Posted on 10/19/2002 7:36:30 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
While Democratic Party fundraising powerhouses Bill and Hillary Clinton continue to rake in millions of dollars for candidates running in this fall's election, former Vice President Al Gore managed to raise just $5,000 at one Iowa event this week, a sum one party insider dismissed as "chump change."
Gore attended a noontime rally in Dubuque on Monday to boost the congressional bid of Ann Hutchinson, who currently serves as mayor of Bettendorf.
But out of the 150 potential contributors who attended, only 55 paid a paltry $100 a piece to meet with the ex-VP. To add insult to injury, candidate Hutchinson herself declined to attend the event, citing a family medical emergency, Dubuque's Herald Telegraph said.
In another sign that Gore's visit left Iowans underwhelmed, Hutchinson's press secretary Mark Nevins said the $5,000 was actually more than they expected the ex-VP to generate.
Even without the embarrassing fundraiser, Gore's swing through Iowa, home to the nation's first presidential caucus, didn't do much to re-ignite enthusiasm in another White House bid.
"If he would have kept himself in the limelight after the election, it would have been better," said Jerry Silverberg, a local Democrat, in comments to the Chicago Tribune. "A lot of people have forgotten about him."
Pam Jochum, a state representative and longtime Democratic activist from Dubuque, told the Tribune, "Al Gore had everything going for him in the 2000 election and he didn't make it. Our party needs a fresh new face to lead its ticket in 2004."
"If Al Gore wants to get into it, he would have to start from zero," Iowa City lawyer and Democratic activist Jim Larew told the paper. "Stripped of the power of the office, I seriously doubt whether Al Gore could create an organizational base to carry him through."
Chicago Sun-Times gossip columnist Michael Sneed cited Democratic Party sources on Friday who said that Gore is unlikely to run again.
"He's not doing what he normally would do in order to run again," a "top, top Dem source" told Sneed.
"Many top Dems are miffed with Gore's refusal to commit for 2004 or bail out," contends next week's U.S. News & World Report's "Washington Whispers" column. "They're also angry with his near absence in the midterm elections - and ridicule Gore when he does help, like calling the $5,000 he raised at an Iowa political event last week 'chump change.'"
If Gore does drop out of the race, there would be no shortage of presidential wannabes waiting to challenge George Bush in 2004.
But currently most polls show that after Gore, Hillary Clinton is the party's the most popular presidential candidate, even though she has repeatedly said she won't run in 2004.
No, remember Al Gore is the one who DIDN"T know he was even AT a fund raiser! Seems he still doesn't! LOL!
Hillary Clinton is the party's the most popular presidential candidate,
Now that isn't funny at all!
<|:)~
Former Vice President Al Gore came to Wisconsin to raise money for Jim Doyle and other Democratic candidates Wednesday, but it wasn't your usual ballyhooed media event.
All sessions were by invitation only and held behind closed doors.
The press had no advance notice of Gore's visit, and a reporter who showed up at a luncheon featuring Gore at Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel was shooed from the room by state Democratic Party aides.
And, unlike events with other prominent Democratic politicians, Doyle, the state attorney general and candidate for governor, made no public appearances with Gore, who, despite his narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000, remains one of the most prominent Democrats in the country.
Although Doyle said he was pressed for time because he had to hustle to the gubernatorial debate in Eau Claire, political experts suspect there was another reason for the kid-gloves approach:
Doyle wanted to avoid publicity with Gore - perhaps because of Gore's recent criticism of President Bush for pushing to use military force in Iraq.
"My guess is they were afraid that Al Gore could be a negative for Doyle," said Ed Miller, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point political science professor. Doyle's campaign may have feared he'd appear too liberal by association with Gore, Miller said.
Doyle has positioned himself as a moderate in the race for governor, with a constant emphasis on avoiding tax increases.
"Especially when Doyle has a lead (in the polls), he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that lead," Miller said.
David Littig, a UW-Green Bay political scientist, agreed with that analysis. "Gore is perhaps damaged goods," Littig said. Doyle and the Democratic Party may not have wanted to risk the possibility of alienating any voters by too close an association with Gore, Littig said.
C'mon, Al, you're gonna have to do better than that to crank the Fraud machine up in Wisconsin, New Mexico and Florida again.
Yes it is.
ROTFL
This brings to mind his picture in the khakis, remember?
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