You get odd, little emails every now and then when you’re in the blog business. When you work for “Playboy”, you get naked snapshots in your mailbox. When you publish a blog, you get letters from people who claim to have knowledge of the future. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes. Blogs are magnetic when it comes to certain things. It’s unfortunate, but I deal with it the best I can.
Usually, I don’t put much stock in notes of “I have an important message for the people of Earth” variety. I just got a note a week or so ago, however, that doesn’t seem to fit into the standard “crackpots,” “conspiracy theorists” and “time travelers” categories. This one came anonymously from a man who claimed to “know people.” He wanted to tell me that I shouldn’t give up hope on the prospect of a Gore campaign for presidency. He assured me that something was in the works. Was it a cruel trick – just someone hoping to get my hopes up only to have them dashed horribly later? I don’t know. The person who wrote the note, however, came across as both knowledgeable and sane.
On the face of it, it seems plausible enough. Gore could hang back for a while, let Hillary implode a bit, let Obabma wither some under the intense glare of public scrutiny, and then jump in a the last minute to offer a real alternative. My guess is that, at this point, it’s not just Al’s decision, though. Campaign finance laws would have to be taken into consideration, wouldn’t they? Obama and Hillary both have upward of $25 million in the bank right now, a great deal of which is earmarked for the Democratic primary. Could Gore possibly come into the game late and compete financially? Can he get a campaign up and running fast enough to bring in the kind of dollars that he’d need to combat the well-oiled machines of Clinton and Obama? And, even if he could, I’m not sure what the campaign finance laws stipulate when it comes to contributions toward the primary. Do they have to be in by a certain time, or can they keep on raising money right through to the end of the primary? Regardless, I suspect financing is a critical consideration.
I have this far-out scenario in my mind where Obama, realizing he doesn’t have the experience necessary to run the country, urges Gore to run with him as VP. I don’t know if it’s legal, but according to this scenario of mine, Obama would then transfer all of his funds into Gore’s account, and tour the country stumping for Gore in the primary, against Hillary. They’d be unstoppable. They’d roll right over Hillary and whatever poor sucker the Republicans decide to sacrifice.
So, this letter that I got has me dreaming. The logical part of my brain tells me not to believe, but I do. I believe that Gore will enter the race, win, and become our next president. He’ll serve for eight years, during which time, among other things, the hole in the ozone will disappear, global warming will cease, and democracy — real democracy — will spread through the world like the plague. Then, Obama will have the oval office for the next eight, solving those few problems still confronting mankind, like childhood obesity and ringworm… It’s nice to dream.
update: OK, I just received an update from the anonymous reader. He wants to know if I’ve seen that, in the past few days, both Bill Clinton and James Carville have indicated that a Gore run is still possible.
11 Comments
For some reason, it’s not letting me post these links above:
James Carville on Gore
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/04/carville_gore_w.html
Bill Clinton on Gore
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/04/bill_clinton_hi.html
I’ve mentioned here before that I am the proud owner of a Gore/Obama ’08 campaign button.
With all of Al’s environmental campaigning, awards and congressional testimony, and his continued public appearances throughout the world, you will see a run in ’08 from Al.
I believe it may turn out to be one of three possibilities: 1) Gore/Edwards, 2) Gore/Obama, or 3)Edwards/Richardson.
Undoubtedly, it will be THE most exciting campaign season in a long, long time.
And the most exciting thing is that the Republicans have NO ONE with any character, depth or expertise, other than a very well-groomed and coiffed ex-governor.
So, down here in DC, the wonks seem to assume he’s running. They, and the cable news puppets suggest that announcement will be preceded by his slimming down. I don’t think he’s that fat, but I guess that’s because I’m from Michigan and in Michigan, he isn’t that fat.
If he starts dropping pounds, then he’s in fo’ show…
“the Republicans have NO ONE with any character, depth or expertise.”
The Republicans didn’t in the last two elections, either, yet Bush won both. What makes you think character, depth or expertise wins elections in America?
Democrats, seems to me, are hopelessly out-of-touch with swing voters. (If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be throwing money at Hillary.)
Any of the Republican candidates is capable of defeating any of the Democratic candidates once the primary is over. If the Democrat’s don’t stop viewing this election as another sure thing, they will lose another sure thing.
By whatever underhanded means, the idiot Bush is our president and Gore and Kerry are both writing books about the environment.
Democrats need to swallow a little pride and nominate the person who can be elected, not who they think should be elected.
Al Gore. Maybe. John Edwards, cha-ching!
Gore actually won the election. That’s a fact.
The second time, the Dems sat on their hands.
Maybe this time, the Dems will work harder to take back the White House.
Can’t help but be cynical about all of them. Seems it’s all about getting elected, rolling in the dough, keeping the “dough”nations coming … and later making it as a lobbyist or in private industry.
We shall see.
But in politics, facts rarely line up with reality. Gore won the election, but lost the White House (aka, the election). That that sharp-tool Gore even required a recount with W is evidence that Dems need to vote for the candidates hair-cut as much as qualifications.
Let’s vote in our pretty puppet this time, not theirs.
God I miss Nader.
I miss Jack Welsch, Lee Iacocca, and the many other tough, experienced, and inspirational leaders we had in the 50’s and 60’s … men AND women who could set large agendas and deal most effectively with problems.
Nader! OEC … you MUST be kidding!
Whatever one may say about Ralph Nader’s run in 2000, he had the unique virtue of being a presidential candidate whose activities had actually resulted in saving the lives of tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of Americans over the decades, thru the consumer safety issues he pioneered and which are now often taken for granted, as if they had not been fiercely resisted by both parties. .
And in 2000, Gore barely had the backbone to say he was in favor of raising the price of gasoline or reducing the use of coal.
As for 2004 — I think John Kerry won the race in Ohio, and thus he would have won the electoral college, but the Rove machine fixed the count in the Buckeye state.
I’ll bet that Gore runs in 08.
I don’t know that I’d say Gore lacked a backbone in 2000. I think he may have been a bit too cautious, but I think he had a backbone. He was, after all, talking about global warming when it only hurt him in the polls. Granted, he didn’t outline the significant measures that would have needed to be made to stop the warming, but at least he was talking about the issue in a general sense… As for the gas tax, you know how much I like that idea, and how much I’d love to see him run on it, but I think it would probably lose him voters. So, I’d rather he ran on the big picture stuff and left the details to once he was in the White House.
Oh, Mark, don’t do this to me :) the thought of Gore *not* running after getting my hopes is too much. Gore & Obama would… I can’t even put into words how much that would rock.
I believe Gore will run.
I agree with Mark that Gore’s strategy should be to campaign on big picture stuff and attack Bush’s record on the economy, Iraq, civil liberties, social security (lockbox!), and the environment.
I believe Carville in that article that Mark posted suggested that Gore will wait until late to enter the primaries and its possible Jeb Bush could do the same…