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.
PLEASE RUN, AL!!!!
Wouldn't it be ironic if Al Gore's final act was to stop Hillary from getting into the Whitehouse? Please run Al, please run. If Al Gore runs I think I'll buy him a carbon offset.
Dub him the Carbon Upset, leaving only his footprints on Ole Crusty.
This is golden. Albore, the Gulfstream Liberal (which is greater than the Limosine Liberal), splits the leftist vote and another Republican in the White House. Of course though the lefties will scream and stamp their little feet that the wascally wepublicans stole the election again.
The left has become so predictable.
AG:"Yesssth."
BC:"What's this we hear about you runnin' green?"
AG"Yesssth. I am."
BC:"I don't thank that dogel hunt Al."
AG:"Say what Bubba?"
AG:"Well, there's no need getting snippy with me."
BC:"Al, hey, Al, let me make this clear...you know so you will know what is, is. I'll be sending you a list and your name will be added. Say, did you ever see that Eastwood movie...ahhhhhh.."The DEad Pool"? Well this list has about a hundred names on it. Do you remeber Vince Foster, rest his soul?"
AG: "Well, Bill, I'll be doing you a favor, and I do hate that B*tch wife of yours. There is no way in hell I am going to let her become president. I hate the Republicans, but I hate you and her more....if hate for your wife was a country ....I would be China."
Ditto.
Simple. The DNC is operated by Clinton hacks. Gore is smart enough to know that if he runs in the Dem party, he has no chance. He's also smart enough to know that if he runs as a Green, he will most likely kill Hil's chances. I think its the second thing that really motivates him. There is no love lost between Gore and the Clintons.
While I doubt that Al will run as a Green, it is a delightful idea. There is one fact that adds to the plausibility of the idea. What many don't know is that Al Gore was selected by Larry Page and Sergei Brin of Google as an "advisor" right after he lost the 2000 election. They gave him an undisclosed amount of stock for his advice. This was back when they were private and when the private stock was still relatively cheap.
Here is the incredible, if under-reported, fact. Should the Goracle choose to run, he could finance much or most of the cost of his campaign right out of his own pocket. It will come out later, but he has over $100,000,000 of Google stock and he may have as much as $500,000,000. Normally anyone with such a huge stake would have to disclose it, but Google is worth so much that even 1/2 billion dollars of Google is "non-material".
See Gore run.
Run, Gore, run!
Run as Green Party rep.
See Gore run with Green Party reps.
See Gore run faster.
Why is Gore running faster?
See Gore duck.
Why is Gore ducking?
See Hillary shoot.
Shoot Hillary, shoot!
See Gore duck.
Thanks for the ping!
He really is in the catbird seat, albeit, an extended sized seat.
Indeed, for Mr. Gore, it's truly "an inconvenient truth."
And inconvenient truth for sure. But the MSM will surely continue to shield Algore from the 'attack' on his 'privacy' if we conservatives 'pry' into his business.
He probably ate the cat, and then took his seat!
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.