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.
He's not using Insight to campaign for votes. He's using it to issue a threat.
Thanks SB! Neglected to do that before. I particularly enjoyed this paragraph:
"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."
We must be very careful.
Never trust Gore.
He might run as a greenie and then drop out of the race a month before the election endorsing the Bitch.
Messiah-complexes do that to ya. Too bad his party didn't get the divine memo.
BTTT!
I think Al Gore should run as the Green candidate, and tell us why we have to wreck our economy so he can sell "Earth in the Balance" and get royalties from "An Inconvenient Truth." And of course siphon votes from Clinton or Obama.
Hmmmmm.... Though neither Al Gore-bechev and the Green party show their real colors - RED - this is an amuzing little idea.
Albore's movie is now mandatory curriculum in some locations...from what I heard from Rush, the parents are also REQUIRED to attend, otherwise the student takes a hit on their final grade.
I'm hoping that this is a joke of some kind....but it probably isn't.
That said, this may inflate his ego just enough to actually do it...party and hillary be damned.
Perhaps the Earth Savior Party ticket.
Whatever his warped intentions, I sure hope he runs.
Al Gore run? Waddle maybe.
He's such a carbon copy of BJ.
YESSSSSS!!!!!! Please be true................
I wish this would happen, but, if he wanted to be POTUS, he'd run as a DemocRAT; doncha think?
I think Gore could come in and still win the Democratic nomination. Let's not forget that this guy, as crazy as he is, was VP for eight years and won the popular vote. He presents an alternative in the Democratic party the same as Fred Thompson does in the Republican party. Now, having said that, of course it would be great if he runs as a "Green" because he would be a spoiler. And maybe he is such a nut that having the chance to bring attention to the Green party is more important to him than actually winning the election (or perhaps he really believes he can win as a Green, or maybe he would just relish the chance to be a spoiler and help defeat Hiliary). Don't underestimate Gore, no matter how crazy he is, anybody who can win the popular vote is formidable. But give me Hiliary, Gore and Thonpson as the 3 candidates and I'm very happy.
Don't get fooled. This is just talk to keep him in the headlines.
No doubt his profile has skyrocketed, but he didn't win the Academy Award. An Inconvenient Truth won for Best Documentary, and the Academy Awards webpage shows director Davis Guggenheim being nominated for and winning the award in that category. During the thank you speech, winner Guggenheim handed his Oscar to Algore to hold, creating the faux photo op seen round the world.
Interestingly, in a similar category, The Departed won Best Picture. There was no confusion that director Martin Scorsese won that Oscar, and that Leonardo DiCaprio did not.
Please, oh please run Al! Use all of the fuel you want!
I wonder if there's a companion document for AIT similar to the one that listed the distortions in Bowling For Columbine? It might be useful for a kid to watch such a film with such a document in hand.
Nah, Rudy can't be Presidential Nominee for the GOP and VP for the Greens at the same time though he might have won both positions if on the ballots had the constitution not been changed.
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