Posted on 03/28/2007 5:24:56 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton faces a possible new threat to her presidential ambitions.
Former Vice President Al Gore has again been entertaining offers to run for president. Gore has been discussing a run for a third party nomination with family and close aides.
"Al Gore has been energized by the attention he's been receiving as America's leading environmentalist," a political source close to Gore said. "He believes this might present an opportunity to become president or at least try again."
Sources close to Gore said Ralph Nader has sought to recruit the former vice president to run as the candidate for the Green Party. They said Gore has not rejected the offer and was consulting with family and friends to determine the feasibility of such a candidacy.
At this point, Gore stands behind Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in any race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But the polls report that many Democrats who support Clinton could switch their support to Gore.
Still, Gore, largely estranged from former President Bill Clinton since 2000, is said to have concluded that he stands no chance of beating Hillary for the Democratic presidential nomination. But sources close to Gore said the former vice president believes that he could present himself as a genuine liberal in any general election that would include Clinton.
For her part, Clinton has been monitoring Gore's feelers regarding a presidential race. The sources said Clinton has expressed concern that a third party effort by Gore could hurt her chances in the general election.
"Gore is invulnerable on several issues," a political strategist familiar with Gore's consultations said. "Unlike Obama, he can't be attacked as inexperienced; he has much more experience than Hillary. And, he was Bill's vice president."
Nader, a harsh critic of then-President Bill Clinton, was for a time the leader of the Green Party. Nader has used the movement for previous races for the presidency. Nader's campaign was believed to have spoiled Gore's efforts for the presidency in the 2000 election, particularly in the state of Florida where George W. Bush won by only 537 votes. In 1996 and 2000, Nader was the presidential nominee of the Green Party.
Over the last month, Gore's profile has skyrocketed in the wake of his Academy Award for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," which examines global warming. On March 21, Gore testified to two congressional panels that global climate change marked the greatest danger in U.S. history and issued a 10-point plan that included an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars and power plants.
"This is not a normal time," Gore said in his first appearance on Capitol Hill since 2001. "We are facing a planetary emergency. I'm fully aware that that phrase sounds shrill to many people's ears. But it is accurate."
Although a handful of Republicans criticized and questioned his research and the factual basis for many of his claims, many Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee viewed Gore's appearance as a homecoming. The Democrats, with Sen. Hillary Clinton sitting on the committee, said Gore was leading a nationwide movement that sought drastic changes in the environment.
"You have acted for us," said Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Democrat. "You have acted more than anyone else."
The sources said Gore, who also serves as an adviser to Google, would quietly test the waters in a series of polls in the spring of 2007. They said his high profile will probably be maintained over the next few months when he publicizes his latest book, "The Assault on Reason" in May. The book is said to be an indictment of American politics.
It sounds too good to be true.
Yessssss! Gore is beginning to look good to me. Real good.
Run ManBarPig, RUN!!!!!!!!!
He does ? Thought that profile was Kerry.
Will the movie be an income generator for a Presidential campaign?.
and can it/will it be pulled from the market in the course of the election season?
I would vote for Big Al on the Green Party ticket. What a great idea. I can free my mind of all the contentious war issues and vote for clean air. Better, I can plant some philodendrons and erase my carbon foot print.
I mean just tonite, on Jerico they got a wind generator. The baby died but the lights came back on in time for the diverse crowd to save the mother. The wind generators aqre made by slave laborers. What a great concept .....enslave whitemen to make wind generators.
Heh, he just might run as the new Ralph Nader. I thought this article was a joke too at first.
Hillary should have him shot if goes through with this.
But he needs to announce this during a freak blizzard.
Ok, finally some good news. This would certainly change the calculus...it could put some interesting scenarios, previously off limits on pragmatic grounds, into play...
LOL! Nobody will show up!
"Gore does hate Hitlery."
Agree for sure, and with your Perot comment. If Gore is looking for his legacy, this could be it! Gore "swift boating" the Antichrist, err Hillary, excuse me...
I'd drop twenty bucks if I got one of those.
Perot Revisited.
Former Vice President Al Gore has again been entertaining offers to run for president...
He, of all people should know better.
First, the Clinton war machine will expose him as a global warming fraud. A week later, a despondent Al Gore will be found in Marcy Park with a "sef inflicted" bullet wound to the back of his head.
What a wonderfully delicious idea! They love you, Al, go for it!
It's not easy being green, or so I have heard! ;-)
Yes, but all that carbon in his arteries may cause him an infarction before the election, especially if Hillary has anything to do with it.
I wish it were true, but I don't believe it.
Would this not be the ultimate revenge for Al against Team Clinton.
May the Lord bless and keep me alive long enough to witness such an event.
Al, third party is the way man! You go!
I really, respectfully, don't think so. He's almost certainly established himself as a cult leader, and a lot of Greeners (and the ManBearPig himself) have a score to settle with the Dems.
His celebrity and stilted speech (and, for his faults, he still retains an element of humanity), as well as name recognition and likely campus-speaking circuit put him well in the sights of the "Fight The Power-ers".
Could be a perfect storm, and that's before his animus to #42 and his "co-president".
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