Shouldn't the question be: can we solve this climate crisis before the window closes? A flabbergasting IPCC report is coming out February 2. Does anyone here care? Can we join together to help Al Gore and others in their efforts now? Is there ANYTHING else these blogs ever think about besides elections? And to answer your question: No, Al Gore should not run in 2008, because he is a visonary leader on a crisis we need him to continue to lead on unabated ny all of the political BS that pulls away from discussion of that crisis. He should follow his heart which he is doing now. Having to sell his soul to be a part of the very same system that ignored his warnings and then dissed him seven years ago would do what exactly? He is making more progress on this crisis from outside the beltway. Why don't people just trust his judgement and stop harrassing him about running already. The world can't wait for all of you to live out your electoral fantasies. This has to be done by US NOW.

Al Gore SHOULD indeed run! He already won once, but nobody (Supreme Court, etc.) seemed to notice. He is bright enough to appoint the best, most qualified folks to Cabinet posts, and other places that a President has that discretion. Rather than "going it alone", as he is doing now, he has the potential to put together a Team that could change the course of this Country and the World! And he should start by appointing Jimmy Carter as Secretary of State!

Sorry, having supported Gore in the 1988 primary as well as in the 2000 general, I think it is time to give someone else a turn. For whatever reason, he appears to be a better public speaker when he isn't running for president than when he is!

LT is right. Al Gore's speeches on the 1992 campaign trail were fantastic, and his recent speeches have been amazing. But that man lost his balls when it mattered the most, and we got stuck with a president who has totally sold us out for the sake of hooking up his buddies.

Lest we forget his performance in the 2000 debates. What the hell was he on? Al turned off a lot of voters there, swaying many toward his weak opponent. Time to retire that yutz from presidential consideration. Let him focus on his passions which now appear to be CO2 emissions and gluttony.

There are other productive ways to use hard-won experience and influence than to lock oneself up in the White House. I hope Al Gore recognizes he can continue shaping our policy debates best in his current role as elder statemen. Would that a certain successful junior senator from New York would realize the same thing about herself.

NO

He was right about the Internet He was right about the Environment He was right about the War He was right about Social Security and Health Care

Face it, the guy is right about the big stuff, and he stays right...year after year. So he is stiff. Get over it. So he may hedge, good. Maybe it's time we let a grown up get into the white house.

Anyone realize that he probably cant win. Republicans loathe him and I saw speak a while ago in person hes not that good of speaker still and is well getting fat. A presidental candidate in order to win needs to have a good presentation and good speaking skills like a friend of mine said voters dont vote for ability to do the job right but rather the campaign they run and thier presentation.

17 year old with an opinion:

Anyone realize that he probably cant win. Republicans loathe him and I saw speak a while ago in person hes not that good of speaker still and is well getting fat. A presidental candidate in order to win needs to have a good presentation and good speaking skills like a friend of mine said voters dont vote for ability to do the job right but rather the campaign they run and thier presentation.

Bob T:

You'll know when he's ready to announce when he makes another phony "goota do work on the farm" trip back to Tennessee (where he wasn't raised - he was raised in a posh Wash DC hotel where his only contact with real people was when his father called room service.

Bob Tiernan

Man, that's overwhelming support!

I have great respect for Almost-President Gore, but he made poor judgements in 2000 that people haven't forgotten. He failed to make a zealous fight for the office he rightfully won. We will need a President in 2009 that will fight underhanded political shenanigans from the R's, even when doing so would rock the boat in which they are comfortable. Does anyone believe that any damage to the political system that may have resulted from a protracted contest by Gore would be worse than the damage "W" has done to the system as the "war 'resident"?

Tamerlane said: Man, that's overwhelming support!

I would advise him that the "buzz poll" is not a random sample, and indeed supporters have a much higher impetus to respond than others. A more appropiate observation would be of an "overwhelming" response. Its not a zero-content exercise, but it's an inadequate guage of support.

Zak J. hit the nail on the head. Sometimes our country benefits when a great person does not run for president. The environmentalist Al Gore is far more effective in changing the world then he would be as President Gore. President Gore would have to compromise and would find himself having to focus on a multitude of problems (the middle east, health care, education, etc) instead of his area of expertize and his passion. Its not that he wouldn't be a great President. Its that he's a better environmental activist. Al should stay his current course and maybe accept the cabinet position as head of the EPA should the Dems take back the white house. Likewise, the well-qualified, but unfortunately right-wing galvanizing junior senator from NY could have served her country far better, by choosing not to run (in 2008).

As a registered democrat, I believe Sen. Hillary Clinton is qualified for president but I don't know if she is electable. She is bright, saavy but she is also a polarizing figure nationally. I think the voters would rally around a more unifying candidate like Al Gore. Hey, he got George Bush to acknowledge global warming when other members of the republican party were calling it a hoax. Obama is still a bit raw but would make a good VEEP. I like a Gore/Obama ticket in 2008.

I think he should run. I might vote for him, depending on who the Republicans run. I think he needs to save us from Hillary. I would never vote for her, Kerry, Dean or any of the other integrity-lacking leftists. I might vote for Richardson too. I don't think I'd vote for Obama yet...he is still pretty much an unknown for me...same with Vilasik. Edwards has nice hair but that's about it. Kusinich is too looney and leftist for me.

So that leaves...Gore.

It is his duty. In this time of crisis, as the most qualified person alive, Al Gore doesn’t have a choice but to run for the office of The President of the United States of America in 2008. It is his duty to his country; to his planet.

Mel:

It is his duty. In this time of crisis, as the most qualified person alive, Al Gore doesn’t have a choice but to run for the office of The President of the United States of America in 2008.

It is his duty to his country; to his planet.

Bob T:

This is a joke, right? Have you really looked at other candidates yet?

Bob Tiernan

As responsible citizens we should be ready and willing to demenad the best qualified applicants for the job of chief executive. I can think of nobody more qualified than Al Gore, and if he is truly an adult and a politician, both of which he seems to be, he will understand the sort of grit and determination it will take for him to re-enter the largest arena in the toughest political competition in America and win.

more practically, Gore still has the network to run seriously as an alternative to hillary. he is still the al gore of the DLC as well as the liberal darling of "inconvenient truth". He can fundraise with the best of them, and we know he has the experience in both politics and policy, which few Democratic contenders really claim. (Obama lacks politics, Clinton lacks real policy credentials, Richardson and Edwards have some but not enough of either). Gore would not be the first seemingly-finished presidential hopefull to rebound all the way to the white house.

and of course it would help if he had the most charismatic and inspiring VP candidate ever (Sen. Obama) and by the way, Obama is certainly no Dan Quayle. he will be able to hold up against Romney, Keating, Brownback,, Huckabee, or whoever ends up as the #2 for the GOP.

add Gov. Richardson as secretary of state for good measure. I know might just be amusing speculation, but hey, thats what we are all here for anyway.

Gore/Obama '08 -- GOBAMA!

If Gore and Clinton are the best we can come up with, we definitely need a third (and a fourth, and a ...) party. Republicans need a libertarian party to rescue them from the zealots who dominate them, and Dems need a progressive party to rescue them from the likes of the DLC.

Al Gore is the best leader of our time and this is the time we need him. I will definitely support him.

The only way Al loses this election is if Tipper insists in censoring out music. I'm 56 and a lot of my friends will vote for Al, but not if Tipper keeps screwing around with our music.

These are serious people, they just hate "Big Brother" messing with them.

Bob T:

This is a joke, right? Have you really looked at other candidates yet?

Bob Tiernan

Mel

It's no joke that Al Gore has been serving this country, since serving in Vietnam, through the House, Senate and rode shotgun at the Whitehouse for 8 of the better years we have had in recent memory. He has also done more to protect our planet than anyone I'm aware of. Yes I have looked at the other candidates. So far I don't see any one that can match Gore's combination of experience, foresight and integrity. However I am open minded and would change if there was someone better. Who do you recommend Bob?

Mel:

So far I don't see any one that can match Gore's combination of experience, foresight and integrity. However I am open minded and would change if there was someone better.

Who do you recommend Bob?

Bob T:

Among the D's, someone I wish would run again -- Gary Hart.

Bob Tiernan (Grover Cleveland Democrat)

NO. We know that northern liberals like Kerry, Dukakis, Mondale, McGoivern (Hillary and Obama) can't win. Southernors like CLinton and Carter did win, and they won southern states as well as Ohio and Missouri. Gore did not carry one soutehrn state, and he also lost OH, MO, and WV by clear margins. Why would anyone want Gore to run again?

ok, Im biased, I organized the Greens For Gore Coalition in 2000. We put together a hold your vote till the last moment strategy and apparently convinced enough people in the state, as Gore won by a mere 6000 votes, and only pulled ahead at 3am after the first 85% went Bush's way (Bush was REAL pissed at his Oregon campaign). A senior official in the Dem Party Oregon thinks we "tipped the ball into the basket" for Gore.

Just remember a couple of things. He is a proven winner (lol!). Except for the Reagan landslide of 1984 (brrrr), Al Gore in 2000 got more votes in a free democratic election then any other person in the entire history of the world. Read that again.

He has a ready made truly widespread grassroots base of people who are mad as hell and want their second chance to get him the office that was stolen from him (unlike Kerry, who nobody seems to be mourning as the Senator withdraws from the race). He has gravitas, broad governnment experience, international respect and acclaim, intellegence - god, watch An Inconvenient Truth and you just think, we could have had this instead of the smirking idiot of a chimp from Texass? - he has the ability to have the full weight of the DP establishment behind his race from the get go, and he has something to prove. Plus, he seems still to be the only major political figure who comes near to fully getting the incredible slow motion ecological meltdown we are already in. (Google global dimming if you want chills, and google the recent week of insane wild weather in Europe, where winds whipped up to 130 miles an hour for a week as the Gulf stream oceanic conveyer belt temporarily halted - yes, the doomsday nightmare scenario Gore outlines in the movie has already happened for a week)

Its not about us, its not about America, its not even about Al Gore. The earth needs a sane and environmentally savvy leader with smarts, diplomacy, skill, and dedication.

And Obama would be a great veep! Perfect training for his eight years at the helm in 2016 and 2020... or Clinton for that matter...

hey, want to help prevent future spoiler scenarios? (Nader was a clear and indesputable spoiler in...New Hampshire...in 2000). And want to help create a green caucus in the Dem Party Oregon as a national model of cooperative out of the box political strategy? Come to www.GreenDemocraticAlliance.org and get involved. Webdesign mavens especially needed! Thanks... Don, the green dog democrat, Eugene, Oregon, [email protected]

I suppose he would be more respected if he had challenged the Supreme Court? His list of 'shoud haves' pales in comparison to Bush. Because he has been successful in his public speaking lately does not diminish his experience in government. I can't believe people complain about his personality in the midst of Occupation Iraq. The upper class and conservatives are just afraid.

YES, So far he would be the best Democratic canidate. The Republicans don't want him to run because they think they can beat everyone else and maybe they can. If he runs, he will win again.

Look at the difference Al Gore has made as a private citizen and advocate for the Environment.

There is something to be said for following your passion. Although as Prez, he could turn all his hard work at Kyoto, into a reality here in the US, finally.

Green Industries need a strong visionary in the White House, that 10 year window to "do something" to turn the environment around, is closing fast, so there's no time to lose here.

However, if Al chooses to remain single-minded and continue on his current path without all the political compromises, well maybe the next President will have enough vision to create a Cabinet Level position -- like “Secretary of Environmental Issues”. And then maybe Al Gore could just be persuaded to fill the position and lead that change, that the world so desperately needs.

Afterall, Gore was very instrumental in this change of mindset on Climate Change sweeping the world, don't you think he'd like to see it through to its conclusion, especially if he can still stay focused and actually get something done?

The Earth kind of "hangs in the balance" doesn't it?

Yes he should run. He should run two to three times per week for at least 30 minutes. Maybe that would get some of that post vice presidency fat off of him.

Thanks Robert.