting the white, non–college educated voters he needs to win. On the other, there’s Hillary Clinton — a candidate who has greatly diminished her stature on the campaign trail, who faces huge liabilities of her own (in part because of her gender and in part because of Clinton fatigue), and whose chances of winning in November would require her to thread an Electoral College needle. Furthermore, the long, bitter campaign has produced an untenable result: a large portion of each camp’s supporters now say they are unlikely to support the intra-party rival should their candidate not win the nomination.

Therefore, if the Democrats want to have their best chance to win an election in November that six months ago it looked like they couldn’t lose, they may have only one option at this point: they can turn to Al Gore.

In truth, Gore would be a stronger candidate in November than the two front-runners. He knows what it’s like to run in a tough presidential campaign, which, as we’re finding out with Obama, is a huge advantage. He is, after all, a Nobel Prize winner; he has the advantage of now running from outside Washington even though he’s as experienced as John McCain; and he might be able to pick off a Southern state or two. He’s already won once — with an asterisk. And he could put the electoral focus back on the economy and the Republican record of the past eight years — a record likely to continue as long as Clinton or Obama is the nominee.

Sure, Gore’s entry would obviously not be greeted with waves of enthusiasm by Obama supporters. Still, he is quite popular with one of the Illinois senator’s principal constituencies: the young.

Against all odds

It’s true that drafting a new candidate at this point would be unprecedented. But the virtually deadlocked race between the two remaining candidates makes it at least possible.

Several things would have to occur — and quickly. First, some senior Democrats — with the help, perhaps, of a former presidential candidate, such as John Edwards — would have to publicly urge Gore to make a run. It would help matters enormously if this group included former supporters of Clinton and Obama.

Second, though not required, a write-in campaign could be mounted in one of the remaining states, such as Kentucky or Oregon, on May 20, or Montana or South Dakota, on June 3. The advantage of Oregon is that, historically, at least one candidate — Jerry Brown in 1976 — ran a strong third there as a write-in.

The advantage of Kentucky, Montana, or South Dakota is that neither of the present front-runners looks particularly strong on paper in those contests. Furthermore, because those states are relatively small, a well-funded write-in campaign might have a chance to be successful. (Success in this case doesn’t mean winning, just doing “better than expected.”) The key, of course, is to raise the necessary money to mount such a campaign. But in the Internet age — with the right backing — it might be pulled off.

Third, a bloc of superdelegates would have to declare for the putative candidate. Again, this isn’t impossible. There are about 25 Edwards delegates still out there that might be persuaded by Edwards himself — so that’s a start. Plus, there are enough horrified and disgruntled party elders who would welcome an alternative, if they thought they wouldn’t be making fools of themselves by going out on a limb for a candidate with no chance of being successful.

Finally, a Gore draft would eventually need the support of either Bill or Hillary. While the Clinton effort has begun to succeed in its argument that Obama has major weaknesses, it is time for its principals to realize that Hillary is never going to succeed in the camp’s second necessary argument: that she should be the alternative. She’s never going to catch Obama in the elected delegate count. And her initial high poll negatives (that have never been reduced) — combined with the way she has alienated Obama’s supporters — make her now an almost certain loser in November.

So, if she and Bill care about the party and nation and truly believe that Obama is unelectable — an unpopular but defensible argument — they have, really, only two choices. They can throw in with an effort to draft their former protégé. (A Gore and Newark mayor Cory Booker ticket?) Or they can continue to indulge their illusions and send their party hurtling toward disaster.

ODDS REPUBLICANS JOHN MCCAIN The nominee

DEMOCRATS BARACK OBAMA Odds: 1-5 | past week: same HILLARY CLINTON Odds: 5-1 | same

DELEGATE COUNT BARACK OBAMA Pledged: 1479 Superdelegates: 234 Total: 1713 Short by: 311

HILLARY CLINTON Pledged: 1328 Superdelegates: 258 Total: 1586 Short by: 438

Delegates needed to win: 2024 SOURCE: REAL CLEAR POLITICS AS OF 4/23/08

On the Web The Presidential Tote Board Blog: http://www.thephoenix.com/toteboard

[samtheman]

Really. If the rats steal the nomination from the Mullah Obama, I predict a popcorn shortage in America. (There might be one anyway.)

[LibLieSlayer]

“Oh, yes, please do!”

Please, please, please, please, please, please, please!!!!!

I feel like James Brown! “Haaaaayyyy... jump back... kiss myself”!

LLS

[Old Teufel Hunden]

I liked a solution that a caller into the Rush Limbaugh show had. He said, we should just give them our candidate John McCain. He’s left on a lot of issues anyways, right? Then, the republican party can go into the smoke filled back rooms and pick a real conservative to run for our side!

[steelyourfaith]

Heads up.

[the invisib1e hand]

I feel like James Brown! “Haaaaayyyy... jump back... kiss myself”!

LOL!

[Miss Didi]

RUSH: Superdelegates, Doomsday Option: You need to step up to the plate. It has been obvious to me for the longest time that this Democrat primary is going to come down to what the superdelegates decide to do, and you superdelegates, it's time to get some cojones. You are superdelegates, by definition you can do whatever you want. You do not have to follow popular vote, electoral vote, you can vote for whoever you want. You can do it, and that's why you're there. You are there to save your party from a disaster like George McGovern created 1972, or that Jimmy Carter brought to your party in 1980. That's why you superdelegates are there. This is on you. This is on your shoulders. You have only one option if you want to win in 2008.

If you want to win the presidential race in 2008, you have one option: Step up to the plate and find a third candidate. Start talking amongst yourselves now and get this ball rolling. I don't care how much money has been spent on the primaries. I don't care who has the most pledged delegates. I don't care who's leading the popular vote. I don't care about any of that, and you shouldn't, either. You cannot win with these two incompetent, unqualified embarrassments that are seeking your nomination now. You have one hope. People are going to McCain, not because they like him, because they hate your two people. It's time for you superdelegates to get together and find a third candidate. Algore, I don't know, but somebody.

Operation Chaos Doomsday Option

[mad_as_he$$]

Over Hillary’s dead body. I can live with that!

[TexasNative2000]

As Rush said yesterday, the most frustrated person in this whole episode is John Edwards.

Had he waited it out like Hillary did, he could be picking up all of these pieces.

[RipSawyer]

We need a new category,”The degreed but uneducated”.

[poobear]

I’m a little tired here and over worked, but how’d I get into this thread?

[poobear]

Never mind!!!!

I’m still getting used to this new John Robinson Green VS Black latest ping thAAAng!

Carry on Rip....

[angkor]

>>>Gore’s made maybe $500 mill...

Eric Schmidt signed on for 3.5 million options of GOOG in 2001, and I guess he’d have signed Gore to his GOOG consulting gig for at least 100,000 options, making Gore worth $30 million in 2005 and up to $70 million last year.

It’s anyone’s guess though (in lieu of Gore’s employment agreement). It could be $15 to $35 million at 50,000 options, or $150 to $350 million if Gore got 500,000 options.

[driftless2]

Do people actually believe that the bitterness and clinging in the donkey party will subside with Gore’s nomination? This year is the first time that a Black man or a woman of any color has a chance to be nominated for number one. There will be plenty of bitterness if Hillary or Obama is shoved aside for the Global Hot Air candidate. Both groups will think they were cheated. Plenty of bitter Dems who will stay home on voting day. Which is good.

[LibLieSlayer]

:-)

LLS

[adorno]

Oh, yes, please do! He'd never do it, though, he's got too much to lose, with all those carbon credits and the rest of that scam.

Quite right!

But, it's not just about giving up the carbon credits. He'd also have to face a flood of questions about the global warming hysteria of which he's the main proponent. Shedding so much light on the subject might expose global warming for what it is, "junk science". That's a risk which I'm pretty sure that Gore is not willing to take, not even for the presidency. He's been avoiding debating the questions surrounding global warming, and becoming a candidate in any capacity might turn out to be a roundabout way of opening himself up to debating the question.

Gore may not be too smart, but I believe him smart enough to avoid answering the tough questions, especially concerning global warming.

[angkor]

>>>>I said months ago that Gore was somehow going to be the candidate, and I bet he will be. What’s worse, I bet he’ll win.

I’ve been saying it for about a year, to varying degrees of certainty. It’s always been because Hitlery is unelectable.